27th Annual Student Research Conference
Milhaud Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano, Op. 240
Kayla S. Morgan
Dr. Sam McClure, Faculty Mentor
Darius Milhaud was a prominent member of "Les Six", a group of French composers who sought to draw influence from everyday life and expressed musical ideals of brevity and directness. World War II forced him to move to the United States, where he was influenced by jazz, film music, and modern techniques in concert music. Sonata No. 1 for viola and piano (1944) demonstrates this mixing of influences in Milhaud's compositions. The forms of the four movements are largely ternary. The viola often plays a straightforward melody based "on unpublished and anonymous themes of the eighteenth century". However, the piano often uses nontraditional harmony, particularly Milhaud's signature polytonality.
Keywords: Darius Milhaud, viola, music, sonata
Topic(s):Music
Presentation Type: Performance Art
Session: 2-1
Location: OP Performance Hall
Time: 1:00