Man, the fact that Milhaud actually managed to write all 18 of his proposed string quartets reveals a bit of how insane his work ethic must’ve been. He’s always been one of my favorite composers since I got into classical.
Interesting how different yet uniquely amazing are all Milhaud's string quartets. Could I suggest you to do Britten's and Hindemith's ones after you complete the cycle?
Great piece. Not terribly difficult to listen to thanks in part to Milhaud’s great skill at composing for the string quartet. I really don’t understand the amount of criticism this quartet receives.
This reminded me a lot of Bartok's quartets, so I didn't find it overtly complicated. The 1st violin kind of serves as the magnet that pulls along the rest of the players. The last movement made me dizzy trying to follow the score, though. I can happily say that I've now been schooled in 5/4 time.
@@transitny Having just dissected the score of the last movement I'll say that performances tend to sound like they use the 1st violin as a clutch for the ear, and now I'm wondering what a performance would sound like if all the structural intricacies would be better distilled for the ear in performances. For instance, the chromatic scale and the chromaticism of individual lines is stratified throughout the last movement and the ending is supposed to culminate that process. I don't find that I hear that development but my judgment may be unfairly placed upon the performers as the differing tonalities, other scales and constant modulations that surround chromatic figures all assimilate into a general wash of sound. I'm also assuming that it also isn't us, the listeners who are simply used to but also naturally hear the top, and sometimes, most active line as the most prominent and important in transmitting musical events.
@@bartjebartmans I hope you mean not by complexity of the musical organisation but perhaps by dynamics. I say that as an admirer of 70's progressive rock
I'd have to listen to it hundreds of times to "get it" which doesn't feel worth it given the opening bars. No offense to you though, thanks for the upload.
I think it was a cerebral exercise on the part of Milhaud. He achieves an a-tonal overall effect with tonality, as the poly tonality of the work creates a diffuse, dense atmosphere of tonal centers which cancel each other out. The fast movements are quite impressive and not too difficult to get used to, the slow movement has a strange barren beauty. The first movement is by far the least accessible for me. All I can say that it somehow develops in a trance-like dense, rhythmic flow of melodies. By itself an interesting experience if you are open for a thing like that.
Man, the fact that Milhaud actually managed to write all 18 of his proposed string quartets reveals a bit of how insane his work ethic must’ve been. He’s always been one of my favorite composers since I got into classical.
Yes a bit difficult, but I enjoyed at a first hearing certainly the second and third movement. Milhaud's quartets deserve to be more famous.
Interesting how different yet uniquely amazing are all Milhaud's string quartets. Could I suggest you to do Britten's and Hindemith's ones after you complete the cycle?
Great piece. Not terribly difficult to listen to thanks in part to Milhaud’s great skill at composing for the string quartet. I really don’t understand the amount of criticism this quartet receives.
If you are used to 50's, 60's, 70's avant garde and even psychedelic rock, this is easy listening
Bartje Bartmans Absolutely. Be that as it may I believe Milhaud was a great and grossly unappreciated master of the string quartet genre.
This reminded me a lot of Bartok's quartets, so I didn't find it overtly complicated. The 1st violin kind of serves as the magnet that pulls along the rest of the players. The last movement made me dizzy trying to follow the score, though. I can happily say that I've now been schooled in 5/4 time.
@@transitny Having just dissected the score of the last movement I'll say that performances tend to sound like they use the 1st violin as a clutch for the ear, and now I'm wondering what a performance would sound like if all the structural intricacies would be better distilled for the ear in performances. For instance, the chromatic scale and the chromaticism of individual lines is stratified throughout the last movement and the ending is supposed to culminate that process. I don't find that I hear that development but my judgment may be unfairly placed upon the performers as the differing tonalities, other scales and constant modulations that surround chromatic figures all assimilate into a general wash of sound. I'm also assuming that it also isn't us, the listeners who are simply used to but also naturally hear the top, and sometimes, most active line as the most prominent and important in transmitting musical events.
@@bartjebartmans I hope you mean not by complexity of the musical organisation but perhaps by dynamics. I say that as an admirer of 70's progressive rock
Someone kindly sponsor Darius a hearing-aid. 😝
That you don't understand this music is not Milhaud's problem.
I'd have to listen to it hundreds of times to "get it" which doesn't feel worth it given the opening bars.
No offense to you though, thanks for the upload.
I think it was a cerebral exercise on the part of Milhaud. He achieves an a-tonal overall effect with tonality, as the poly tonality of the work creates a diffuse, dense atmosphere of tonal centers which cancel each other out. The fast movements are quite impressive and not too difficult to get used to, the slow movement has a strange barren beauty. The first movement is by far the least accessible for me. All I can say that it somehow develops in a trance-like dense, rhythmic flow of melodies. By itself an interesting experience if you are open for a thing like that.