Darius Milhaud

Books about Darius Milhaud and his music

Robert J. Garofalo and Darius Milhaud Suite Francaise (Masterworks instructional series) Meredith Music, 2000; ISBN 1574630636; 56 pages New from Robert Garofalo, an instructional unit on Milhaud's original classic work for band, Suite Francaise. This incredible teaching tool contains Interpretive Analysis, Folk Song Sources, Teacher's Lesson Plan and Student Learning Guide. Written for any band or orchestra conductor planning to perform this work. An outstanding teaching tool that applies the MENC "Standards" to the podium. A "MUST HAVE" for the serious wind band conductor! Price indication: $ 16.95

Darius Milhaud and Donald Evans and George Hall My Happy Life: An Autobiography Marion Boyars Publishers, 1995; ISBN 0714529575; 288 pages Price indication: $ 58.98

Barbara L. Kelly Tradition and Style in the Works of Darius Milhaud 1912-1939 Ashgate Publishing, 2003; ISBN 0754630331; 212 pages Described by Maurice Ravel as one of the most considerable talents in French music of his generation, Darius Milhaud remains a largely neglected composer. This book reappraises his contribution, focusing on the emergence of the composer's style until his Jewish background forced his exile to the United States on the eve of the World War II. The period 1912-1939 spans the crucial years that mark the development of Milhaud's mature style. It was also during this time that he published his most important writings on contemporary music and its relationship to the past. Barbara Kelly discusses the extent to which Milhaud's complex views on the idea of a French national musical heritage relate to his own practice and considers how his works reflect the balance between innovation and tradition. Drawing comparisons with contemporaries, such as Debussy, Satie, Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Poulenc, the book argues that the rhythmic vitality of Milhaud's style and his modal approach within a polytonal context mark him out as an original and distinctive composer. Price indication: $ 99.95

Roger Nichols Conversations With Madeleine Milhaud Faber & Faber, 1996; ISBN 0571160557; 111 pages Darius Milhaud was a member of 'Les Six', that highly prominent and fashionable group of Parisian composers of the 1920s. The Milhauds played an active part in the musical, cultural and social life of Paris at that time and later, numbering Cocteau, Dufy, Diaghilev, Satie, Stravinsky and Ravel among their friends. In Milhaud's own autobiography, My Happy Life, the references to Madeleine were tender but few. In these conversations she views the same life of interest and contentment 'from the distaff side'. Madeleine knew Milhaud from her childhood - they were cousins - and she was at his side through most of his adventures, triumphs and traumas, including the agonising bouts of arthritis from which Milhaud suffered. Madeleine herself had a successful career as an actress and reciter and in these conversations with Roger Nicholls she reveals as a highly spirited and determined woman in her own right. Price indication: $ 5.43

Paul Collaer Darius Milhaud San Francisco Pr, 1988; ISBN 091130262X; 400 pages Price indication: $ 122.79

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud: Interviews with Claude Rostand Center for the Book, Mills College, 2002; ISBN 0964893843; 137 pages Price indication: $ 21.00

Darius Milhaud Notes Without Music: An Autobiography (Da Capo Press music reprint series) Da Capo Pr, 1970; ISBN 0306715651 Price indication: (used only): from $ 16.97

Sheet music, libretti, etc.

Five Chamber Symphonies - Dover Publications
The most versatile, resourceful, and accomplished French composer of his time, Milhaud was incredibly prolific in almost every genre. These five chamber symphonies--dissonant, lightweight, anti-symphonic in their brevity, yet well crafted and charmingly lyrical--include Le printemps (Spring), written in 1917; Pastorale, 1918; Serenade, 1921; Dixtuor a cordes: Overture, chorale, and etude, 1921; and Dixtuor d'instruments a vent, 1922.<br>

Le Boeuf sur le Toit for Piano Four Hands, Op. 58 - Dover Publications
In 1920 a farce by Jean Cocteau, "Le Boeuf sur le Toit" ("The Ox on the Roof"), debuted in Paris. Its music, originally scored for small orchestra, consisted of popular Brazilian tunes assembled by Darius Milhaud. Later that year, Milhaud published a piano four-hand version of the score subtitled "Cinema-Symphony on South American Tunes." This inexpensive edition of the score, reproduced from an authoritative and hard-to-find source, features a new introduction by Brazilian musicologist Manoel Aranha Correa do Lago.<br>

Saudades do Brazil and Other Works for Piano - Dover Publications
<DIV><DIV><I>Saudades do Brazil</I> combines the flavor of Brazilian popular music with the composer's trademark polytonal harmonies. Other pieces include Suite, Op. 8; Sonata No. 1, Op. 33; Printemps I, Op. 25, and Printemps II, Op. 66; Caramel Mou, Op. 68; and "Tango des Fratellini," from <I>Le Boeuf sur le Toit.</I></DIV></DIV>