MILHAUD, DARIUS. (1892-1974). French composer of Le Boeuf sur le toit, La Creation du Monde and other 20th-century repertoire staples; a member of Les Six. Signed score. (“Milhaud”). 18pp. Small 4to. New York, 1965. The score of Neuf Preludes for organ inscribed “with all best wishes” on the title page to Buffalo organist Hans Vigeland.
With the outbreak of war in 1939 and the subsequent fall of France, Milhaud, who was from a long-established family of Provençal Comtat Venaissin Jews (also known as “Juifs du Pape,” or “Pope’s Jews,” an enclave that was neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardic), moved with his family to California. “From 1940 to 1947, the Milhauds resided in a house that Mills College had built for them on campus. They were more fortunate than lesser-known artists and intellectuals, who found themselves without sponsorship and no prospect of work that would make possible a visa to the U.S.,” (“Sitting out the war: Milhaud at Mills College,” Musica Brasiliensis blog, Thompson). Though separated from the land and tradition which had been his greatest inspiration, Milhaud continued to compose while teaching at Mills, where his students included Dave Brubeck, Burt Bacharach and Steve Reich. After 1947, he returned to France, teaching alternate years at Mills, and maintaining his American contacts, as well as those international connections established during many years of travelling and performing.
After its original temple was destroyed in a fire in 1961, the congregation of Buffalo’s Temple Beth Zion hired architect Max Abramovitz to create a new, concrete Modernist building, the architect’s only temple. Stained glass and liturgical items were designed by social-realist artist Ben Shahn. Central to the temple’s design, was its organ, custom built with input from Vigeland, the organist and choirmaster at Buffalo’s Westminster Presbyterian Church from 1949-1975. For the temple’s 1967 dedication, it commissioned Milhaud to compose Cantata From Job: For Baritone Solo, Mixed Chorus and Organ, Op. 438, which he worked on from 1965 to 1966. It is likely that during its composition Milhaud became acquainted with Vigeland and signed his 1942 Neuf Preludes, Op. 231b, one of the few works he wrote exclusively for organ, when he was in New York City in July 1965, to conduct the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.
In excellent condition.
