Episode 5
Donald Macleod considers the effect Darius Milhaud's self-avowed happy life had on his music. Including La muse menagere (excerpts), Stanford Serenade and Kentuckiana.
Being confined to a wheelchair for twenty-six years didn't diminish Darius Milhaud's pleasure in life one bit. Characteristically upbeat he readily acknowledged that a principle source of his happiness came through his marriage to his cousin Madeleine. Together they continued to travel all over Europe and the US. After spending the war years in America, the Milhauds returned to Paris and subsequently divided their time between the two continents.
Milhaud defined himself as both a Frenchman from Provence and a Jew.
The Psalms of David reflect his attachment to his faith while compositions like the Stanford Serenade which he wrote in 1969 fill the air with Mediterranean colour. By contrast Kentuckiana brings alive Milhaud's natural ability to soak up the culture surrounding him.
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Music Played
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Darius Milhaud
La Muse menagere
Performer: The Household muse Performer: Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
- Naxos 8553443.
- 13.
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Darius Milhaud
La Muse menagere
Performer: Alexandre Tharaud (piano)
- Naxos 8553443.
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Darius Milhaud
Stanford Serenade (1969)
Performer: Lajos Lencès (oboe) Performer: Members of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart Performer: Gilbert Varga (conductor)
- CPO 999 114-2.
- 6 to 8.
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Darius Milhaud
Trois Psaumes de David, op 155 (excerpt) Psaume 51
Track Title:Psaume 114, 115 Performer: Netherlands Chamber Choir Performer: Stephen Layton (conductor)
- Globe.
- GLO 526.
- 10 & 12.
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Darius Milhaud
Quartet no 12, opus 252, Mills California 1945
Performer: Quatuor Parisii
- Naïve V4930.
- 1 to 3.
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Darius Milhaud
Kentuckiana op 287
Performer: Stephen Coombs (piano) Performer: Artur Pizarro (piano)
- Hyperion CDA 67014.
- 4.
Broadcasts
- Fri 22 Oct 201012:00BBC Radio 3
- Fri 22 Oct 201022:00BBC Radio 3
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