# Any love for Milhaud out there...?



## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

He can be very uneven in his works....


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Which ones do you recommend?


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

WhateverDude said:


> He can be very uneven in his works....


Great question. A real blind spot for me. Apart from the cow on the roof and all that, I know nothing. I'm told his string quartets are worth the candle. Other than that, I'm in the dark ....


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Sorry, only little (_Le Boeuf_, _La Creation_).


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## FastkeinBrahms (Jan 9, 2021)

I love the Saudades do Brazil. I think the orchestra version is more popular but the solo piano version is just gorgeous.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

One of those composers where I like most of what I've heard (the concertos, symphonies, string quartets, ballets), but not much that makes a lasting impression. Pleased to have these CD's in my collection, but I would not miss them terribly if they were gone either. If I had to pick a few works to keep I'd probably go for the violin concertos and harp concerto in addition to his most famous works (Le boeuf sur le toit, La creation du monde).


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

The _Orestaia of Aeschylus_ is a great work for chorus and orchestra described as "somewhere between an opera and oratorio." The recording made at the University of Michigan is terrific. It changes forever one's opinion of who Milhaud was and what he could do.

_The Orestaia of Aeschylus_
https://www.prestomusic.com/classic...estie-d-eschyle-oresteia-of-aeschylus#reviews


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Excellent string quartets.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I have a lot of his music, but it's hard to love, at least for me. Le Boeuf sur le Toit is certainly fun, and Suite Provencale is quite nice, but the 12 symphonies still elude me. There once was a terrific recording on Hyperion with four works (le Carnaval D'Aix, L'Apotheose de Moliere, La Carnaval dr Londres and Le Bouef sur le Toit) that is quite enjoyable - alas it's out of print. He needed and still needs a conductor of reputation to promote his music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Merl said:


> Excellent string quartets.


I agree. These works collected in a complete box by the *Quatuor Parisii *is a must have, IMO, for anyone interested in 20th century string quartets. For me, they represent the highest achievement of Milhaud's art.

View attachment 150705


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

He was one of the so called _Les Six_. Their music is often seen as a reaction against both the musical style of Richard Wagner and the impressionist music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. That explains why it can be very uneven in quality.

This is a very energetic tonal suite:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

SanAntone said:


> I agree. These works collected in a complete box by the *Quatuor Parisii *is a must have, IMO, for anyone interested in 20th century string quartets. For me, they represent the highest achievement of Milhaud's art.
> 
> View attachment 150705


I just looked up that box on Amazon. $267? Yikes!


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I, too, have more Milhaud music on my disc shelves than I listen to: the String Quartets, the Symphonies, the Little Symphonies ...

I always intend to get around to it someday in a systematic way, but admit that I haven't done that yet. Which may be "my bad". (In fact, I'm thinking of turning to that music right at this moment, and maybe I will.)

But I do listen to Dave Brubeck's jazz records quite often, and every time I hear Brubeck I think immediately of Milhaud, who was one of Brubeck's teachers and who also shared an interest in jazz, which colors many of Milhaud's scores. (Brubeck named a son Darius, after his teacher.) And though Brubeck is not the subtlest of jazz pianists (as perhaps Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett is), he does the job well.

But I really should listen to some Milhaud.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Manxfeeder said:


> I just looked up that box on Amazon. $267? Yikes!


Too bad. I got it when it first came out. Most of it is available to stream as individual recordings, if you are into that format.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Excellent woodwind music. His WW 5tet - "La Cheminee du Roi Rene" is a standard...."Suite Francaise" is a fine piece for wind ensemble.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

WhateverDude said:


> He can be very uneven in his works....


Please explain this????


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## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

A quick Google search for "Milhaud" and "uneven" elicits nearly 33,000 hits, starting with:

“Milhaud’s admirers will need no reminder that his output was as uneven as it was enormous” (Gramophone)

“This collection... once more underlines the uneven quality of Milhaud’s tireless facility” (Gramophone)

“Milhaud’s eighteen string quartets are highly uneven in quality” (New Yorker)

“Milhaud’s oeuvre as a whole is disappointingly uneven, with far too many works that seem casually thrown together” (Amazon)

“Darius Milhaud is the most uneven of composers” (University of Florida)

“he invariably is described as uneven” (Classics Today)

“he would have been the first to agree that his output was uneven” (Hyperion)

“Milhaud was so prolific and also so uneven that few of us stray far beyond the handful of works which have stayed in the repertoire” (Musicweb International)

“extremely productive but seriously uneven... Darius Milhaud” (Guardian)

“he composed too much: his huge output... is uneven in quality” (Commentary Magazine)

“Composers as prolific as Darius Milhaud are bound to be uneven” (New York Magazine)

If the adjective customarily used to describe the music of Handel is "Handelian," and the adjective customarily used to describe the music of Mozart is "Mozartian," it seems that the adjective customarily used to describe the music of Milhaud is "uneven."


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## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

Another Milhaud work that I'd specially mention is his novel-in-song _Alissa_, for soprano & piano. "Song cycle" doesn't indicate either the scope or the originality of this work: it's an ingenious 30-minute condensation of Gide's classic short novel _La Porte étroite_, suffused with an enigmatic poignancy far removed from Milhaud's reputation for plodding flatness. I feel it can be played alongside the very best in French song without any suggestion of a drop in quality. There are two excellent recordings of it, by Florence Katz (Timpani) and Carole Farley (formerly ASV, now Naxos). Both Timpani and ASV print the text & English trans; can't say whether Naxos does.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

I like Milhaud's violin concertos; there's a fine recording of the first two, plus the lovely miniature "Concertino du Printemps", by Arabella Steinbacher on the Orfeo label.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

My first experience with Milhaud was the ground-breaking _Le Création du Monde_ (1922-23), already mentioned several times here. It is a 15-minute ballet now usually encountered as a concert work, scored to Milhaud's version of his new discovery, jazz. Leonard Bernstein gave an excellent TV presentation on it.

Milhaud was a pioneer in many areas, and so prolific that hardly anyone can have heard his complete works. With his superb ear and brilliant mind, IMO he was the best composer of bitonal and polytonal music -- check out _Le Création du Monde_.


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## WhateverDude (Jun 21, 2019)

Drifted into Milhaud from Poulenc's chamber music for winds. Listened to his sonata for flute, oboe and clarinet. It's interesting if unadventurous. Was hoping for some Bassoon works but he seems to have neglected the Bassoon as a solo instrument. It's a pity.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Been checking out Milhaud's symphonies. I thought #11 was great. Unfortunately can't find a performance on Youtube. Here is a link to it on Spotify.






His octet (quartet 14 and 15 together) is also pretty amazing.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

I haven't see any mention to the *six Chamber Symphonies or Little Symphonies*. Totally gorgeous music. A shame they're too short, albeit completely delectable. I also recommend the piano concertos and other chamber music.


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