Darius Milhaud

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Darius Milhaud (French pronunciation: [darjys mijo]; 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. His compositions are particularly noted as being influenced by jazz and for their use of polytonality (music in more than one key at once).

Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 3 Notable students 4 Media 5 Notes 6 Archival collections 7 External links

[edit] Biography

Born to a Jewish family in Aix-en-Provence, Milhaud studied in Paris at the Paris Conservatory where he met his fellow group members Arthur Honegger and Germaine Tailleferre. He studied composition under Charles Widor and harmony and counterpoint with André Gédalge. In addition he studied privately with Vincent d'Indy. 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 United States in 1922, Darius Milhaud heard "authentic" jazz for the first time, on the streets of Harlem, ^[1] which left a great impact on his musical outlook. Using some jazz movements, the following year, he finished composing "La création du monde" ("The Creation of the World"), which was cast as a ballet in six continuous dance scenes.^[1]

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. Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck arguably became Milhaud's most famous student when Brubeck furthered his music studies at Mills College in the late 1940s (he named his eldest son Darius). However, his former students also include two of the seminal figures in America's version of minimalism, Philip Glass and Steve Reich, several arrangers and composers associated with West Coast modern jazz, and popular songwriter Burt Bacharach, whom Milhaud famously told never to apologize for writing a pretty melody.

Milhaud (like his contemporaries Paul Hindemith, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Bohuslav Martinů and Heitor Villa-Lobos) was an extremely rapid creator, for whom the art of writing music seemed almost as natural as breathing. His most popular works include Le Boeuf sur le Toit (ballet), La création du monde (a ballet for small orchestra with solo saxophone, influenced by jazz), Scaramouche (for Saxophone and Orchestra, also for two pianos), and Saudades do Brasil (dance suite). His autobiography is titled Notes Sans Musique (Notes Without Music), later revised as Ma Vie Heureuse (My Happy Life).

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, aged 81.

[edit] Works

Darius Milhaud was very prolific and composed for a wide range of genres. His opus list ended at 443.

See List of compositions by Darius Milhaud.

See also: Category:Compositions by Darius Milhaud

[edit] Notable students

• Larry Austin
• Burt Bacharach
• Louis W. Ballard
• Irwin Bazelon
• Robert Beadell
• William Bolcom
• Dave Brubeck
• Edvard Hagerup Bull
• Roger Calmel
• Charles Dodge
• Pierre Max Dubois
• Don Freund
• Philip Glass (During a summer camp where he challenged Aaron Copland's opinion)
• Benjamín Gutiérrez Sáenz[1]
• John Heiss
• Stanley Hollingsworth
• Ben Johnston
• Betsy Jolas
• György Kurtág
• Eugene Kurtz
• Vincent McDermott
• David Noon
• Zenobia Powell Perry
• Steve Reich
• John Donald Robb
• Neil Rolnick
• Pete Rugolo
• Bill Smith
• Karlheinz Stockhausen (though he left his studies early)
• Morton Subotnick
• Gloria Wilson Swisher
• Lester Trimble
• Robert Washburn
• Iannis Xenakis

[edit] Media

	Suite d'Après Corrette - Ii. Tambourin Performed by Michael Henoch, Larry Combs, and William Buchman. Courtesy of Musopen
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Archival collections

• There is a Darius Milhaud Collection at Mills College in California.
• There is another Darius Milhaud Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City.
• The Western Jewish History Center, of the Judah L. Magnes Museum, in Berkeley, California has librettos for Milhaud's opera, David, as well as a program for its American premiere, in Los Angeles, at the Hollywood Bowl, and photocopies of newspaper coverage in the B'nai B'rith Messenger of Los Angeles, of this event (1956) [WJHC Collection Number 1970.002].

[edit] External links

• Complete categorized list of Darius Milhaud's composed works, with opus numbers.
• works published by Universal Edition
• Biography and audio from Service Sacrée at Milken Archive of American Jewish Music
• Darius Milhaud 1892–1974 by Ronald Crichton. Musical Times, August 1974.
• The Boeuf Chronicles – How the ox got on the roof: Darius Milhaud and the Brazilian sources of "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" by Daniella Thompson.
• Darius Milhaud's maximum card from Israel
• [2] - Riccardo Caramella performs the Fantaisie pastorale, Suite Provencale, and Le carnaval d'Aix