Darius Milhaud

Les Reves de Jacob

French composer and teacher, Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was a prolific composer of the 20th century as a member of 'Les Six'. His compositions remain highly regarded, Jacob's Dreams being no exception. Milhaud's compositions areinfluenced by jazz and polytonality, as exemplified in Jacob's Dreams. Composed in 1949, Jacob's Dreams is a dance suite, written for Oboe, Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass. It is an alternative, exciting suite, based on thedreams of Jacob in the Bible and made up of five movements - 1) Jacob's Pillow, 2) The first dream (the angel's ladder), 3) Prophecy, 4) Second dream (fight with the dark angel and benediction), and 5) Israel (Hymn). Milhaud makesuse of variation in articulation, complex rhythms, chromaticism, accidentals, harmonics, altering tempos, variation in dynamics and a wide tessitura, amongst other aspects. Milhaud's Jacob's Dream is essential to all advancedensembles seeking modern and exciting repertoire.