TITLE: La Creation du Monde (1923)

COMPOSER: Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Darius Milhaud was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1892, but absorbed a multitude of influences which extended far beyond his native land. His works reflect influences ranging from Baroque counterpoint to Latin American samba rhythms. He was as much at ease in the world of serialism as he was in popular dance music and jazz. Milhaud's talent was apparent from an early age, and he was sent to the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris, where his teachers included Dukas and Widor.

Milhaud detested Wagner's music. When a young man wrote to him about Wagner's theories that all art "springs from suffering, unhappiness, and frustration," Milhaud wrote: "I am glad you decided to write me about your problem with Wagner's theories; here is my point of view, if you want it. I had a marvelously happy childhood. My wife is my companion, my collaborator; we are the best of friends, and this gives me great happiness. My son is a painter who works incessantly, and he is sweet and loving to his parents. Thus I can say that I've had a happy life, and if I compose, it's because I am in love with music and I wouldn't know how to do anything else . . . Your Wagner quote proves to me once again that he was an idiot."

One early source of Milhaud’s inspiration was the "new music" sweeping the Americas and Europe, which would come to be known as jazz. In his autobiography, Notes Without Music, Milhaud described his first encounter with these radical sounds during a 1920 visit to a London nightclub.

"The new music was extremely subtle in its use of timbre: the saxophone breaking in, squeezing out the juice of dreams, or the trumpet, dramatic or languorous by turns, the clarinet, frequently played in its upper register, the lyrical use of the trombone, glancing with its slide over quarter-tones in crescendos of volume and pitch, thus intensifying the feeling; and the whole, so various yet not disparate, held together by the piano and subtly punctuated by the complex rhythms of the percussion, a kind of inner beat, the vital pulse of the rhythmic life of the music. The constant use of syncopation in the melody was of such contrapuntal freedom that it gave the impression of unregulated improvisation, whereas in actual fact, it was elaborately rehearsed daily, down to the last detail. I had the idea of using these timbres and rhythms in a work of chamber music, but I first had to penetrate more deeply into the arcana of this new musical form, whose technique still baffled me."

Darius Milhaud had a more pronounced reaction that occurred two years later during a visit to Harlem.

"The music I heard was absolutely different from anything I had ever heard before and was a revelation to me. Its effect was so overwhelming ... that I could not tear myself away. In some of their shows, the singers were accompanied by a flute, a clarinet, two trumpets, a trombone, a complicated percussion section played by one man, a piano and a string quintet. More than ever I was resolved to use jazz for a chamber work."

One of the composer’s greatest compositional opportunities came shortly thereafter when he was engaged to write a ballet based on the creation of the world as seen through African folklore. Milhaud retained an instrumentation identical to that of the Harlem bands which had so profoundly impacted him: the traditional string quartet’s viola was replaced by the more novel timbre (for 1923) of the alto saxophone. French horn also was added to the ensemble. The resulting score was simply entitled La Creation du monde and is today considered one of the most successful amalgams of jazz and classical music in the repertoire. Though the composer extracted a concert suite for piano and string quartet in 1926, it is in its original instrumentation that the ballet remains most popular.

MOVEMENTS: One

PERFORMANCE TIME: 15' 35"

INSTRUMENTATION: 20 Instruments

• 2 Flutes, 1 Oboe, 2 Clarinets, 1 Bassoon, 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Horn, 2 Trumpets, 1 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 2 Percussion, 2 Violins, 1 Cello, 1 Contra Bass, 1 Piano.

EDITIONS: Available for Purchase or Rental

• G. Schirmer Music Inc., 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022
• Schott Music Corp.

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

La Creation du monde opens with a gentle prelude featuring the saxophone attended by an undulating string and piano rhythm. The prelude melody, as well as its accompaniment, serves as a connecting element throughout the work, frequently returning in various instrumental colors. Fragments of jazz-inspired "licks," heard in the trumpets and percussion and in the primeval growls of the solo trombone, lead to an impassioned climax before the tranquil sounds of the opening measures return to close the movement. A lively fugue then begins in the contrabass, quickly enveloping the ensemble, and disappearing almost as quickly. The prelude melody returns in the flute, followed by a sultry oboe solo that, in retrospect, evokes images of the Rhapsody in Blue (though Milhaud’s work pre-dates Gershwin’s opus by almost a year). A second animated passage for the full ensemble is succeeded by a clarinet solo heard over repeated syncopations. Again, the prelude theme returns, but the insistent syncopations refuse to yield and eventually succeed in coaxing the ensemble into an unrestrained jam session. Only when all the instruments have grown weary, does the prelude theme return in a final statement, deferring briefly to a mischievous fragment of the fugue subject. A peaceful jazz chord closes the work. The work is an interpretation of the creation of all living beings.

Notes by Jeff Jordan, UMKC

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Milhaud's Biography - http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/08473.html