Map Gallery

Maps of Performances

What is this?

This map displays performances of Milhaud’s music between 1922-1933 broken down by genre.

How do I use it?

Click on the layers button in the upper right-hand corner to toggle between genres. Select which you want to see displayed on the map. Use the legend to see which color of marker represents each genre.

What does this tell us?

This map examines the spread of performances of different genres of Milhaud’s music. From this map, we are able to determine that Milhaud’s most frequently performed works were his orchestral works. We can also see that Milhaud’s Chamber Music was the genre that had the furthest reach geographically. Milhaud’s chamber music was even played in the USSR. What can this trend tell us about musical tastes of the period? To have such a far reach geographically, Milhaud’s chamber music was played by several different chamber groups (Pro Arte Quartet, Kolisch Quartet). How does his connection to these various groups and their subsequent performance of his music relate to the changes relationships between performers and composers from the period?

What is this?

A map of performances of Milhaud’s works from 1922-1933 chronologically spaced out.

How do I use it?

Click and drag the time slider at the bottom of the map or simply click the play button to see the dispersion of Milhaud’s works in different years.

What does this tell us?

The addition of a chronological function allows us to more deeply examine trends that we see developing over time. Using this function, one can observe an Eastern shift in performances of Milhaud from 1926-1931. What does this Eastern shift tell us? It confirms that Milhaud, an intensely French composer, was often performed in countries outside of France. It also lends credibility to the idea that Milhaud’s popularity in other European countries (specifically Germany) helped contribute to his rising success in France. 

Frequency of Performances by City

What is this map?

This comparative map includes ten different layers, each representing the amount of performances that we were able to find for ten of Milhaud’s pieces. They represent the top ten pieces that had the most performances recorded in the spreadsheet.

How do I use it?

Toggle between layers, either viewing them all at once, or isolating one layer at a time by checking or unchecking a layer in the legend. Click on a specific point for more information. Sometimes, when you think you are clicking on just one point, there are several in the same spot. Click on the right arrow in the top right hand corner of the pop-up to see all the performances in that area.

What does this map tell us?

Several interesting patterns and questions arise from this research. First of all, why did these ten pieces yield the most performances in our research? And why are most of them stage or theater works? Does this suggest that Milhaud’s work was best received alongside a visual component?

The map itself also reveals some interesting trends. Right away it is clear that Milhaud’s work was performed in a very wide variety of cities, especially in Northern Europe. This map seems to suggest that the scope of Milhaud’s music stretched far beyond the boundaries of the French border. Whether this was as a result of the music’s popularity abroad, or of self-promotion, is a research question that may be worth pursuing from this map.

Some piece-specific trends bring us to other questions. For instance, there are no performances of Les Choëphores that appear outside of Paris, Brussels, and Antwerp. There are also eighteen performances of Salade in Paris, compared to only five outside of Paris. For the other eight pieces, the performances spread much farther outside of France. Why didn’t these two pieces spread further beyond the French border? Were they received less warmly abroad than others? Or was this simply a hole in our research? The map also shows that Le Pauvre Matelot was the most widespread of all the pieces on the map. So, was it the most popular abroad, or did Milhaud push to have it performed the most? These questions and more show how maps can emphasize new patterns and lead to new scholarship.

Map of French and German Reviews of Performances of Milhaud’s Music

Frequency of Performances by Country

Map of Milhaud’s Letters

What is this map: This is a map displaying the various places where Darius Milhaud often times wrote letters to his various correspondents as well as where these correspondents were located.

What does this map tell us: As you zoom in this map, you can see that most of these letters were written in France or sent to France. The majority of the letters written from France were for the most part written by Darius Milhaud, who spent the majority of his life living in Aix-en-Provence (where he was born) as well as in Paris, more precisely at 14 Rue de Clichy.

We can also see that the second larger count of letters on this map is in Vienna. This is mainly due to the fact that Milhaud directed a lot of his letters to Emil Hertzka or to a musical publishing firm called Universal Editions. (see Milhaud’s Network Map below for more information) .

As you explore this map, you can also click on the various markers to find out more about these letters, who wrote them/received them as well as their content.

You can find a link to this map here

Maps of Milhaud’s Travels