Lost work of famed French composer discovered and premiered in Wales

A Cardiff University School of Music academic has discovered a lost work by French composer Darius Milhaud, famous as a member of the group Les Six.

Professor Caroline Rae, a pianist and internationally-renowned specialist on twentieth-century French music, discovered the unknown manuscript in Wales and, together with her PhD student James Brookmyre, mounted its world premiere performance at the University Concert Hall.

In November 1920, Darius Milhaud and the poet Jean Cocteau came together to provide a birthday present for their mutual friend Audrey Parr (1892-1940), stage designer and glamorous young wife of a British diplomat whom Milhaud first met in Rio de Janeiro through the poet Paul Claudel. Cocteau penned a wittily surreal poem which Milhaud set to music for soprano and seven instruments. The work was found in Brecon at the home of Parr’s granddaughter Laetitia Jack.

Professor Rae said: “It’s not every day an unknown work by a major French composer is discovered, let alone in Wales. This wonderful piece is a real gem and shows Milhaud at his most inventive and experimental. It sheds new light on Milhaud’s stylistic development while demonstrating a real affection for Audrey Parr, a forgotten figure of the interwar French avant-garde who undertook several collaborations with Milhaud and Claudel and was also the dedicatee of music by Poulenc. The discovery is a real coup for Cardiff University and I’m very grateful to Laetitia Jack, the manuscript owner, for giving us permission to give the world premiere.”

Laetitia Jack said: “We were amazed and very excited to find the manuscript after it had been lost for about 40 years. We thought that we would never manage to get a group of musicians to ever play it, and so we’re incredibly grateful to Caroline Rae and James Brookmyre for taking it on. It sounds wonderful. I can't believe it. We’re just so very excited and very happy, and I’m glad that this piece was composed for my granny.”

The performers were drawn from colleagues at Cardiff University School of Music, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Bodman String Quartet: Clair Rowden (soprano), Gabbi Alberti (flute), James Brookmyre (clarinet), Jaroslaw Augustyniak (bassoon), Robert Fokkens (violin), Charles Bodman-Whittaker (viola), Claudine Cassidy (cello) and Jordan Williams (double bass).

Professor Rae’s many publications include studies of Jolivet, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Ohana and Debussy as well as two monographs and three edited volumes. She was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2018.

The world premiere and colloquium can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/DariusMilhaud