(Contemporary Composers)
Several of the composers who are represented in this concert are fairly well known to us by now - Stravinsky and Honegger in particular. The latter was formerly spoken of as a member of the ' Group of Six' formed in 1918, his five friends being Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, Louis Duroy, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Taillefere. The only bond between them was that of a common aspiration towards new ways of musical expression. Their aims and achievements differed considerably. The youngest are Auric and Poulenc, who were born in 1899, and the oldest is Durey, born eleven years earlier.
Several of them owe something to Stravinsky (born 1882), of whose work we have had several examples recently.
Charles Koechlin is of an earlier generation. Born in 1867, he began a mathematical career, and only entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was twenty-three. He is of a more retiring disposition than the 'Six,' and his music has not until recently been at all well known.
MARCELLE MEYER (Pianoforte)
THE PRO ARTE STRING QUARTET: A. ONNOU (1st Violin), L. HALLEUX (2nd Violin), G. PREVOST (Viola), R. MAAS ('Cello)