• Name: Darius Milhaud
• Birthday: 09/04/1892
• Birth Place: Aix-en-Provence, France
• Died: 06/22/1974
• Place of Death: Geneva, Switzerland
• Period: Modern
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
Darius Milhaud: The 6 Little Symphonies; L boeuf sur le toit; L'homme et son désir; Others	1994
Darius Milhaud Plays and Conducts	1993
Darius Milhaud: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 8	1992
Milhaud: Composer, Pianist & Conductor
Satie: Jack in the Box; Milhaud: Symphony No. 10
(8) L' Homme et son désir, "poème plastique" (ballet) for 4 voices, 12 instruments & 15 percussion (or 2 pianos), Op. 48	1965
Cantique du Rhône (4), for vocal quartet or chorus, Op. 155	2001
Devant sa main nue, for women's chorus, Op. 122	2002
Promesse de Dieu, for chorus, Op. 438	2001
Charmes de la vie (Hommage à Watteau) for piano, Op. 360arr
Polka, for piano (from collaborative one-act ballet L'eventail de Jeanne), Op. 95arr
(4) Sonata, for 2 violins & piano, Op. 15	1991
À Cupidon, song for voice & orchestra (or piano; Chansons de Ronsard No. 2), Op. 223/2	1947
À une fontaine, song for voice & orchestra (or piano; Chansons de Ronsard No. 1), Op. 223/1	1947
(3) Acceuil amical (17), suite of piano pieces for children, Op. 326
Adages (16), songs for 4 voices, chorus & chamber orchestra (or piano), Op. 120c	1991
(3) Alissa, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 9	1992
Ani maamin, cantata for soprano, 4 reciters, chorus & orchestra "un chant perdu et retrouvé", Op. 441	1992
(3) Aspen-Serenade, for chamber orchestra, Op. 361 W	1966
(3) Ballade, for piano & orchestra, Op. 61 W	1975
(4) Berceuse, song for voice & piano or orchestra (Chants Populaire Hébraïques No. 4), Op. 86/4
Braziliera, arranged anonymously for wind band (from Scaramouche)
(5) Braziliera, arranged by Jascha Heifetz for violin & piano (from Scaramouche)	1996
(3) Cain and Abel, for reciter & orchestra (for collaborative cantata "Genesis Suite"), Op. 241	1946
Cantate de l'Homme, for reciter, chorus, winds, percussion & piano, Op. 164	1991
Cantate de la guerre, for chorus, Op. 213
(2) Cantate de la Paix, for men's choir & children's choir, Op. 166
Cantate des Proverbes, for women's chorus & small ensemble, Op. 310	2002
(6) Caprice, for clarinet & piano, Op. 335a	1993
(2) Caramel mou (Shimmy), for piano, Op. 68arr	1986
(3) Carnaval à la Nouvelle-Orléans (4), for 2 pianos, Op. 275 W	1997
(4) Catalogue de fleurs (7), song cycle for voice & chamber orchestra (or piano), Op. 60	1996
Chanson de l'aveugle, for voice & piano (Chansons de Madame Bovary No. 1), Op. 128d/1
Chanson du printemps, for voice & piano (Chansons de Madame Bovary No. 2), Op. 128d/2
Chansons bas de Stephane Mallarmé (8), song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 44	1996
(2) Chansons de négresse (3), songs for voice & orchestra (or piano), Op. 148b	1996
(9) Chansons de Ronsard (4), for voice & orchestra (or piano), Op. 223 W
Chansons de théâtre (6), song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 151b
(5) Chants populaires hébraïques (6), song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra), Op. 86	1993
(4) Choral, for piano, Op. 111
(5) Cinéma fantaisie d'aprés Le boeuf sur le toit , for violin & orchestra (or piano), Op. 58b	2000
(2) Concert Royal, for violin & orchestra or piano (Violin Concerto No. 3), Op. 373	1959
(2) Concertino d'automne, for 2 pianos & 8 instruments, Op. 309
(4) Concertino d'hiver, for trombone & string orchestra (or piano), Op. 327
(8) Concertino de printemps, for violin & chamber orchestra (or piano), Op. 135
Concerto, for 2 pianos & 4 percussionists No. 2, Op. 394
(4) Concerto, for 2 pianos & orchestra (or 3 pianos) No. 1, Op. 228	1969
(8) Concerto, for cello & orchestra (or piano) No. 1, Op. 136	1989
Concerto, for cello & orchestra (or piano) No. 2, Op. 255	2000
(2) Concerto, for clarinet & orchestra (or piano), Op. 230	1996
(3) Concerto, for harp & orchestra (or piano), Op. 323 W	1972
(6) Concerto, for marimba, vibraphone & orchestra (or piano), Op. 278	1995
(6) Concerto, for percussion & chamber orchestra (or piano), Op. 109	1955
(3) Concerto, for piano & orchestra (or 2 pianos), No. 2, Op. 225	1949
Concerto, for piano & orchestra (or 2 pianos), No. 3, Op. 270	2005

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. ~ Blair Johnston, All Music Guide