Rare 78rpm Signed & number 610 Darius Milhaud Symphonies 1 2 3 & 5 chamber red v

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Darius Milhaud was one of the rebellious French composers who, at the end of the first World War, banded together under the leadership of Erik Satie and were soon labeled "The Six". Their revolt was directed against impressionism and for a return to the simplicity of the French classical style. The new spirit, which asserted itself outside of the France too, was not always as simple as its proponents claimed it ot be. But by dint of streamlining forms and presenting musical ideas more directly and nakedly, in reaction against the turgidity of post-Wagnerism on the one hand and the misty, attenuated emotion of French impressionism on ht eother, the new modernists could honestly lay an at least partial claim to the epithet Simplicity. The four symphones which make up the present album of records were composed between 1917 and 1922. (The published group actually contains five, but the fourth is omitted in the present recording.) The first two were written in Brazel, where Milhaud was an attach'e at the French legation in Rio de Janeiro between 1917 and 1919 . Then he returned to France to become an active member of "The Six" and to give his whole time to music, which he has been at ever since. For most of the last decade he has been in this country, teaching at Mills College in addition to composing. It is important to know the time of composition of Clinq Symphonies pour petit orchestre, as the composer has pointed out in a letter to this annotator. For during that period there was a good deal of experimentation with polytonality, "using free lines, also free about their own tonality." How polytonality, which is an increase in harmonic complexity, was reconciled with the new simplicity for which Milhaud and his confreres were striving is not clear. But then, consistency is not one of the essential attriburtes of a creative mind. The brevity of the symphonies, on the other hand stems directly form the early classical tradition.

For the past two centuries, roughly, symphonies, sonatas, quartets and so on have usually meant copositions of more or less established forms, in several movements, and for varying instrumental combinations. Originally, however, the word symphoney", like sonata, simply meant a piece of music necessarily short, performed by instruments, instead of by voices for which paractiacally all western music ( exrudimentary accompaniment) had been written during the Middle Ages. A symphony might be an instrumental interlude, sometimes no more than a pae in lenth, in a choral composition, an overture to an oper, or even sometimes the accompaniment itself. The word "sonata" was employed just as loosely. Scarlatti, for example, wtote innumerable short, one-movement sonatas.

The early symphony was necessarily short because of th elimitations by which composers just beginning to work with musical sounds without the assistance of a verbal text were bound: primitive form. slight instrumental technique ( on the part of both composer and performer) and nascent harmony. The composers of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, notably Bach, it is tre, were at the same time composing instrumental masterpieces by applying to the instruments the same polyphonic technique that had served vocal music. Bthe polyphonic music hasd already fallen into desuetude even before Bach wrote his great fugues. In its place was appearing the early homophonic (harmonic, as we understand it today, music-sonatas, suites, symphonies and ouvertures (as the French called works frequently indistinguishable from symphonies).

In Cinq Symphonies Milhaud has limitated the brevity of the early symphony while retaining the later custom of several movements. Each symphony (conveniently contained on a sigle record side) consists of three short pieces. Each piece, in turn, represents a mood . In a short space it is obviously impossible to do much more: formal complexity or symphonic development on the scale ot which we have become adduxtomed is out of the wuestion. But that is obviously the very point of these wymphonies-areturn to the fromal simplicity of the seventeenth and eithteenth centuries.

Thus, the impression of the title LePrintemps, of the first symphony is conveyed by the cool and verdant first movement (Allant). The second movement (Chantant is a postoral, the melody appropriately sung by the oboe. The third (Et vif!) consists basically of a simple figure like an old French folk dance.

The second symphony, called Pastorale, starts with a movement (Joyeux) the harmonic dissonances and rhythmic accents of which suggest that the rural goings-on are of the ruder sort. The second movement is as quiet as its title( Calme) promises. In the middle of this movement there is an unctuous progression that sounds like a sequence for saxophones in a jazz, and in turn influenced other composers, including some who wrote concert music and others who wrote popular tunes.) The third movement is simply a statement and seven repetititions of a jolly figure of somewhat distorted shape: three measures of four-four and fourth of two-four.

The first two symphonies, written in 1917 and 1918, are relatively simple in harmony. But the third and fifth, written in 1921 and 1922, show a considerable changee. Tonality is much mnore fluid, and there are frequent excursions into polytonality with resultant harshness even from the small orchestra for which the syphonies were written.

Accordingly the first movement of the third symphony, Serenade, begins with a melody in E major for the clarinet, accompanied by the bassoon in D major: and they are joined four measures later by violin and viola in E-flat. Withal, however, the musical statement is direct, seemingly unstudied. The second movement (Calme) has a gentle lilt that the discordant harmony does not disguise. The last movement (Rondement) is a bustling development of sharply rhythmic figure.

The fifth symphony is scored for ten wind instruments (woodwind and French horn). The first movement is marked Rude, and that is what the music is (in the French sense of the term, of course)> The style has more than a suggestion of the influence of Stravinsky. The second movement (Lent) is a quiet dialgue among the instruments. In contrast, the final movement (Violent) is raucous in excitement. Here is polytonality with a vengeance.

Moses Smith

Concert Hall Society acknowledges the courtesy of Columbia Records, Inc. for M.Milhaud's services as a conductor..................

I am not a record person but from all of the information that I have been able to find I believe these to be first and limited editions.  The red vinyl makes them more collectable and also because they are all signed and numbered. There were only 3000 pressed and out of them I have 14 sets including this one with at least two or four records.  They are in mint condition......The cover on this one has let loose from all of the moving around.......Other than that I would say it is in good condition...........Also if you would like to know more about
Darius Milhaud's life you can go to wikpedia the free encycopedia .   You can also put in Concert Hall Society and it will explain all about this great find.........If you have any other questions you can email me through ebay and I will try and give you any information that I might have....Thank you and you have a great day!!!!!!!