Darius Milhaud
The French composer Darius Milhaud was born in Marseilles on September 4, 1892, he died on June 22, 1974 in Geneva. In September 2017 his birthday marks the 125th time. Milhaud studied at the Paris Conservatory, first violin and later composition. In 1916 he accompanied his friend Paul Claudel to Rio de Janeiro where he met the Brazilian folklore and popular music that strongly has influenced his music. After returning to France, he was part of the “Groupe des Six” headed by the composer Eric Satie. Milhaud composed more than 400 works from all the major music genres (opera, symphonic music, concertos, chamber and vocal music, songs, film music). Many of his works show influences of the then emerging jazz. After the outbreak of World War 2, Milhaud lead composition classes in Oakland and later in Paris. Among his students were Dave Brubeck, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis.
 

The series “British music icons” of Royal Mail will continue on March 14 with a set of stamps commemorating David Bowie.
 

The six stamps show the covers from following albums: Hunky Dory (1971), Aladdin Sane (1973), Heroes (1977), Let’s Dance (1983), Earthling (1997) and Blackstar (2016).
 

The sheet of four is showing pictures of live concerts from various tours: “Ziggy Stardust Tour” (1973), “The Stage Tour” (1978), “Serious Moonlight Tour” (1983), “A Reality Tour” (2004) and “Glass Spider Tour” (1987 / sheet margin).
 
The stamps can be pre-ordered from the Royal Mail Online Shop.