Paul CLAUDEL. L.A.S., Brangues September 14, 1932, to actor Jean Hervé; 3 pages in-4 on Château de Brangues letterhead. About L'Annonce faite à Marie, "which since 1912 has been performed all over the world, in Europe, America and even, I believe, in Asia, always with great success". There had been talk of staging it at the Théâtre Pigalle, "where this time it would have been performed with all the costumes and staging it entailed", and incidental music commissioned from Darius Milhaud. "Then the Théâtre Pigalle went bankrupt and the project was abandoned. Claudel went to Aix to hear Milhaud's music: "It is simply admirable, light, sonorous, spiritual, diaphanous and perfectly accessible to the most naive minds. [...] M. and I had discussed this music at length, and I had provided him with all the themes borrowed from the songs of my native village. N. wanted to create a truly scenic music, which instead of interrupting the action in the manner of an act, would seem to emanate naturally from it, supporting the passages of lyrical emotion by creating an atmosphere and prolonging the vibrations of the poetry. M. employed a small orchestra of 11 musicians and 4 male and female voices"; this could be recorded on disc and "used without charge for all performances"... The time therefore seems ripe "for the Comédie Française to give one of my plays the model performance that everyone is waiting for [...] It pains me to think that in my own country, I am ignored by the institution whose aim is precisely to promote and illustrate the high productions of our dramatic art". He asks Hervé to "recognize the country". And he would like the play to be performed by Hervé, Mme Ventura and Jean Yonnel... [It was not until February 17 1955 that L'Annonce faite à Marie was finally performed at the Comédie-Française, directed by Julien Bertheau, with incidental music by Maria Scibor (pseudonym of Louise Vetch, Claudel's natural daughter)].