Synopsis

On today’s date in 1937, a two-piano suite by the French composer Darius Milhaud had its premiere. It was entitled “Scaramouche,” after a stock character in the Italian commedia dell arte, and the music’s upbeat, carefree mood made it an instant hit. For his part, Milhaud was in an apprehensive mood. When he and his wife Madeleine had visited the 1937 Paris International Exposition, they saw premonitions of war reflected in many of its exhibits.

“Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ adorned the walls of the Spanish pavilion,” recalled Milhaud, “but the Spanish Republic had been murdered. Placed face to face, the German and the Soviet pavilions seemed to challenge each other to mortal combat. One evening, as we watched the sun set behind the flags of all nations, Madeleine clutched my arm in anguish and whispered, ‘This is the end of Europe!’”

In 1940, Milhaud was forced to leave France when the Germans occupied Paris. As a Jew, his music was promptly banned. But in 1943, two French pianists performed “Scaramouche” in concert, tricking the German censors by listing its composer’s name as “Hamid-al-Usurid”—a fictitious Arabic composer whose name just happens to be an anagram of “Darius Milhaud.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974) Scaramouche Anthony and Joseph Paratore, pianos Four Winds 3014