Milhaud's admirers can never have imagined that last year's centenary would give us so many worthy recordings of his music, and must be grateful. Pacem in terris is a choral symphony no less, and designated as such; yet this 50-minute work is otherwise unrepresented in the catalogue. The recording was made shortly after the premiere in December 1964 with the same forces, and Milhaud himself supervised the proceedings ''under the direction of my friend, Maurice Abravanel''. So far so very good. I would be less than honest if I claimed that this setting of Pope John's famous encyclical of 1963 consistently lived up to its noble intentions, that the performance quite took off, that the two solo voices were distinguished, and that the recording was up to modern standards; these are not the case. However, anyone who cares about Milhaud's music needs to get acquainted with this work, and we are not so spoilt for choice that the performance can be regarded as less than serviceable until we have a newer and better one. In any case, the all-important chorus acquit themselves pretty well and so do the Utah orchestra.
L'homme et son desir takes us to the other extreme of Milhaud's career, being a ballet that he wrote to a Claudel scenario while still in his twenties. But despite the title and the 'naughty' period of its Parisian premiere in 1921, this too is an oddly serious piece in which four solo voices feature strongly. It fills a useful niche in the catalogue and is effectively performed.'