Between 1917 and 1923 Milhaud wrote six “petites symphonies” for between six and ten players (and in one case singers), each lasting between three and six minutes in the composer’s chosen tempi. Four of these are now available in a new disc with the Sinfonia Orchestra of Chicago under Barry Faldner, recorded in 1990-91 and […]
Continue ReadingChamber Works
Chamber Music – Wind
Several releases concentrate on the chamber music for wind ensembles. On Chandos 6536 the Athena Ensemble plays the wonderful wind quintet La cheminée du roi René (1939), a sun-drenched Provençale reverie. The closing “Madrigal-Nocturne” is one of the most unashamedly pretty things written in the twentieth century (though the Athena plays it a shade too […]
Continue ReadingChamber Music – Strings
Milhaud wrote an enormous amount of chamber music. At its center lie the 18 string quartets written between 1912 and 1950, a consistently absorbing body of work that is far too little known. In these works, Milhaud’s stylistic evolution can be clearly discerned, from the romantic first quartet, in language reminiscent of Vaughan Williams, to […]
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