Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra

Darius Milhaud

General Info

Year: 1929
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Universal Edition
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Instrumentation

Player I: timpani(4), tom-toms(3), suspended cymbal, cymbals α2, bass drum with cymbal attachment on foot pedal, castanets, ratchet, slapstick, triangle, cow bell, tambourine, wood block

Orchestra

Program Notes

Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra is one of the first concertos’ written for a percussion soloist, and is one of the most performed pieces in the repertory. Being written in the 1920’s, this piece was written at the peak of jazz music, however, Milhaud was intent on not including jazz ideologies in his music, he countered the jazz style by composing this piece in a polytonal form. Looking at the opening motif, we can hear that it is played in C Major, A Minor, A Major, and C Sharp Minor simultaneously. The percussion ideas used in this piece are not so much composed with a soloistic approach, but rather the entire percussion section being played by one person. The piece was written in Paris for small orchestra, and is often played in conjunction with La Creation du Monde. - Trevor Landreth

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra - Marimba, Vibraphone; Orchestra
Concerto for Percussion and Band - Multiple Percussion; Band
Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra - Multiple Percussion; Orchestra
Elegy for Pierre - Multiple Percussion; Viola