Les Six (Groupe des Six)
MUSIC HISTORY
Satie, Cocteau, Milhaud, Poulenc, Honegger: new French music after 1918, a historical frame for twentieth-century vocal repertoire at CALYP.
Source Jean Mislin · Musicologist, organist and choral conductor · teacher of Adeline Toniutti As part of Adeline Toniutti's research
What is the Groupe des Six?
The Groupe des Six (Les Six) names six French composers grouped in January 1920 by critic Henri Collet in Comœdia (« After the Russian Five, the French Six »): Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Germaine Tailleferre and Louis Durey. Guided by Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau, they stand for clear, diatonic music, hostile to Wagner and impressionism, open to music-hall. In the music history overview, this is the frame for French twentieth-century oratorio, mélodie and stage works without forcing the voice.
Origins: Parade, Nouveaux Jeunes and the 1920 label
After World War I, young French musicians often shared concerts of recent works, spurred by Blaise Cendrars, a friend of Erik Satie. Satie's ballet Parade (1917) marks the starting point of the new French music. The « Nouveaux Jeunes », sponsored by Satie, performed frequently; Cocteau became their theorist.
The label dates from January 1920: Henri Collet titled an article « After the Russian Five, the French Six ». The six names on the programme accepted the name that made them famous, despite very different temperaments. Milhaud later recalled the choice was « entirely arbitrary »: concert comrades more than a unified school.
Le Coq et l'Arlequin: aesthetic manifesto
Jean Cocteau set out the aims of the new French music in Le Coq et l'Arlequin:
- The spiritual master is Erik Satie (1866-1925).
- Reaction against Romanticism, especially Wagner and « music listened to with head in hands »: refusal of exaggerated chromaticism, preference for more diatonic writing.
- Reaction against impressionism and Debussy: under Stravinsky's influence, a return to clearer contours.
- Return to the French tradition hostile to pomp; preference for the familiar world.
- Taste for music-hall, circus and fairground music.
Not all Six shared this equally: Auric and Poulenc lean toward Cocteau; Honegger toward Germanic seriousness; Milhaud toward Mediterranean lyricism and polytonality.
The six composers: six temperaments
Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), born in Aix-en-Provence: classmate of Honegger under Widor, Claudel's secretary in Brazil (1916), polytonality, South American rhythms, jazz. Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Swiss parents, quickly rejected the cult of music-hall: « I do not worship the fairground… but music in what it has of most serious and austere. » Francis Poulenc and Georges Auric carry the Cocteau spirit (clarity, Parisian wit, melody). Germaine Tailleferre, the only woman in the group, and Louis Durey complete the six; Durey soon left joint concerts.
Friendship and shared programmes bound them more than a single dogma. After 1921 each followed a personal path, while keeping the label that secured worldwide renown.
Symbolic works and collaboration
Two works capture the group's spirit. Le Bœuf sur le toit (1920), entirely by Milhaud to a Cocteau scenario, symbolises music-hall aesthetics: Brazilian rhythms, polytonality, light entertainment without pretension (Milhaud protested being reduced to the « fairground » musician alone). Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel (1921), a Cocteau spectacle: each composer wrote one or two numbers in a very Parisian, boisterous style. That work also marks the end of the group as such.
Individually, major vocal landmarks: Le Roi David (Honegger, 1921, Morax), Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Honegger / Claudel), Poulenc's mélodies and operas, La Création du monde (Milhaud, 1923, jazz), Le Pauvre Matelot (Milhaud / Cocteau). For the singer, clear French text, clean rhythm and a diatonic line meet Toniutti-method diction demands.
Timeline
- 1917: Satie's Parade; starting point of the new French music.
- 1918-1919: Nouveaux Jeunes concerts; Cocteau, Le Coq et l'Arlequin.
- January 1920: Collet's article in Comœdia; birth of the « Groupe des Six » label.
- 1920: Le Bœuf sur le toit (Milhaud).
- 1921: Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel; Honegger's Le Roi David; end of the collective phase.
- 1923: Milhaud's La Création du monde; each continues alone.
- 1925: death of Satie.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Les Six
Who were the members of Les Six?
Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Germaine Tailleferre and Louis Durey, labelled by Henri Collet in January 1920.
Who coined the name Groupe des Six?
Music critic Henri Collet, in a January 1920 Comœdia piece titled « After the Russian Five, the French Six ».
What roles did Satie and Cocteau play?
Satie is the spiritual master (notably via Parade, 1917). Cocteau theorised the aesthetic in Le Coq et l'Arlequin and collaborated on stage works.
Which works symbolise the group?
Le Bœuf sur le toit (Milhaud, 1920) and Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel (1921, collaborative). Individually: Honegger's Le Roi David, Poulenc's mélodies, Milhaud's La Création du monde.
Sources and quotations
Landmarks and quotations for further reading.
- Jean Mislin: musicologist, organist and choral conductor, teacher of Adeline Toniutti. Notes used within Adeline Toniutti's research.
- Henri Collet (Comœdia, January 1920): « After the Russian Five, the French Six. »
- Darius Milhaud (Notes sans musique): « entirely arbitrary » choice of the six names; on Le Bœuf sur le Toit as light entertainment, not mere fairground comedy.
- Jean Cocteau: lines of Le Coq et l'Arlequin (Satie, anti-Wagner, anti-impressionism, music-hall).
- Arthur Honegger: refusal of the fairground and music-hall cult; music « straight, simple, of large bearing »; attachment to the past.
GO FURTHER
In the music history cluster
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Sing French twentieth-century music with solid landmarks
Clarity, rhythm and French diction: link Les Six to vocal technique with Adeline Toniutti's CALYP team.