Les Choéphores by Darius Milhaud: a study guide for conductors

Abstract

This paper is intended to be a source of information about the choral-orchestral piece Les Choephores by Darius Milhaud, (1892-1971). Written in 1915 when the composer was twenty-three years old, it is the second work in a group of three that uses text from the Oresteian trilogy by Aeschylus as translated from Greek into French by Paul Claudel.There is a brief overview of Milhaud's early life, and how he came to meet Claudel, who was looking for a better way to convey the meaning of the more expressive parts of the three plays, perhaps by adding music. Circumstances of the composition of Les Choephores are described and a summary of the plot of the trilogy is given. Similarities in the nature of the three writers, Aeschylus, Claudel and Milhaud, and explored by examining the uses of the word "lyric" to describe each man's output.While he was composing Les Choephores, Milhaud was also studying polytonal harmony. He experimented with these sounds in Les Choephores, and even subtitled the piece, "Harmonic Variations." The paper includes a description of the way polytonal simultaneities are used in it.A chapter is included which is intended to help with the actual production of a performance of the piece. Three out of the seven movements are spoken instead of sung by the chorus, and these are accompanied by seventeen unpitched percussion instruments. The percussion instruments are described, probable misprints in published scores are noted, and other information pertinent to a production is included. It is hoped that this dissertation will make Les Choephores by Darius Milhaud more accessible to conductors and that as a result, it will be performed more often.