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Darius Milhaud

Suite pour Violin, Clarinet et Piano,Op. 157b (1936)

01 Ouverture [1.35] 02 Divertissement [2.50] 03 Jeu [1.28] 04 Introduction & Final [5.40]

Suite Symphonique No. 2 (“Protée”),Op. 57 (1919)

05 Ouverture [3.52] 06 Prélude et Fugue [3.27] 07 Pastorale [5.18] 08 Nocturne [2.26] 09 Final [4.13]

Troisième Symphonie pour petite orchestre(“Sérénade”), Op. 71 (1921)

10 Vivement [1.05]11 Calme [1.11]12 Rondement [0.54]

Sérénade pour orchestre,Op.62 (1920/1)

13 Vif [2.53]14 Tranquille [6.24]15 Vif [4.42]

Cinq Études pour piano et orchestre,Op. 63 (1920)

16 Vif [1.07]17 Doucement [2.41]18 Fugues: vif et rythme [1.06]19 Sombre [2.43]20 Romantique: tres animé [2.20]

Suite de l’opéra “Maximilien”,Op.110b (arr .1950)

21 Movement de marche [1.27]22 Interlude 1 [2.23]23 Interlude 2 [1.20]24 Interlude 3 [1.37]25 Interlude 4 [3.01]26 Interlude 5 [2.15]27 Interlude 6 (Final) [2.35]

Trois Rag Caprices,Op. 78 (1922)

28 Sec et musclé [2.21]29 Romance: tendrement [2.17]30 Précis et nerveux [2.18]

total CD duration [79.30]

Technical note by Andrew Rose:

“Working with both vinyl and shellac togetherfor a single CD is always a challenge - howevergood the 78s are, they're unlikely to be amatch for vinyl in terms of frequency range,dynamic range or surface noise. And yet, asI think this CD shows, they can comeremarkably close - close enough that youdon't feel a major sonic gear-change goingon as we move from one to the other.

I was extremely fortunate to have uneartheda set of US-pressed Victor 78s of the ProtéeSuite in superb condition. These wererecorded only a few short years before theearliest vinyl material, and as such at least a

part of the recording equipment must havebeen comparable to those later recordings.Even so, the sound I found on these discssurprised me by its quality, and set the barreally high for the Little Symphony, a muchearlier British recording.

Still, Protée gave me something to aim forwith the Symphony, and I think I was able todo it justice. In fact, the recording which gavethe greatest trouble was the Trio Suite, whereintermodulation distortion, particularly betweenclarinet and violin at the lower end of theirregisters, caused a lot of trouble and mayremain just audible in some sections - thoughnot, I hope, at a level which will spoil thelistener's enjoyment of this fabulous collection.”

remastered by:

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Darius Milhaud was born in Aix-en-Provence,France, in 1892. The influences on his lifeand compositional career were many andvaried, permitting him to produce an outputboth copious and highly individual. Provencewas his first inspiration: both its landscapesand its people informed his early development,and he heard every day the songs of theworkers in his father’s almond dealership,and the comic songs of the local café-concerts. He was also raised in a stronglyJewish area, and though never an orthodoxJew, he retained deep religious beliefs. TheJews of Aix have their own liturgy which hemust have heard often. His opera Esther deCarpentras and the Poèmes juifs, among otherworks, are direct results of these earlyinfluences.

He was a precociously talented child, playingduets with his father (a fine amateur pianist)from the age of three, and taking violin lessonsaged seven. He had already begun tocompose by 1905, and realised that this wasto be his chosen field. At the age of 17 heentered the Conservatoire in Paris, studyingunder Dukas, Leroux, Widor and Gédalge,and forming friendships with Auric andHonegger amongst others. Of equalimportance were his friendships with poetFrancis Jammes, and Paul Claudel. The latter

provided many texts for the young composerto set, and became very close to Milhaud.The novelist André Gide too, was an importantearly influence, impressing the composer withChristian themes of purity, suffering andsacrifice which led to several works ofspecifically Christian inspiration, such as theCantate de la croix de charité, the song-cycleAlissa, and many settings of Claudel’s texts,including perhaps his most famous work,Christophe Colomb.

