Darius Milhuad's

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that Cantate pour l'inauguration du Musee de l'Homme, op. 164, Darius Milhaud's musical setting of a poem by Robert Desnos, can be made accessible to choral ensembles by employing a choir in addition to the vocal quartet traditionally used in performances, thereby reflecting more accurately the poet's concept of the work, even though these indications are not present in Milhaud's musical score.In order to provide conductors and scholars with the tools to understand and perform Cantate pour l'inauguration du Musee de l'Homme, in this document I describe the work, analyze its poetic and musical structure, trace its performance history and practice, and suggest ways to realize Desnos's original concept of the work. I also present some possible explanations as to why Milhaud did not include any indication for vocal performance forces in Cantate pour l'inauguration du Musee de l'Homme, and why he himself performed the work with vocal quartet and not with choir. Finally, I propose that employing a choir in addition to soloists for Cantate pour l'inauguration du Musee de l'Homme is consistent with the performance history of Milhaud's other vocal quartet works of similar style.