Darius Milhaud was a renowned French composer, conductor, and teacher, born on September 4, 1892, in Marseille. He was a member of Les Six, a group of six French composers, and is considered one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century.
Milhaud's compositions were influenced by jazz and Brazilian music, and he made extensive use of polytonality. He was a key figure in modernist music and taught many future jazz and classical composers, including Burt Bacharach, Dave Brubeck, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Iannis Xenakis.
Milhaud began his musical career as a violinist before turning to composition. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he met his fellow group members Arthur Honegger and Germaine Tailleferre. He also studied privately with Vincent d'Indy and was influenced by the Brazilian popular music he heard during his time in Brazil.
One of Milhaud's most famous works is Le bœuf sur le toit, which includes melodies by Brazilian pianist and composer Ernesto Nazareth and evokes the sounds of Carnaval. He also produced Saudades do Brasil, a suite of twelve dances evoking twelve neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro.
Milhaud was also influenced by European contemporary music and dedicated his Fifth String Quartet to Arnold Schoenberg. He conducted the French and British premieres of Pierrot lunaire and heard "authentic" jazz for the first time on the streets of Harlem during a trip to the United States in 1922.
In 1925, Milhaud married his cousin, Madeleine, an actress and reciter, and they had a son, Daniel, who was a painter and sculptor.
