Jacob's Dreams

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 are influenced 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 the dreams 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 makes use 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 advanced ensembles seeking modern and exciting repertoire.