A previously unknown composition by French composer Darius Milhaud has been discovered in Brecon and was recently premiered at Cardiff University.

The lost manuscript was found by Professor Caroline Rae, a pianist and expert in 20th century French music at Cardiff University’s School of Music

The piece, composed in 1920, was a birthday gift from Milhaud and poet Jean Cocteau to their friend, Audrey Parr, a British diplomat's wife and stage designer. Cocteau wrote a wittily surreal poem, which Milhaud set to music for soprano and seven instruments. The manuscript was found at the Brecon home of Parr's granddaughter, Laetitia Jack.

“It’s not every day an unknown work by a major French composer is discovered, let alone in Wales," said Professor Rae.

"This wonderful piece is a real gem and shows Milhaud at his most inventive and experimental. It sheds new light on Milhaud’s stylistic development while demonstrating a real affection for Audrey Parr, a forgotten figure of the interwar French avant-garde who undertook several collaborations with Milhaud and Claudel and was also the dedicatee of music by Poulenc.

"The discovery is a real coup for Cardiff University and I’m very grateful to Laetitia Jack, the manuscript owner, for giving us permission to give the world premiere."

Professor Rae mounted the world premiere of the work, which took place at Cardiff University’s Concert Hall, alongsider her PhD student, James Brookmyre.

The performance featuring musicians from Cardiff University, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Bodman String Quartet.

The performers for the world premiere of the lost work by Darius Milhaud were: Clair Rowden (soprano), Gabbi Alberti (flute), James Brookmyre (clarinet), Jaroslaw Augustyniak (bassoon), Robert Fokkens (violin), Charles Bodman-Whittaker (viola), Claudine Cassidy (cello) and Jordan Williams (double bass).

“We were amazed and very excited to find the manuscript after it had been lost for about 40 years," said Laetitia Jack.

"We thought that we would never manage to get a group of musicians to ever play it, and so we’re incredibly grateful to Caroline Rae and James Brookmyre for taking it on. It sounds wonderful. I can't believe it. We’re just so very excited and very happy, and I’m glad that this piece was composed for my granny.”

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of 'Les Six' and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality (simultaneous use of different keys). Milhaud is considered one of the key modernist composers, writing more than 400 pieces of symphonic, operatic, and chamber music over the course of his life.

The other members of ‘Les Six’ were Georges Auric (1899–1983), Louis Durey (1888–1979), Arthur Honegger (1892–1955), Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), and Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983). Their music represents a strong reaction against the heavy German Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, as well as against the chromaticism and lush orchestration of Claude Debussy.