ABSTRACT
Darius Milhaud's most significant response was to adopt the very discourse of the nationalists concerning tradition and French classical ideals. Milhaud's specific Jewish roots were the source of his sense of enracinement. Michael Marrus confirms this tendency, stating that many communities, including Avignon, refused to take in any refugees expelled from Russia in the 1880s, for fear of stirring up anti-Semitism in their area. Anti-Semitism had no chance of rousing religious passions that had been extinguished for good. Milhaud imposes recognizable French qualities on his musical forebears, notably 'proportion' and restraint. Claude Debussy had exerted a profound influence on the youthful Milhaud, in works such as La Brebis egaree and the 1913 version of Alissa. Furthermore, Milhaud argued that the pressing issues of 1871 had not been resolved and that questions of identity, canonicity and the nature of French musical style were still matters of vital concern in 1920s France.
