My Take
Darius Milhaud is one of those composers who makes you realize how narrow our musical categories really are — here's a French-Jewish kid from Marseille who went to Brazil as a diplomat, fell in love with the rhythms and sounds he found there, and came back to Paris to upend everything. He was part of Les Six and genuinely one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century, writing over 400 works despite spending much of his later life in a wheelchair from rheumatoid arthritis. The piece I keep coming back to is Le Boeuf sur le toit — it's this wild, carnivalesque romp soaked in Brazilian choro that somehow sounds like nothing else from 1919. His polytonality could have been a dry academic exercise, but in his hands it just feels alive and slightly unhinged in the best way. A real original.
Overview
Darius Milhaud (French: [daʁjys mijo]; Provençal: [miˈjawt]; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and Brazilian music and make extensive use of polytonality. Milhaud is considered one of the key modernist composers.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Darius Milhaud
- Name (Japanese)
- ダリウス・ミヨー
- Reading
- だりうす・みよー
- Born
- September 4, 1892 – June 22, 1974
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Dragon
- Origin
- Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- conductor / autobiographer / musicologist / music educator / jazz musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1933 Knight of the Legion of Honour
- 1947 Officer of the Legion of Honour
- 1958 Commander of the Legion of Honour
- Commander of the order of Nichan Iftikhar
- Honorary Member of the International Society for Contemporary Music
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Le Bœuf sur le toit | — | |
| Notable work | Symphony No. 4 | — | |
| Notable work | Symphony No. 1 | — | |
| Notable work | Pacem in terris | — | |
| Notable work | L'Orestie d'Eschyle | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.