The Darius Milhaud Collection, JOB 87-5, Music Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
The Darius Milhaud Collection contains songs and piano music, including some unpublished works, from an early period in his career.
Darius Milhaud was a prolific French composer.
He was born in Aix-en-Provence on September 4, 1892. As a child he improvised melodies at the piano and soon took up the violin. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1909, studying the violin with Berthelier, ensemble with Lefèvre, harmony with Leroux, counterpoint with André Gédalge, composition and fugue with Charles-Marie Widor, and conducting with Vincent d'Indy. He received first "accessit" in violin and counterpoint, and second in fugue, winning the Prix Lepaulle for composition.
Milhaud went on to become one of the noted composed named "Les Six" because of their modernistic impact on France during the 1920s.
There are numerous reference works that provide ample biographical information on his life.
The words included in the Darius Milhaud Collection represent a tiny portion of Milhaud's vast compositional oeuvre. The unpublished works provide additional illustration for this early period in Milhaud's life.
The original organization of the Darius Milhaud Collection has been preserved. Items have been left in the order in which they were found.
Processed by Martha Grutchfield; machine-readable finding aid created by Robert Kosovsky.
For permission to copy or publish please contact the Music Division.