Thanks to Peter Herwitz for his appraisal of Milhaud's string quartets.
>I'm curious how others feel about these to me sublime works and Milhaud in
>general. I still think he is underrated.
I agree with you. I've heard only three of the quartets (#12, #14, #15,
the last two playable as an octet), and I still find #14 and #15 rough
going. But I really like #12 -- fresh and lyrical.
Part of the problem with Milhaud's critical standing is that he wrote
so much. Some pieces are likely better than others. After all, it took
Martinu -- another composer with a prodigious catalogue -- a very long time
to reach his present eminence. I like to think that it's merely taking
time to wade through the work.
Steve Schwartz