Christian Merlin, Music critic & Musicologist

"I make music because it amuses me": the Groupe des Six and Paris in the '20s

In 1917, the premiere of Erik Satie's Parade, with the participation of Cocteau, Picasso and Diaghilev, brought a breath of fresh air to war-torn France. The "Nouveaux jeunes" concerts organized from this date onwards by Blaise Cendrars brought together Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger and Louis Durey, three composers aged between 20 and 30. Soon joined by their contemporaries Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Tailleferre, they were dubbed the "Groupe des Six" by critic Henri Collet, with Jean Cocteau as group leader, for whom "all music that is listened to with the head in the hands is suspect", in those twenties in search of joie de vivre and impertinence.