FOUR BY FOUR
(1946; pub. 1979)

OVERVIEW

Written in 1946 and published in 1979, Four by Four is a composition for two pianos that a 26-year-old Brubeck wrote when he was a student at Mills College in Darius Milhaud’s class. This piece shows the young composer’s mature understanding of harmony and a playful interest in rhythmic experimentation.

Dave Brubeck enrolled at Mills College in 1946 at the age of 25, after returning home from his military service in World War II. His wife Iola also enrolled with him at Mills that year to study creative writing and the history of religion. At Mills, Dave studied music theory, counterpoint, polytonality, polyrhythms, and composition with French composer Darius Milhaud and formed his Octet in 1947 with fellow classmates, including clarinetist Bill Smith, his lifelong colleague and friend. Dave recalled the formation of the Octet:

"The octet was born right in Milhaud’s class. When he said, ‘How many of you play jazz?’ We all started thinking, ‘Uh oh, is this going to be like all the other teachers in conservatories?’ But we raised our hands anyway, and he said, ‘All right, I’d like you to write for the jazz instrumentation,’ and that’s the way the octet was born. He got the first concert for us right there at Mills, for the girls. The guys all, well, I think quite a few romances and some marriages came out of that."

In his first year at Mills, Dave wrote "Four by Four”, a composition for two pianos, dedicated to Milhaud, which shows the young composer’s mature understanding of harmony and a playful interest in rhythmic experimentation. Dave gave two composition recitals at Mills, in which he sometimes found himself accidentally improvising parts of the program. His brother, Howard, who taught in the music department, was not amused:

"All of a sudden, I was looking at my music, and I went blank. And, there were critics there, and the whole conservatory, and all the students. So, I kept playing, but I played something. And, I finished about three minutes of that, and there was applause. So I thought I'd try the second piece to see if I could hang in there. The same thing happened again, and I improvised again. 

My brother wanted to kill me. He was Milhaud's teaching assistant, and gave me a long, strict talk after that recital saying what he thought I should do and how I had embarrassed him.   The next day I had a class with Milhaud, and he said with amusement, 'Boo-Boo, [Milhaud’s nickname for Dave] very good, but not what you wrote.’"

It was at Mills College where Dave learned musical ideas that would shape his most iconic recordings later in life.

DETAILS

(1946, pub. 1979) 7 min.

Four by Four

Dedicated to Darius Milhaud

I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Moderato
IV. Moderato

INSTRUMENTATION

For piano four hands

MUSIC

Dave Brubeck

PURCHASE & LICENSING

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