George Migot is one of those very obscure (even in his own country), nth-league minor masters, with something of a cult niche-following, initiated at the end of the LP era by the (now defunct) French label Cybelia (Discogs.com also lists a 1976 recording of Migot’s Piano Trio on Harmonia Mundi, presumably released on the occasion of the composer’s death that year – link will open new tab to listing). The torch was then passed on to Integral Classic (some releases under the label moniker Integral Distribution), who published a number of CDs of Migot’s music, both reissues of Cybelia LPs or CDs (piano music) and a few new recordings (apparently, writing in September 2024, the label is now gone as well). Migot was born in 1891 and died in 1976, which makes him, by birth at least, a contemporary of Ibert and Honegger and, by birth AND death, of Milhaud (1892-1974). Migot saw himself as much as a painter (the cover art of one of Integral Classic’s releases is the reproduction of one of his paintings) and a poet than as a composer. In music, he viewed himself as the heir of the “French tradition” of the Troubadours, of Titelouze, of Rameau, and as primarily a melodist, one for whom horizontal monophony (plainchant, popular song) was more essential than harmony. He was an independent, and in the 1920s the American critic Irwin Schwerke dubbed him, in reference to the “Groupe des Six”, the “Groupe du Un” (I venture GOO as a translation, the “Group of the One and Only”). As many independents, his fame soon passed. After the war he made a living by being in charge of the museum of instruments of the Paris Conservatoire.
I’ve reviewed so far two Migot CD releases:
Le Zodiaque, 12 Etudes de Concert. Jacqueline Eymar 1959-60. 2 CDs Integral Classic INT 221.144 (2005), the reissue of 2 LPs published by the small French label Lumen in 1959-1960, which had been reissued to LP only by Cybelia in 1984 (CY 665-666), and is here dubbed directly from LP… “integral” with dim surface noise, saturation in the climaxes and bumps. The music often sounds like sub-par and dry Scriabin. Probably better to go to the 2006 recording of Stéphane Lemelin on Atma Classics.
…and the charming Chamber music with woodwinds and harp: Quartet for flute, violin, clarinet and harp, Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, Concert for flute, cello and harp, Sonatine in duet for oboe and clarinet. Ensemble Pyramide. Integral Classic INT 221.108 (2000). From tributes payed to Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp to the insouciant bonhomie of pre-war “Musique française”, these four works, composed from 1924 to 1962, show little stylistic evolution… and little concern for the stylistic evolutions of the days. And there lies their charm.
There is a Georges Migot website, with a complete catalog of Migot’s (incredibly abundant) works established by musicologist and Migot advocate Marc Honegger, and what seems to be a very complete discography.