Background and Publication

This is Migot's first piano work published by a major publishing house. While he had previously composed unpublished studies and self-published piano pieces, this work marks the beginning of his serious compositions. In 1914, Migot was severely wounded while serving in World War I. After two years of convalescence, he re-enrolled at the Paris Conservatoire and subsequently gained prominence by winning a series of awards: the Lili Boulanger Prize (1918), the Léopold Prize (1919), the Alfan Prize (1920), and the Blumenthal Prize (1920). This work was written during a period when he began prolific creative activity. It was completed on November 4, 8, and 18, 1921, and first appeared as a special supplement to the February 1, 1922 issue of the music criticism journal "La Revue Musicale." In the same year, it was re-published as a separate piece by Maurice Senart.

The Meaning of "Épigrammes"

The term "epigram" originates from the Greek word "epigramma" (inscription) and refers to a concise, witty maxim or a satirical short poem. However, the score does not contain any specific poetic lines or titles for each piece. Generally, Migot often composed pieces without any specific pre-conceived notions, and then, retrospectively, imagined concrete objects or ideas from the completed sounds. While he might have jotted down these later ideas in private notes or shared them verbally with close students, with the exception of a few works, the composer's own "explanations" were rarely made public. In the case of this work, even though there was an opportunity to re-publish it as a separate piece after its initial appearance, Migot deliberately chose not to incorporate these ideas into the published score. Therefore, it can be assumed that the meaning implied by "Épigrammes" is fundamentally left to the performer's free imagination. The illustration on the cover of the first edition (depicting a man and a woman in medieval attire facing each other) serves as one clue. Furthermore, the fact that this work was adapted into the ballet music La Fête de la Bergère, d'après les Trois Épigrammes (The Shepherdess's Feast, based on the Three Epigrams) in 1924 may also be a useful reference.

Dedications and Musical Characteristics

The three pieces as a whole are dedicated to Henri Prunières, editor-in-chief of "La Revue Musicale." As is common with Migot's works, each individual piece also has a separate dedication:

• No. 1 (Allègre, léger, 2/2) is dedicated to Paul Marchal.
• No. 2 (Mouvement d'une pastorale, 4/4) is dedicated to Georges Marchal.
• No. 3 (Vif, 4/4) is dedicated to Maurice Faure.

All pieces are tonal, but they do not employ functional harmony. Instead, they feature a unique harmonic language that incorporates modernity into ancient modes, along with polyphonic development. Guy Sacre notes that the theme of the first piece is adorned with an "Oriental garland," the second piece evokes the shepherds depicted by the ancient Greek poet Theocritus, and the pastoral atmosphere persists in the third piece (Sacre, Guy. 1998. La musique de piano T.02. Paris: Robert Laffont). The premiere took place on March 1, 1923, at a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique in Salle Érard, performed by Maurice Faure (the dedicatee of the third piece). There is also a record of a performance by Andrée Piltan on April 12, 1923, at a concert of the Société Musicale Indépendante in Salle Pleyel. The fact that the work was performed by two leading contemporary organizations in quick succession shortly after its publication is significant, indicating the high level of interest in Migot's works within the musical community.