Darius Milhaud Part II: Paris & California

Please note: copyright to Darius Milhaud Part II: Paris & California is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Darius Milhaud Part II: Paris & California was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1965. Part II of a documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit, written, directed and narrated by Richard O. Moore, about the life and work of composer and teacher Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). Includes interviews with Milhaud, his wife Madeleine Milhaud (1902-2008) and also with jazz pianist and Milhaud's former student Dave Brubeck. Darius Milhaud discusses: how he's divided his time since 1947 alternating between living and teaching at Mills College in Oakland and being in Paris; his position on aleatory or 'chance' music and how he is against musical improvisation ("because I love performers but I don't trust them"); his String Quartet No. 5 and the influence of composer Arnold Schoenberg's Twelve Tone system and his music for the ballet Adame Miroir, based on Jean Genet's "half-page" scenario. Madeleine Milhaud reflects on the difficulty of interpreting Genet's source material for the Adame Miroir ballet (with scenes of the ballet being rehearsed on-stage by choreographer Rebecca Fuller and others). Brubeck remembers how Mills College celebrated Milhaud's 60th birthday ten years earlier and describes a typical Milhaud working day. Also features views of guests enjoying Mills College's 1963 Milhaud Festival's outdoor program 'The Young Americans', described by Moore as an electronic music "environment and sound mobile." Ends with extended views of Milhaud conducting the world premiere of his Suite de Quatrains, at the Milhaud Festival. This film was produced by William Triest and executively produced for NET by Lane Slate.