Les Six is a name given by critic Henri Collet to a group of six composers working in Montparnasse in the 1920s whose music was primarily a reaction against Wagnerism and Impressionism.

Three weeks after the premiere of Satie's Parade, Blaise Cendrars organized an evening of poetry and music in honor of the ballet, attended by artists and musicians who rallied around Satie, forming the group Les Nouveaux Jeunes, and marking the emergence of a new musical avant-garde.

Les Nouveaux Jeunes' lineup would change somewhat, and finally crystallize with Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Louis Durey, Germaine Tailleferre, and Georges Auric. With Erik Satie as spiritual father, and Jean Cocteau as spokesman, the group was christened "Les Six" by critic Henri Collet, after the Russian "Mighty Five." With this identifying label, and a recognizable aesthetic of simplicity, the composers who had been writing privately for years were able to gain attention from the public as a force.

Despite the elements the six composers had in common, there differences were far greater, and by the 1920s each was pursuing solo careers on their own. Today, we best remember Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, and Arthur Honegger. Few pieces by the other three are performed.

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955)

"Composing is not a profession. It is a mania - a harmless madness." - Honegger

A major early modern influence on French music, Honegger was one of Les Six's founding members. Ironically, Honegger was probably the most "Germanically" influenced of the members of the group, in stated contrast to the original aesthetic ideal as set by Cocteau. He also devoted more time to "serious study" than most of his contemporaries. In time, Honegger rejected Satie, and strove after high seriousness in a way alien to the rest of the group. While most members primarily produced short, jewel-like pieces, Honegger was the symphonist.
Listen to an excerpt of his work: Sonate pour violon seul
 

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)

"I have no aesthetic rules, or philosophy, or theories. I love to write music. I always do it with pleasure, otherwise I just do not write it." - Milhaud

Darius Milhaud, like the other members of Les Six, joined the group somewhat unwittingly, being taken in before he really knew what was going on. Unimpressed by Cocteau's "hands-on" approach to Les Six as aesthetics were involved, he nevertheless collaborated with both Satie and Cocteau in various projects, including his famous ballet "Le Boeuf sur le toit." He was known for his atonality; the composer Charles-Marie Widor once said, "The worst of [Milhaud's dissonances] is that you get used to them!"
 

Scaramouche
 

Louis Durey (1888-1979)

Louis Durey joined Les Six by accident, it seems, little aware that the artistic group he was joining were in fact creating a music association based on little more than friendship. He, too, collaborated with Jean Cocteau on a piece (as Satie had done years earlier), with his "Scenes de Cirque." Before long, however, he felt that Cocteau's influence was artistically compromising, and did not seek collaboration again.
 

Romance sans paroles
 

Georges Auric (1899-1983)

"Enough of clouds, waves, aquariums, water-sprites and nocturnal scents; what we need is a music of the earth, everyday music . . . music one can live in like a house." - Jean Cocteau

Georges Auric came to Les Six as a student of Satie. Together with Honegger and Durey he was one of the founding members of the group, but his music had more in common with that of Poulenc, his contemporary, than that of Honegger and Durey, his seniors. Together with Poulenc and Milhaud, Auric most exemplified the ideals put forth by Cocteau. As one critic noted, "with these three we penetrate more closely into the heart of the artichoke . . . they have the bite, the courage, the brutality."
 

Cinq Bagatelles
 

Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)

Germaine Tailleferre was the one woman in Les Six, and perhaps because of this, is today also one of the most recorded. She was a student of Darius Milhaud, and was one of the latecomers to Les Six.
 

Suite Burlesque