A chance meeting with the writer and diplomat Paul Claudel resulted in a fruitful and long artistic collaboration for Darius Milhaud. It also led to an opportunity to accompany Claudel as part of the French legation in Brazil in 1917. Milhaud arrived in Rio at Carnival time and was immediately entranced by the sights and sounds that surrounded him.

The vibrant forest on the edge of Rio found expression in Claudel and Milhaud's poème plastique, l'homme et son Désir, while the dance rhythms would turn up years afterwards in the orchestral suite Saudades do Brasil. Show less