French composer Henri Tomasi (1901-1971) was first and foremost a native of the Mediterranean; born in Provence of Corsican roots, his version of the Mediterranean stretches all the way to Laos via Spain and the Ahaggar Mountains. Tomasi - pantheist, mystic, visionary on occasion - was also a man of his era, a rebel, and a tormented soul. He grasped every style imaginable, from Gregorian to jazz, from Oriental recitative to dodecaphonic, while always remaining profoundly personal. Chief conductor of the French National Orchestra and of the Monte Carlo Opera.