Darius Milhaud

20th Century · 1892–1974

Darius Milhaud grew up in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France and never lost his taste for sunlight and popular tunes. As a young man he worked in Rio de Janeiro as secretary to the poet-diplomat Paul Claudel, and Brazilian dance rhythms got into his blood. A later visit to Harlem introduced him to jazz, which he folded into the ballet La création du monde before most concert composers had taken jazz seriously at all.

He belonged to Les Six, a group of young Parisian composers who favored wit and clarity over Romantic grandeur. Being Jewish, he fled France in 1940 and taught for years at Mills College in California, where his students included Dave Brubeck. He composed enormous amounts of music in nearly every form.

Start with La création du monde, then Le boeuf sur le toit, a giddy carnival of Brazilian tunes.

111 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.

Chamber

3 Divertissement, suite for wind quintet, op. 299b
4 Visages for Viola and Piano, op. 238
5 Suites de Concert aprés La création du monde, for piano quintet, op. 81arr
Caprice, for clarinet and piano, op. 335a
Cello Sonata, op. 377
Clarinet Sonatina, op. 100
Corcovado, arranged for flute and guitar, op. 67, no. 7arr
Duo Concertante, for clarinet and piano, op. 351
Elégie, for cello and piano, op. 251
Exercice musical, for pipe and piano, op. 134
Flute Sonatina, op. 76
Jacob's Dreams, dance suite for oboe, string trio and double-bass, op. 294
La Cheminée du Roi René, suite for wind quintet, op. 205
Le Printemps, for violin and piano, op. 18
Little Symphony, for 10 winds no. 5, 'Dixtour d'instruments à vent', op. 75
Little Symphony, for chamber orchestra no. 3,, op. 71, "Sérénade"
Pastorale, for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, op. 147
Rag-caprices, for chamber orchestra, op. 78arr
Sonata, for 2 violins and piano, op. 15
Sonatina for Viola and Cello, op. 378
Sonatina for Violin and Cello, op. 324
Sonatina for Violin and Viola, op. 226
Stanford Serenade, for oboe and 11 instruments, op. 430
String Quartet no. 1, op. 5
String Quartet no. 6, op. 77
String Quartet no. 7, op. 87
String Quartet no. 8, op. 121
Suite d'après Corrette, for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, op. 161b
Suite for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, op. 157b
Sumaré, arranged for cello and piano, op. 67, no. 6arr
Ségoviana, for guitar, op. 366
Viola Sonata no. 1, op. 240
Viola Sonata no. 2, op. 244
Violin Sonata no. 2, op. 40
Élégie pour Pierre, for viola, timpani and 2 percussionists, op. 416
Études sur des thèmes liturgiques du comtat Venaissi, for string quartet, op. 442

Keyboard

Saudades do Brasil, op. 67
Scaramouche: Suite for 2 Pianos, op. 165b
9 Preludes, for organ, op. 231b
Caramel mou, for piano, op. 68arr
L'Album de Madame Bovary, suite from film score, op. 128b
La création du monde, reduction of ballet for piano, 4 hands, op. 81b
La muse ménagère, op. 245
Le boeuf sur le toit, reduction of ballet for piano, 4 hands, op. 58arr
Mazurka, for piano
Tabernacles, for piano

Orchestral

Suite provençale, op. 152a
5 Suite française, op. 248b
12 Saudades do Brasil, for saxophone and orchestra, op. 67b
Aspen-Serenade, for chamber orchestra, op. 361
Cello Concerto no. 1, op. 136
Cinéma fantaisie d'aprés Le boeuf sur le toit, for violin and orchestra, op. 58b
Concertino d'automne, for 2 pianos and 8 instruments, op. 309
Concertino d'hiver, for trombone and string orchestra, op. 327
Concerto, for marimba, vibraphone and orchestra, op. 278
Concerto, for percussion and chamber orchestra, op. 109
Concerto no. 1 for 2 Pianos, op. 228
Le Globe-trotter, suite op. 358arr
Piano Concerto, no. 2, op. 225
Scaramouche, suite for clarinet and orchestra, op. 165d
Scaramouche, suite for saxophone and orchestra, op. 165c
Suite provencale, op. 152c
Suite symphonique no. 2, op. 57, "Protée"
Symphony no. 7, op. 344
Symphony no. 8, "Rhodanienne"
Symphony no. 9, op. 380
Symphony no. 10, op. 382
Symphony no. 11, op. 384, "Romantique"
Symphony no. 12, op. 390, "Rurale"

Stage

La création du monde, op. 81 Ballet
Le boeuf sur le toit, op. 58 Ballet
L' Homme et son désir, 'poème plastique' for 4 voices, 12 instruments and 15 percussion, op. 48 Ballet
Les Choëphores, incidental music for vocal quartet, narrator, chorus, and orchestra, op. 24
Les Malheurs d'Orphée,, op. 85 Opera
Le train bleu Ballet
Moïse, ballet symphonique for orchestra, op. 219

Vocal

2 Chansons de Madame Bovary, op. 128d
2 Petits airs, for voice and piano, op. 51
2 Poèmes d'amour, songs for voice and piano, op. 30
3 Chansons de négresse, songs for voice and orchestra, op. 148b
3 Poèmes de Jean Cocteau, songs for voice and piano, op. 59
3 Poèmes en prose de Lucille de Châteaubriand, songs for voice and piano, op. 10
4 Poèmes de Paul Claudel, songs for voice and piano, op. 26
4 Poèms de Latil, for voice and piano, op. 20
6 Machines agricoles, song cycle for voice and 7 instruments, op. 56, "pastorales"
Alissa, song cycle for voice and piano, op. 9
Cain and Abel, for reciter and orchestra, op. 241
Cantate de la Guerre, for chorus, op. 213
Cantate de la Paix, for men's choir and children's choir, op. 166
Cantate des Proverbes, for women's chorus and small ensemble, op. 310
Catalogue des fleurs, op. 60
Chanson bas, for voice and piano, op. 44
Chansons de Ronsard, for voice and orchestra, op. 223
Chansons de théâtre, song cycle for voice and piano, op. 151b
Chants Populaire Hébraïques, for voice and orchestra, op. 86
D'un cahier inédit d'Eugènie de Guérin, song cycle for voice and piano, op. 27
Gam Hayom, Palestinian folksong setting for voice and piano, op. 179, no. 2
Holem Tsaudi, Palestinian folksong setting for voice and piano, op. 179, no. 1
L' amour chante, songs for voice and piano, op. 409
Les Soirées de Pétrograd, 12 songs for voice and piano in 2 volumes, op. 55
Naissance de Vénus, cantata for a capella chorus, op. 292
Poème du Gitanjali, song for voice and piano, op. 22
Poème du journal intime de Léo Latil, song for voice and piano, op. 73
Poèmes de Coventry Patmore, songs for voice and piano, op. 31
Poèmes juifs, songs for voice and piano, op. 34
Psalm 122, for male a capella chorus, op. 72
Quatrain à Albert Roussel, song for voice and piano, op. 106
Rêves, for voice and piano, op. 233
Service sacre pour le samedi matin, for solo voice, reciter, chorus and orchestra, op. 279
Tristesses, for voice and piano, op. 355
Vocalise, op. 105

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