The Creation of the World, Op. 81a
Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)

THE STORY

An avid world traveler, French composer Darius Milhaud was fond of incorporating his globe-trotting experiences into his music; one can find references to the music traditions of Brazil, Mexico, Italy, and Portugal. During a 1922 tour of the United States, he encountered the jazz of Harlem in New York City, becoming transfixed by the melodic lines interweaving in “a breathless pattern of broken and twisted rhythms.” Upon return to Paris, Milhaud began a ballet energized by his experiences with Harlem jazz, composing La création du monde (The Creation of the World) with a scenario based on an African creation myth.

Milhaud’s configuration of American jazz idioms into the form of a classical ballet is a testament to jazz’s burgeoning international status in 1923. He approaches jazz from a slightly different angle than his American peers would in the coming months. Rather than attempting to use jazz as a way of forming a distinct American compositional tradition, Milhaud’s The Creation of the World offers one snapshot of what jazz meant to European composers in the 1920s—an imported emblem of modernity, an iconoclastic gaze into the musical future.

LISTEN FOR

• Brash outbursts of brass that interrupt the undulating chords of the introductory section—these interruptions often utilize sliding notes, recalling the extended techniques employed by jazz performers
• The striking presence of the alto saxophone—by no means a standard orchestral instrument—used as a solo instrument throughout
• Milhaud’s take on a hallmark of early jazz: collective improvisation—in these moments, multiple instruments sound as if soloing on top of one another

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, oboe, two clarinets, alto saxophone, bassoon, horn, two trumpets, trombone, timpani, percussion, piano, strings