boulez pli selon pli

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32B New York Philharmonic Born March 26, 1925, in Montbrison, Loire, France Resides in Paris Work composed 1957 World premiere January 13, 1958, in Hamburg, Hans Rosbaud conducting members of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Ilse Hollweg, soprano New York Philharmonic premiere March 31, 1960, Leonard Bernstein, conductor, Marni Nixon, soprano Most recent New York Philharmonic performance March 18, 1986, Pierre Boulez, con- ductor, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano Estimated duration ca. 12 minutes Pli selon pli: Improvisation sur Mallarmé II (“Une dentelle s’abolit”) PIERRE BOULEZ figures were committed to presenting contemporary music, but in neither case did it qualify as an obsession. Suddenly, audience members found themselves contemplating a New York Philharmonic headed by a firebrand of ultramodernism — one, moreover, who brought with him a limited résumé as a conductor of the classics. A few works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven & Co. graced his repertoire list, but they were the excep- tions rather than the rule; his most high- profile conducting successes had involved contemporary — or at least 20th-century — scores (including many of his own), or else such “fringe” works (at that time) as Rameau’s opera Hippolyte et Aricie. What’s more, his history with the New York Philharmonic was slim indeed, consisting of only four contiguous weeks in March and April of 1969, during which he had led 16 pieces, only three of which had been written prior to the 20th century. Boulez would remain at the New York Phil- harmonic from 1971 to 1977, challenging listeners with a stream of unfamiliar scores and earning fond recollections in posterity by introducing the Rug Concerts, during which (mostly younger) listeners might recline on red rugs and foam-rub- ber cushions scattered about the floor of Philharmonic (now Avery Fisher) Hall while grooving to, say, Ives or Ligeti. In any case, Boulez’s greater fame was as a composer, and a fearsomely intellectual one at that, even by the fiercely intellectual standards of the postwar musical avant- garde. Following study with Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire, Boulez delved into the principles of twelve-tone music via instruction from Schoenberg’s pupil René Leibowitz. He soon began unleashing meticulously crafted works, sometimes of W hen it was announced in June 1969 that Pierre Boulez would become Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1971, concert- goers fastened their seatbelts. His prede- cessor as Music Director had been Leonard Bernstein, who served in that position from 1958 to 1969, and George Szell, by that time a senior eminence of the podium, was filling in as Music Advisor in 1969–70. Certainly those two

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Page 1: Boulez Pli Selon Pli

32B N ew Yo r k P h i l h a r m o n i c

BornMarch 26, 1925, in Montbrison, Loire,France

Residesin Paris

Work composed1957

World premiereJanuary 13, 1958, in Hamburg, HansRosbaud conducting members of theNDR Symphony Orchestra, IlseHollweg, soprano

New York Philharmonic premiereMarch 31, 1960, Leonard Bernstein,conductor, Marni Nixon, soprano

Most recent New York Philharmonic performanceMarch 18, 1986, Pierre Boulez, con-ductor, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano

Estimated durationca. 12 minutes

Pli selon pli: Improvisation sur Mallarmé II (“Une dentelle s’abolit”)

PIERRE BOULEZ

figures were committed to presentingcontemporary music, but in neither casedid it qualify as an obsession.

Suddenly, audience members foundthemselves contemplating a New YorkPhilharmonic headed by a firebrand ofultramodernism — one, moreover, whobrought with him a limited résumé as aconductor of the classics. A few works byHaydn, Mozart, Beethoven & Co. gracedhis repertoire list, but they were the excep-tions rather than the rule; his most high-profile conducting successes had involvedcontemporary — or at least 20th-century —scores (including many of his own), or elsesuch “fringe” works (at that time) asRameau’s opera Hippolyte et Aricie. What’smore, his history with the New YorkPhilharmonic was slim indeed, consistingof only four contiguous weeks in Marchand April of 1969, during which he had led16 pieces, only three of which had beenwritten prior to the 20th century. Boulezwould remain at the New York Phil-harmonic from 1971 to 1977, challenginglisteners with a stream of unfamiliarscores and earning fond recollections inposterity by introducing the Rug Concerts,during which (mostly younger) listenersmight recline on red rugs and foam-rub-ber cushions scattered about the floor ofPhilharmonic (now Avery Fisher) Hallwhile grooving to, say, Ives or Ligeti.

