MILHAUD SEES JAZZ AS BASIS OF FUTURE MUSIC IN AMERICA AND EUROPE

"Jazz will constitute the basis of the musical future of America", said Dr. Darius Milhaud the leader of the modern school of Paris which sponsors the newer musical tendencies, when interviewed by a CRIMSON reporter.

"It is my desire and my purpose to infuse a new spirit, the spirit of jazz, into the classic art of music. Despite the universal execration and condemnation of jazz, the tendency today is along the lines of diatonic music as against chromatic music, the vehicle of expression which Wagner employed. While the Vienese school is still adhering to the chromatic motif, the diatonic tendencies are experiencing a rapid development under the eager minds of Parisian composers.

"This new style of music is being well received in this country", continued Mr. Milhaud; "indeed, it has been accorded an enthusiastic reception; but in Europe, where conservatism is the characteristic attitude, it is not viewed with favor. This difference in opinion can be accounted for only on the basis of the American temperament. America is susceptible to new influences; it has a younger spirit. But the French are under the influence of the impressionistic school, and this new music involves a radical departure from the accepted standard of classicism. The new music of Paris has in a certain sense derived a real impetus from American jazz, and I am firm in my belief that jazz will constitute the basis of the future schools of American and European music. Jazz has many redeeming features, for in it there is a certain warmth, an enthusiasm, a disonant quality, a vitality of rhythm, which is not foreign to the newer musical tendencies of Paris. My hope and my reasonable expectation is that some young American composer will produce a jazz symphony, in other words, jazz in sonata form. If America does not develop this musical concept, I will do so myself. So far no exponent of this evident trend has appeared in this country--not even Cyril Scott, who is not as far advanced as the new French school.

"We may believe," declared Mr. Milhaud in conclusion, "that the music of the future will digress from the conservatism of the past, and the essence of the new element will be jazz.