Darius Milhaud
One of the more prolific composers of the twentieth century, Darius Milhaud was born to a Jewish family in southern France during the last decade of the nineteenth century. He learned the violin as a youth. Studies at the Paris Conservatoire from age 17 on gave the young composer opportunity to work with some of the most prominent French composers and theorists of the day, including Charles Marie Widor, Vincent d'Indy and André Gedalge, and allowed him to focus on developing his skills as a pianist.
While serving as an attaché at the French delegation in Rio de Janeiro during the First World War, Milhaud began a long and fruitful association with poet Paul Claudel (who was at that time a Minister at the delegation), several of whose plays Milhaud would go on to provide with incidental music (Proteé, 1919; L'annonce fait à Marie, 1934) and who, in turn, would supply libretti for many of Milhaud's compositions (e.g. the opera Christophe Colomb of 1928).
After returning to Paris in 1919 Milhaud was adopted into the circle of "Les Six," a group of progressive French composers brought together under the guidance of Jean Cocteau. However, like any such artificial collection, Les Six was quick to dissolve, and during the 1920s Milhaud adopted an assortment of new musical influences (notably jazz, which the composer first discovered during a trip to the U.S. in 1922, and which features prominently in much of his subsequent music).
Milhaud composed, performed, and taught ceaselessly during the 1920s and 1930s, only abandoning his homeland in late 1939 after all hope of resisting the German advance vanished. Settling in the United States, Milhaud accepted a teaching position with Mills College in Oakland, California, and continued to compose prolifically. From 1947 he combined his American teaching duties with a similar position at the Paris Conservatoire, remaining at both institutions until 1971, when his poor health forced him into retirement (Milhaud had suffered from a serious, paralyzing rheumatic condition since the 1920s; in later years he was only mobile through the use of a wheelchair). He died in Switzerland three years later.
Milhaud's musical output is impressive, both in terms of quantity and quality. The numbers alone are staggering for a twentieth century composer: nine operas, 12 ballets, 12 symphonies (in addition to six chamber symphonies), six piano concertos (one of them a double concerto), 18 string quartets, and about 400 other compositions in almost every conceivable form and instrumentation. The most frequently discussed feature of his musical language is polytonality (the simultaneous use of multiple tonal centers), though Milhaud was familiar with and fluent in any number of twentieth century "techniques." A skillful contrapuntist, Milhaud composed two string quartets (Nos. 14 and 15, both from 1949) which may also be performed simultaneously as an octet.
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Milhaud: Concertinos de printemps, d'été, d'automne et d'hiver (Stereo Version)
Orchestre Lamoureux, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Service sacré pour le samedi matin (Mono Version)
Heinz Rehfuss, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Symphonie No. 1, Suite française & Cantate de l'enfant et de la mère (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: La création du monde, Op. 81a (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 15 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Darius Milhaud - Florilège de la Musique Classique Moderne et Contemporaine - Highlights of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music - Vol. 18
Igor Markevitch, Georges Prêtrte
Classical - Released by ISIS on 31 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Les quatre saisons (Mono Version)
Orchestre Lamoureux, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Suite française - Ibert: Escales (Mono Version)
New York Philharmonic, Darius Milhaud, Artur Rodzinski
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ma vie heureuse: Discours de Darius Milhaud (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Concerto pour violon No. 2, Concertino de printemps & Danses de Jacarémirim (Mono Version)
Louis Kaufman, Orchestre National de France, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Suite provençale, Op. 152c & Saudades do Brasil, Op. 67b (Mono Version)
Concert Arts Symphony Orchestra, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Les rêves de Jacob & L'homme et son désir (Mono Version)
Darius Milhaud, Ensemble vocal et instrumental Roger-Désormière, Pierre Pierlot
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Le pauvre matelot (Mono Version)
Jacqueline Brumaire, Jean Giraudeau, Orchestre du Theatre National De L'Opera De Paris, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Symphonie No. 3 "Te Deum" & Concerto pour deux pianos No. 1 (Mono Version)
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Darius Milhaud
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leurs débuts: Darius Milhaud (Collection trésors, mono version)
Darius Milhaud, Jean Giraudeau, Quintette à vent de la Garde républicaine de Paris
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Le retour de l'enfant prodigue (Mono Version)
Darius Milhaud, Orchestre du Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique, Bernard Demigny
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Le chateau de feu - La mort du tyran - Introduction et marche funebre from Le quatorze juillet
French National Radio Chorus, Paris Philharmonia Orchestra, Darius Milhaud, Charles Bruck
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Dec 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Darius Milhaud & Vittorio Rieti: Violin Sonatas
Roger Elmiger, Micheline Mitrani
Chamber Music - Released by VDE-GALLO on 24 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Suite Provence 5-8
Classical - Released by Best Buy Classical on 24 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Suite Provence 1-4
Classical - Released by Best Buy Classical on 24 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud: Cantate de l'enfant et de la mere - La muse menagere (1945, 1950)
Madeleine Milhaud, Leonid Hambro, Juilliard String Quartet, Darius Milhaud
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 3 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud, D.: Suite Provencale / Saudades Do Brasil (Milhaud) (1957)
Concert Arts Orchestra, Darius Milhaud
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo