Darius Milhaud

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Darius Milhaud (September 4, 1892 – June 22, 1974) was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six - also known as the Groupe des Six - and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. Born to a Jewish family in Aix-en-Provence, Milhaud studied in Paris under Charles Widor and Vincent d'Indy. Having befriended Erik Satie many years before the Groupe des Six existed, he was the only one of that group never to have disagreements with that composer. As a young man he worked for a while in the diplomatic entourage of Paul Claudel, the eminent poet and dramatist, who was serving as ambassador to Brazil. On a trip to the US in 1922, he discovered jazz, which left a great impact on his musical outlook. He left France in 1939 and emigrated to America in 1940 (his Jewish background made it impossible for him to return to his native country until after the Liberation); he secured a teaching post at Mills College in Oakland, California. From 1947 to 1971 he taught alternate years at Mills and the Paris Conservatoire, until poor health, which caused him to use a wheelchair during his later years (beginning sometime before 1947), compelled him to retire. He died in Geneva. Notable students of Milhaud:

Iannis Xenakis
Morton Subotnick
Dave Brubeck
Burt Bacharach
Steve Reich
Karlheinz Stockhausen (though he left his studies early)
William Bolcom
Charles Dodge
Stanley Hollingsworth

His compositions are particularly noted as being influenced by jazz and for their use of polytonality (music in more than one key at once). Milhaud (like his contemporaries Paul Hindemith, Bohuslav Martinu and Heitor Villa-Lobos) was an extremely rapid creator, for whom the art of writing music seemed almost as natural as breathing. His most significant works include Le Boeuf sur le Toit (ballet), La Création du Monde (jazz), Scaramouche (2-piano suite), and Saudades do Brazil (dance suite). His autobiography is titled Notes Sans Musique (Notes Without Music), later revised as Ma Vie Heureuse (My Happy Life).

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Compositions

Note that the following list represents only a tiny proportion of Milhaud's output; his opus list ended at 443.

Orchestra

1919 Le bœuf sur le toit, Op. 58, ballet (after Cocteau)
1920 Saudades do Brazil, Op. 67 (initially for piano, arr. for orchestra
1920 Cinq Études pour piano et orchestre, Op. 63
1923 La création du monde, Op. 81, ballet music for small orchestra
1926 Le Carneval d'Aix, Op. 83b, Fantasy for piano and orchestra
1937 Suite provençale, Op. 152b for orchestra
1939-1961 12 symphonies

Wind Instruments

1944 Suite française, Op. 248
- 1. Normandie
- 2. Bretagne
- 3. Ile de France
- 4. Alsace-Lorraine
- 5. Provençe
1954 West Point Suite, Op. 313
1960 Deux Marches, Op. 260
- Introduction
- Marche funèbre

Piano

Le bœuf sur le toit for two pianos (1919)
Scaramouche for two pianos (1936)

Stage

1930 Christophe Colomb, opera
1939 Médée, opera, text by Madeleine Milhaud (his wife and cousin)
1950 Bolivar, opera

Chamber Music

1912-1950 18 string quartets
- The 14th and 15th string quartets can be performed separately as well as simultaneously as a string octet. (For a curious 19th-century example of a composer writing works for simultaneous performance, see Pietro Raimondi.)

Vocal Music

1919 Machines agricoles, Op. 56, for one singer and 7 instruments
- The texts for this composition were taken out of a catalogue for agricultural machines.

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