Being excluded for military service for medicalreasons, Milhaud spent much of the 1914-18war helping refugees, until in 1916 he obtaineda job in the French foreign ministry. The warand its repercussions on humanity causedhim much pain, especially with the death inwar service of his close friend Léo Latil. PaulClaudel had been appointed as ambassadorto Brazil, and in 1917 Milhaud was invited tojoin the embassy staff as the attaché in chargeof propaganda. His short stay (just under twoyears) saw him organizing concerts to aid theRed Cross, as well as his official duties. Theexotic sounds and rhythms of Brazil had animpact on Milhaud and found its way into anumber of works thereafter.

Returning to Paris, Milhaud found a new typeof society, the era of cabaret, café-bars, and

SUITE FOR VIOLIN, CLARINET ANDPIANO, Op. 157bPerformed by Jacques Parrenin (violin), UlysseDelécluse (clarinet) and Annette Haas-Hamburger (piano). Recorded c. 1952.Originally released in 1953 in the UK (FelstedRL89006) and in the USA on Period SPL 563.

LITTLE CHAMBER SYMPHONY No. 3,Op. 71Performed by Jean Pougnet (violin), AnthonyPini (cello), Reginald Kell (clarinet), PaulDraper (bassoon), and George Eskdale(trumpet) conducted by Walter Goehr.Recorded on 30 September 1936, EMI matrixnumber CA15948. Originally released onColumbia DB1788.

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SYMPHONIC SUITE No.2, Op. 57Performed by the San Francisco SymphonyOrchestra, conducted by Pierre Monteux.Recorded 14 April 1945, originally releasedin the USA on RCA Victor 11-8977, 11-8978and 11-8979.

SERENADE FOR ORCHESTRA, Op. 62FIVE STUDIES FOR PIANO ANDORCHESTRA, op. 63 *SUITE “MAXIMILIEN”, Op. 110bTROIS RAG CAPRICES, Op. 78Performed by the Vienna SymphonyOrchestra, conducted by Henry Swoboda,(* with Paul Badura-Skoda, piano). Recordedin 1950. Originally released in the USA onWestminster WL5051.

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bohemian lifestyles in which poets, artistsand musicians thrived. It was at this time thatMilhaud became a member of the group ofcomposers known as “Les Six” under thementorship of Jean Cocteau. He held soiréesin his flat at which many of the creative talentsdiscussed their new work, renewingfriendships with Honegger and Poulenc, andmeeting Satie. During the 1920s he alsotravelled extensively, including trips to London,where he discovered the then new andexciting world of jazz, with extremely fruitfulresults, and also Vienna, where he metSchoenberg, Berg and Webern.

He was also involved in concert tours to theUSA and the USSR, giv ing manyperformances as a pianist and conductor. Hiscomposition continued unabated; by this timehe had fully developed the polytonality whichhad begun to underpin all of his music froman early age. He so well mastered thetechnique that though his compositions arethoroughly “modern”, the transparency of hisscoring and the sheer brilliance of hisinterweaving of different keys within a piecealways produce music which is approachableand enjoyable at any level. Despite thetechnical complexity of his writing (comparedto the relative simplicity of Poulenc’scompositions, for example), his music has,

for its period, a unique blend of avant-gardeexperimentalism and sheer tunefulness.

During the 1920s Milhaud wrote severalarticles on compositional techniques, andregular music criticism, and by 1930 with theimmense success of his opera ChristopheColomb (premièred in Berlin under ErichKleiber) he was well established as a majormusical figure. He started to compose muchfilm and incidental music, continuing hisactivities in music journalism; he began tosuffer from rheumatoid arthritis, which wouldeventually confine him to a wheelchair.