In any case, Boulez’s greater fame was asa composer, and a fearsomely intellectualone at that, even by the fiercely intellectualstandards of the postwar musical avant-garde. Following study with Messiaen atthe Paris Conservatoire, Boulez delved intothe principles of twelve-tone music viainstruction from Schoenberg’s pupil RenéLeibowitz. He soon began unleashingmeticulously crafted works, sometimes of

W hen it was announced in June1969 that Pierre Boulez wouldbecome Music Director of the

New York Philharmonic in 1971, concert-goers fastened their seatbelts. His prede-cessor as Music Director had beenLeonard Bernstein, who served in thatposition from 1958 to 1969, and GeorgeSzell, by that time a senior eminence ofthe podium, was filling in as MusicAdvisor in 1969–70. Certainly those two

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S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 32C

electrifying difficulty, such as the legen-darily challenging Second Piano Sonata,premiered in 1950. At about that time hebecame fascinated with post-Schoenbergianserialism, and began to explore ways inwhich the mathematical ordering andmanagement of pitches — a fundamentalserial technique — might be expanded toinclude other elements of a composition,such as rhythm, timbre, and dynamics. Hismusic increasingly found its voice throughnon-traditional ensembles, often with aprominent percussion component, as inhis iconic setting, for voice and chamberensemble, of René Char texts, under thetitle Le Marteau sans maître (1955).

During this period Boulez alsoembarked on a pair of works calledImprovisations sur Mallarmé, in both casesfor solo soprano and a chamber group(eight players for the first Improvisation,

nine for the second) rich in percussionand unveiled in January 1958. It is the second of these settings, to the text “Unedentelle s’abolit,” that is performed in thisconcert. This diptych would soon becomethe kernel of a much larger work: anImprovisation sur Mallarmé III would beadded in 1959, and then a lengthy instru-mental prelude (Don) and postlude(Tombeau) to frame the three centralImprovisations, yielding an hour-long,five-movement work titled Pli selon pli(“Fold by Fold”). Each of the movementsunderwent later revision except for theone offered here; Improvisation surMallarmé II is identical to the third move-ment of Pli selon pli, and Boulez unequiv-ocally sanctioned that either of his origi-nal Improvisations could be performedseparately from the larger work thatwould accrete around them.

In the Composer’s Words

Pierre Boulez harbors deep admiration for the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–98),a leading symbolist poet who grew increasingly obsessed with the purity of poetical format the expense of obvious narrative meaning. Of this setting, Boulez has observed:

The marriage of the poem and the musichere is not confined simply to the level ofemotional significance, but seeks to goto the core of the invention, to its verystructure. … In my [musical] transposition,or transmutation, of Mallarmé’s poems, Iassume that the listener has already readthe poem and is therefore acquaintedwith its direct meaning; that he hasalready assimilated the information con-veyed to the music by the poem. As aconsequence, I can therefore play with a varying degree of immediate under-standing, though this play, it must besaid, is not left to chance, but is so con-structed that prominence is sometimesgiven to the musical text and at othertimes to the poetic text.

Pierre Boulez

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32D N ew Yo r k P h i l h a r m o n i c

At the Time

In 1957, when Pierre Boulez wrote Improvisation sur Mallarmé II, the following eventswere taking place:

In England, Anthony Eden resigns asPrime Minister

In the United States, PresidentEisenhower issues the “EisenhowerDoctrine,” to protect Middle Easterncountries from Communism; JackKerouac’s On the Road (right), Dr.Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat, and AynRand’s Atlas Shrugged are published;Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivierstar in the movie The Prince and the Showgirl (below); the musicalsWest Side Story and The Music Mandebut on Broadway; and the Brook-lyn Dodgers baseball team moves toLos Angeles

In Egypt, the UN re-opens the SuezCanal to navigation

In Spain, General Francisco Francoannounces that the monarchy will berestored following his death

In France, Algerian-born Frenchwriter Albert Camus wins the NobelPrize for Literature

In Finland, composer Jean Sibeliusdies

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I,the first artificial satellite, ignitingthe space race with the UnitedStates

Pablo Picasso paints Las Meninas(after Velázquez)

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The title reflects the fact that the piecewas born through an improvisation carriedout privately by the composer. The per-formers in Improvisation sur Mallarmé II donot improvise. (Boulez had experimentedwith asking interpreters to improvise insome of his compositions and stoppedafter being too often frustrated with theresults.) Still, much of the piece employsrelatively free tempos and rhythms, which

does leave room for very considerablespontaneity and individuality in the per-formance of a piece that is otherwise care-fully regulated in its details of pitch andgeneral construction.

Instrumentation: soprano voice, harp,tubular chimes, vibraphone, piano, celesta,maracas, crotales, claves, gong, tam-tams, and suspended cymbal.

Une dentelle s’abolit

Une dentelle s’abolit A lace is effacedDans le doute du Jeu suprême In the doubt of the supreme GameA n’entr’ouvrir comme un blasphème By revealing as a blasphemyQu’absence éternelle de lit. The eternal absence of a bed.

Cet unamine blanc conflit This one white combatD’une guirlande avec la même Of a garland with itselfEnfui contre la vitre blême Pressed against the pale glassFlotte plus qu’il n’ensevelit. Waves more than it enshrouds,

Mais chez que du rêve se dore But in him who is gilded with the dreamTristement dort une mandore Sadly sleeps a mandolinAu creux néant musicien With its empty hollowness of sound

Telle que vers quelque fenêtre Such as toward some windowSelon nul ventre que le sien, From no womb but one’s ownFilial on aurait pu naître. As a son one might be born.

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