Dixtuor
eLittle Symphony No 5f, Op. 75
Darius
MILHAUD (1892-1974)
Milhaud
composed a series of six glittleh symphonies between 1917 to1923. These were
revolutionary in that they were scored for a handful of soloists and concisely
written in three brief movements lasting no more than seven minutes long.
No.
5 was written in 1922 in Warsaw and dedicated to Marya Freund who, together with
Poulenc, was Milhaudfs traveling companion when they visited Poland in that
same year. This is a dixtuor - music
for ten wind instruments, the French equivalent of a dectet. Milhaud extends the
range as well as the colours of the traditional double wind quintet (consisting
of a pair of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns) to include the
piccolo (higher register of the flute), the cor anglais (lower register of the
oboe) and the bass clarinet (lower register of the clarinet).