As a Jewish artist, Milhaud was a naturaltarget of the Nazi authorities, and after theGerman occupation of France, he emigratedto the USA, where he took up several teachingposts, including one at Mills College, Oakland.He retained this position even after his returnto France in 1947 (giving it up only in 1971),and for many years travelled back and forthbetween the two countries. Despite his illness,he found enormous satisfaction in his hecticlife, continuing to compose, teach and performalmost until his death in 1974.

The music presented on this CD wascomposed between 1919 and 1936, a periodin which Milhaud experienced many life-

the melodies superpose on a bass of austereregularity, as essential as the circulation ofthe blood, the heartbeat and the pulse.”

One of the more overt expressions of this loveof jazz was the piano work Trois RagCaprices,Op.78, written in 1922, just after abrief trip to the USA where he heard the PaulWhiteman Band, and which he orchestrateda few years later. Whilst the work is inspiredby American popular tunes and rhythms, itinterprets these in a symphonic manner, andis not a blatantly “jazzy” piece in the way thatMartinu’s Trois Esquisses are. It led the wayto his jazz-inspired masterpiece La créationdu Monde, written in 1923.

The first Caprice [28] is titled Sec et musclé(“dry and robust”). It starts tonally, thencombines three keys in polytonal passages,with solo bassoon and trombone adding hintsof humour and romance respectively. In theorchestra, the texture is passed alternatelybetween strings and wind.

In the second movement [29], which is titledRomance, we are presented with sensuouschromatic passages, at first embodying also aslight frisson which resolves into a relaxedpianissimo. There is no tempo marking, only theword tendrement (“tenderly”). A complete

contrast is found in the last piece [30] whichMilhaud marks Précis et nerveux. Pizzicato stringsskip around in wide intervals, while the musicembodies subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints ofragtime and also a sentimental waltz figure. Asingle key suffices at first; then additional keysand rhythms are introduced, creating a whirlingkaleidoscope of sounds in “polyrhythmicpolytonality”. The music settles down into agentler chromaticism, and is brought to a haltby the drums’ repeated insistent strokes.

Notes © 2006 Stephen Sutton

References:Jeremy Drake: “Darius Milhaud”Grove Music Online,accessed 27.01.06http://www.grovemusic.com

Digital restoration by Andrew Rose of PristineAudioBooklet design by Stephen SuttonPrint preparation by Blake Printers Ltd.Series producer: Stephen SuttonCover photo of Darius Milhaud supplied byLebrecht Music & Arts, www.lebrecht.co.uk© 2006 Divine Art Ltd

PUBLISHERS:Tracks 1-9 SACEM/G. Ricordi & CoTracks 10-30 SACEM/Universal Edition

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changing events, and was constantlydeveloping and refining his style. It shouldbe pointed out that, unusually, though hismusic is seen to be inspired by many factorsas has been briefly mentioned, there are noreal individual composers who can be seenas forerunners; Milhaud truly stands apart asa unique and fascinating musical voice.

The Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, Op.157b, was composed in 1936, and representsthe most mature work presented here. It is(for Milhaud) relatively straightforward. Itderives from incidental music written for aproduction at the Théatre des Mathurins,Paris, of Anouilh’s play Le Voyageur sansBagages. Very typical of Milhaud is thebouncy, animated Ouverture [1]. The writingis more challenging stylistically thantechnically, requiring a light touch and perfectintonation in the many octaves betweenclarinet and violin. The second movement[2], titled Divertissement, is a lullaby whichbegins with violin and clarinet only, the latterhaving to play tricky low repeated legatooctaves, the piano joining in to recapitulatethe opening theme. The Jeu [3] is lively fun,and the piano is excluded. Rhythms areoverlaid in a sparkling cascade of notes. Thefinal movement [4] is in two parts: a rathersombre Introduction being followed by a joyful,

swinging 6/8 Final, whose theme with itssyncopated rhythm could well be a cabaretsong. The piece ends in subdued mood.

