Piano Sonata (Barraqué)
Encyclopedia
The Piano Sonata by Jean Barraqué
is a significant serial
composition from the period of avant-garde composition in France
shortly after World War II
.
Composed between 1950 and 1952, it is a large piece, lasting around fifty minutes, in a single movement divided into two connected sections, roughly equal in length. The densely dissonant polyphonic texture of the work resembles the Second Piano Sonata of Pierre Boulez
, a work Barraqué knew well. In performance, however, the overall impact is quite different from anything of Boulez, and has often been claimed (eg by Hodeir (1961)), to be akin in spirit to the late sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Paul Griffiths has written of the music of the sonata: 'contrasts of themes or keys are replaced by other polarities, in particular between perceptions of notes as sounds (acontextual, as if heard alone) and as tones (part of the unfolding of a serial form), between freedom and fixity in the registral placing of notes, between pulsed and pulseless rhythm and between sound and silence. In his preface to the composition Barraqué drew attention to another opposition, between a "free style" of motifs and chords in easy flow and a "strict style" of intensive, quasi-automatic process acknowledging the total serialism of the time. Compulsion, embodied in the strict music, may seem to spur protest in the free passages. But protest is compromised by having to be voiced in the same language, based on the same series.' Herbert Henck has also noted: 'The overall structure was based on juxtaposing a fast movement with a slow one of equal weight. But as the fast movement built up, slow sections were increasingly introduced, and the slow movement contained some fast ones, so that there was a balance of contrasts within the work as a whole. The piece closed in unision in a mediating tempo with a twelve-tone row, whose basic form determined the pitch structure of the whole work.'
The sonata was recorded commercially by Yvonne Loriod
between 28 and 30 October 1957 and issued in 1958, but it was not given its first performance in public until 24 April 1967, when the Danish pianist Elisabeth Klein played it in a recital in Copenhagen, seemingly unaware that she was in fact giving the world première. It was subsequently recorded commercially by Claude Helffer
in 1969, Roger Woodward
in 1972, Stefan Litwin in 1997, and Herbert Henck in 1999. The Sonata had been published by Aldo Bruzzichelli, Florence
in 1966; the rights have since transferred to Bärenreiter-Verlag of Kassel
. The original edition is rife with notational errors, and performers (eg Henck) had to prepare their own edition.
Jean Barraqué
Jean-Henri-Alphonse Barraqué was a French composer and writer on music who developed an individual form of serialism which is displayed in a small output of highly complex but passionate works.-Life:...
is a significant serial
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
composition from the period of avant-garde composition in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
shortly after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Composed between 1950 and 1952, it is a large piece, lasting around fifty minutes, in a single movement divided into two connected sections, roughly equal in length. The densely dissonant polyphonic texture of the work resembles the Second Piano Sonata of Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, a work Barraqué knew well. In performance, however, the overall impact is quite different from anything of Boulez, and has often been claimed (eg by Hodeir (1961)), to be akin in spirit to the late sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Paul Griffiths has written of the music of the sonata: 'contrasts of themes or keys are replaced by other polarities, in particular between perceptions of notes as sounds (acontextual, as if heard alone) and as tones (part of the unfolding of a serial form), between freedom and fixity in the registral placing of notes, between pulsed and pulseless rhythm and between sound and silence. In his preface to the composition Barraqué drew attention to another opposition, between a "free style" of motifs and chords in easy flow and a "strict style" of intensive, quasi-automatic process acknowledging the total serialism of the time. Compulsion, embodied in the strict music, may seem to spur protest in the free passages. But protest is compromised by having to be voiced in the same language, based on the same series.' Herbert Henck has also noted: 'The overall structure was based on juxtaposing a fast movement with a slow one of equal weight. But as the fast movement built up, slow sections were increasingly introduced, and the slow movement contained some fast ones, so that there was a balance of contrasts within the work as a whole. The piece closed in unision in a mediating tempo with a twelve-tone row, whose basic form determined the pitch structure of the whole work.'
The sonata was recorded commercially by Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod
Yvonne Loriod was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod.-Life:...
between 28 and 30 October 1957 and issued in 1958, but it was not given its first performance in public until 24 April 1967, when the Danish pianist Elisabeth Klein played it in a recital in Copenhagen, seemingly unaware that she was in fact giving the world première. It was subsequently recorded commercially by Claude Helffer
Claude Helffer
Claude Helffer was a French pianist noted particularly for his advocacy of 20th-century music.-Biography:...
in 1969, Roger Woodward
Roger Woodward
Roger Woodward AC OBE is an Australian classical concert pianist.-Biography:Roger Woodward was born in 1942 in Chatswood, a suburb of Sydney, the youngest of four children to Gladys and Frank Woodward...
in 1972, Stefan Litwin in 1997, and Herbert Henck in 1999. The Sonata had been published by Aldo Bruzzichelli, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in 1966; the rights have since transferred to Bärenreiter-Verlag of Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. The original edition is rife with notational errors, and performers (eg Henck) had to prepare their own edition.
Sources
- Halbreich, Harry, 'Jean Barraqué: Complete Works', essay (1987) translated by Elizabeth Buzzard and first published in programme-book of 1989 Almeida Festival.
- Hodeir, André. 1961. La musique depuis Debussy. Paris: Presses universitaires de France. English edition, as Since Debussy: A View of Contemporary Music. Translated by Noel Burch. Evergreen original, E-260. New York: Grove Press, Inc.; London: Secker and Warburg, 1961.
- Hopkins, Bill. 1972. “Barraqué’s Piano Sonata”. The Listener (27 Jan 1972)
- Hopkins, Bill. 1993. “Portrait of a Sonata”. Tempo new series, no. 186 (September) 13-14.