Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

MONSIEUR MODERNE:
PIERRE BOULEZ

Pierre Boulez, one of the most influential figures in 20th century music, will lead the Ensemble Intercontemporain in sold-out performances of two of his seminal works-- Anthèmes II and Répons—at Carnegie Hall next weekend as part of New York’s month-long Sounds French Festival.

Boulez, who turns 78 on March 26, was born in Montbrison, Loire, France, and now lives in Paris. He composed Anthèmes II, for violin and live electronics, in 1997; it was first performed in Donaueschingen, Germany, on October 19 of that year. The first version of Répons was composed in 1981 and first performed in Donaueschingen on October 18 of that year; the second version was first performed in London in 1982; the third version was first performed in Turin, Italy, in 1984.

The score of Répons calls for six soloists, playing 2 pianos, harp, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and cimbalom, and for an ensemble of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass tuba, 3 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, and contrabass; the sounds of the soloists are also transformed for electronic diffusion around the hall.

Anthèmes II received its U.S. premiere at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on November 21, 1999, with Hae-Sun Kang, violin, and Andrew Gerszo, technician. This evening’s performance marks the Carnegie Hall premiere of Répons.

”The juxtaposition of the two works on this evening’s program is surely no matter of chance,” writes Bernard Jacobson in the program notes. As Boulez acknowledged in a searching interview with Wolfgang Fink, both take their titles from very old forms. In Anthèmes II, the composer explains, the strophic form “is obviously clearly emphasized by means of brief passages of harmonics and glissandos. In choosing this title I was influenced by a childhood memory of the psalms that were sung during Holy Week—the Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae, for example—and by their clear strophic structure, a structure indicated by the Hebrew letters Aleph, Beth, Ghimel and so on. In Anthèmes, this structure is rendered additionally obvious because the harmonics acquire a distinctive color through the use of electronics.”

Boulez studied at the Paris Conservatory with Olivier Messiaen, Andrée Vaurabourg, and René Leibowitz. Tody, he celebrated as a composer, conductor, author, He currently holds the Richard and Barbara Debs composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall. In the 1960s, Boulez founded the Domaine Musical concert series to ensure performances of his music and that of his predecessor and peers. Fifteen years later, in Paris, he founded the prestigious research institute IRCAM and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. He continues to conduct the world’s major orchestras with daring and innovative programs.

Repons, Dialogue De L'Ombre Double
Composer: Pierre Boulez
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Performer: Vincent Bauer, Florent Boffard, et al.
Polygram Records - #457605

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