Born in Casablanca, the son of parents of Spanish origin, Maurice Ohana studied in France and in Spain, making his debut as a pianist in Paris in 1936. He served in the British army during the Second World War and in 1944 became a pupil of Casella in Rome. In Paris again, he joined in the foundation of the Groupe Zodiaque, which was in opposition to serialism and other dogmatic restrictions of artistic freedom. The winner of various important awards, he drew on his own cosmopolitan background in his compositions.

Stage Works, Orchestral and Instrumental Music

Ohana wrote a number of stage works, which allowed an element of experimentation. His orchestral compositions include Anneau du Tamarit for cello and orchestra, Livre des prodiges, concertos for trumpet, for piano and for cello, and Silenciaire for six percussionists and strings. Other works include variously the guitar, harpsichord, glockenspiel and zither in their scoring.