Milhaud wrote two Symphonic Suites derivedfrom his large corpus of incidental music. Hisgreat friend Paul Claudel wrote the satiricaldrama “Protée” in 1913; Milhaud describedthe work as “a strong mixture of truculentgaiety and poetry”. After a meeting withClaudel, Milhaud composed a few pieces,designated Op.17, for chorus and orchestra;they were rescored for small orchestra in1916, then in 1919 he was asked to developthe music, add some more pieces, and usea large orchestra.

Thus was produced the Symphonic Suite No.2, Op.57. The music was quite revolutionaryand at the first performance, police had to becalled to calm down the over-excitedaudience. (Similar stories are attributed toother Milhaud premières in this period). Thecuriosity about the music was so great thatthe conductor Pierné repeated the Suite thefollowing week and it soon became a regularfeature in Paris concerts. Although based onGreek mythology, Milhaud used many LatinAmerican figures in the piece, garnered fromhis time in Brazil. The Ouverture [5] is a tango-habañera, which is followed by a furious

this device was described by Milhaud as a“justification of the word Étude”. The musichere is also more tonally complex throughout.We return to simpler more open structures inthe final movement [20], which though titledRomantique is marked trés animé. The pianosets things moving and the trumpet responds,with a syncopated chromatic melody. Thecello chips in, and the music becomes moreanimated and richly-textured. The strings enterwith gentle arpeggios in four different keys,leading to a series of diminished-seventh“blues” chords, and the sudden fortissimo end.

Milhaud’s opera Maximilien was firstperformed in 1932 at the Paris Opera, andcarries the opus number 110. It is the storyof the Spanish Emperor of Mexico, a proudman doomed to failure, removed from powerby the hero Juarez, who is lauded by thepeople as their saviour from colonialism. Themusic is rich in harmonic complexity, and isperhaps more than any other workuncompromising in its use of multiple tonalitieswhich create suitable dramatic tension to suitthe opera’s story. The critics of the time weremerciless: the most accommodating, HenriPrunieres, did say that he felt the presenceof a genius of undeniable power, and that hehad rarely encountered an opera “so overflowwith music”. However he was still so

uncomfortable with the harmonic novelty ofthe music that he was moved also to say that“Each voice moves about in its own sweetway. If by chance the voices meet on theirway out, so much the better.” Milhaud’s truegenius, in creating polytonal writing, whichwas in fact totally removed from any senseof “randomness”, was not be truly recognisedfor some time.

The Suite of seven movements [21-27],completed in 1950, consists of the opera’ssymphonic interludes, each depicting andsummarising the scenes and action. Asmentioned, the music is quite severe in itsdissonance, keys clashing constantly, butthis is not at all unsuitable for music whichdescribes an armed popular uprising. This isparticularly the case in the final which is takenfrom the Overture to the opera and in themain represents the figure of Juarez.

We have described how Milhaud came acrossearly Jazz music in London where he heardthe Billy Arnold Jazz Band. It hit Paris with abang in the 1920s and Milhaud, on his returnfrom South America, was fascinated by it, aswere many composers. In fact he adored thenew genre, and wrote of “this new school ofrhythm which shakes us”, referring to how“these syncopations in the rhythms and in

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Prelude and Fugue [6] for the brass sectionin which the rest of the orchestra provides abackdrop. This section depicts a scene in theplay in which seals throw themselves into thewater with “braying, trumpeting and thumpingof tails and fins”. There follows a Pastorale[7], beautifully flowing and rocking, usingLatin syncopated rhythms very effectively.The subsequent Nocturne [8], though relatedto a Bacchanale in the play, is gentle andsmoothly calm, not the wild orgy which mightbe expected. The music of the Final [9] isrousing, rumbustious and bright, a fittingclimax to this fine work.

