Piano sonatas (Boulez)
Encyclopedia
Pierre Boulez
has composed three piano sonatas. The First Piano Sonata in 1946, a Second Piano Sonata in 1948, and a Third Piano Sonata was composed in 1955–57 with further elaborations up to at least 1963, though only two of its movements (and a fragment of another) have been published.
work (together with his Sonatine for flute and piano), and he originally intended to dedicate it to René Leibowitz
, but their friendship ended when Leibowitz tried to make "corrections" to the score (Peyser 1999,, quoted without a page reference in Ruch 2004). In composing this, Boulez took great inspiration from Arnold Schönberg's Drei Klavierstücke
, Op. 11.
, the work was performed in the U.S. by David Tudor
in 1950 (Nattiez 1993, 77–79). The work is in four movements, lasting a total of about 30 minutes. It is notoriously difficult to play, and the pianist Yvonne Loriod
"is said to have burst into tears when faced with the prospect" of performing it (Fanning, David. [n.d.]).
. He published several writings, both criticizing the practice and suggesting its reformation, leading up to the composition of this sonata in 1955–57/63. Boulez has published only two complete movements of this work (in 1963), and a fragment of another (in Universal Edition 1967), the other movements having been written up to various stages of elaboration but not completed to the composer's satisfaction. Of the unpublished movements (or "formants", as Boulez calls them), described in Edwards 1989, the one titled "Antiphonie" is the most fully developed. It has been analysed by Pascal Decroupet (2004, 152–59). The formant titled "Strophe" is the one least developed since the preliminary form but:
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...
has composed three piano sonatas. The First Piano Sonata in 1946, a Second Piano Sonata in 1948, and a Third Piano Sonata was composed in 1955–57 with further elaborations up to at least 1963, though only two of its movements (and a fragment of another) have been published.
First Piano Sonata
Boulez's First Piano Sonata, completed in 1946, has two movements. It was his first twelve-tone serialSerialism
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...
work (together with his Sonatine for flute and piano), and he originally intended to dedicate it to René Leibowitz
René Leibowitz
René Leibowitz was a French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher born in Warsaw, Poland.-Career:...
, but their friendship ended when Leibowitz tried to make "corrections" to the score (Peyser 1999,, quoted without a page reference in Ruch 2004). In composing this, Boulez took great inspiration from Arnold Schönberg's Drei Klavierstücke
Drei Klavierstücke
Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 is a set of pieces for solo piano written by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1909. They represent an early example of ‘atonality’ in the composer’s work...
, Op. 11.
- "Lent - Beaucoup plus allant" (slow - moving along a lot more)
- "Assez large - Rapide" (quite broad - rapid)
Second Piano Sonata
The Second Piano Sonata of 1947–48 is a powerfully original work which gained Boulez an international reputation. The pianist Yvette Grimaud gave the world premiere on 29 April 1950 (Nattiez 1993, 37). Through his friendship with the American composer John CageJohn Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, the work was performed in the U.S. by David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
in 1950 (Nattiez 1993, 77–79). The work is in four movements, lasting a total of about 30 minutes. It is notoriously difficult to play, and the pianist 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:...
"is said to have burst into tears when faced with the prospect" of performing it (Fanning, David. [n.d.]).
- "Extrêmement rapide" (extremely fast)
- "Lent" (slow)
- "Modéré, presque vif" (moderate, almost lively)
- "Vif" (lively)
Third Piano Sonata
The Third Piano Sonata was first performed by the composer in Cologne and Darmstadt in 1958, in a "preliminary version" of its five-movement form. One motivating force for its composition was Boulez's desire to explore aleatoric musicAleatoric music
Aleatoric music is music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer...
. He published several writings, both criticizing the practice and suggesting its reformation, leading up to the composition of this sonata in 1955–57/63. Boulez has published only two complete movements of this work (in 1963), and a fragment of another (in Universal Edition 1967), the other movements having been written up to various stages of elaboration but not completed to the composer's satisfaction. Of the unpublished movements (or "formants", as Boulez calls them), described in Edwards 1989, the one titled "Antiphonie" is the most fully developed. It has been analysed by Pascal Decroupet (2004, 152–59). The formant titled "Strophe" is the one least developed since the preliminary form but:
a 1958 radio tape of the composer's Cologne performance of the Third Piano Sonata shows that the wealth of cross-reference introduced by the inclusion of the other three movements, even in their preliminary versions, contributes exponentially to the complex, multiform effect of the whole. (Edwards 1989, 5–6)A facsimile of the manuscript of the preliminary version of the remaining formant, "Séquence", was published in Schatz and Strobel 1977, but was subsequently continued to nearly twice its original length (Edwards 1989, 4).
- "Antiphonie" (unpublished except for a fragment, called "Sigle" [Siglum])
- "Trope"
- "Constellation" (published only in its retrograde version, as "Constellation-Miroir")
- "Strophe" (unpublished)
- "Séquence" (unpublished, except for a facsimile of the preliminary-version manuscript)