Milhaud: L'Homme et son désir, Op. 48

Darius Milhaud achieved a perfect balance between rational development and creative expression. In the tradition of all great composers, he observed the world and questioned it. His exceptional knowledge of the world of music and of men and his quest for new means of expression enabled him to compose an extremely diverse and rich uvre. The works recorded here reflect this background; his chamber symphonies, all in 3 movements and very brief (on the model of the sinfonie of Monteverdi's times) were written in or around the 20's. They each follow a different instrumentation - harp and string quartet (nr. 1), string septet (nrs. 2 and 3) and ten wind instruments (nr. 5). Some are polytonal (and superimpose elements of the melody written in several keys). We also include L'Enlèvement d'Europe, a "one minute opera", composed on the initiative of Paul Hindemith and lastly L'Homme et son désir, a ballet for voice quartet, chamber orchestra and percussion, conceived with Paul Claudel in Rio in 1918. It is a drama with the Brazilian jungle as its background and tells the story of a man entrapped by primitive powers.