Although Milhaud wrote 13 full-scalesymphonies (including the un-numberedchoral symphony Pacem in Terris), his firstworks with the title are tiny, compact pieces,matching the work of Webern in conciseness.Of the three Little Symphonies for ChamberOrchestra, the third, subtitled Sérénade, (Op.71, dating from 1921) is perhaps the best-known, due in part to its inclusion (in theversion we hear here) in the Columbia Historyof Music by Ear and Eye. In its total durationof just over three minutes, it presents threefull yet miniscule movements, each a modelof musical miniaturisation.

The first [10] corresponds to the opening

sonata-form movement of a classicalsymphony, marked Vivement, with a livelytune for flute forming its basis. The centralsection, Calme, [11] sees the strings presenta smooth melody over a bubblingbackground, while the final movement [12]is a lively Presto. Equivalent to a full scaleRondo, though marked Rondement, its shortspan drags the polytonal writing into adefinitively tonal final chord.

It is fascinating to compare this little piecewith the similarly titled Serenade for Orchestra,Op. 62, also dating from 1920/1, which alsohas three movements, of like character. Itcould almost be described as the “grown-up” version, using a full-sized orchestra. Thesame brilliant writing, allowed more time todevelop, marks the piece as unmistakeablyMilhaud. Here, polytonality is not the meresuperimposition of chords, but forms the basisof contrapuntal writing in which scales andmelodies in different keys are masterfullyinterwoven – creating sounds which whilethoroughly modern, create an overall senseof tonality, as Milhaud himself said.

The first movement [13] includes, accordingto the composer, “a fugato based on theopposition of F and B tonalities”. Marked Vif,it starts with a simple march in B flat. After a

brief calm episode a lilting waltz is played bythe flute, before the march returns on thetrumpet, with syncopated strings behind. ThatB/F fugato ensues. As the two keys areextremely remote, sharing only one note, thebitonal aspect is clear to the ear. Two furtherkeys appear, creating a quadritonal sectionof complexity yet which is never difficult onthe ear, before the march returns and themovement ends where it started, in B flatmajor.

The second movement [14] is a gentlyswaying barcarolle, marked Tranquillo.Pastoral in mood, with little variation inexpression, the music is relatively tonal withonly the flute providing a chromatic melodyas contrast. In the third movement [15], alsomarked Vif, the tonality is also on the wholevery restrained, with various contrapuntalelements, many employing fourths in theirlines, straying off into remote keys, insomething akin to a rondo.

Also from the same period come the CinqÉtudes, Op.63. The five studies, for piano andorchestra, were written during the summer of1920. Milhaud describes each of the Étudesas “a study of sound balance withpolytonality”. In the first, [16], only two keysare used, though additional notes dotted

around the main themes give the impressionof a more robust polychromaticism. MarkedVif (one of Milhaud’s favourite expressions),the movement provides clarity to each of thetwo main keys simultaneously. Brazilianinfluence is once again heard in the secondmovement [17]. The piano part is intricate,as is the flute’s line, heard mostly in the upperregister, while the muted trombone sings acrude street song behind. Marked Doucement,the music evokes a tropical evening, slow,languorous and exotic. A marked contrast isheard in the third movement [18], titledFugues: Vif et rythme. The plural is explainedby the composer ’s descript ion: “asuperimposition of a four-part fugue in A inthe woodwinds, a three-part fugue in D flat inthe brass, a four-part fugue in F in the strings,and a fugue with a subject combining thenotes of these three tonalities in the piano.”Remarkably, the genius of the writing stillprevents this structure from becoming a merecacophony, and each of the fugues issimultaneously audible with clarity.

The fourth movement [19] is a musicalpalindrome, where after twenty bars, the musicis written backwards, note for note, and usingthe same instrumentation (though a briefpiano arpeggio, timpani roll and a concludingtriangle note are added). Known as a “crab”,