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█ █ P U B L I C . S O U N D
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█ █ presenting our latest release
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r e l e a s e . i n f o
Artist.....: Pierre Boulez
Title......: Trois Sonates pour piano (Claude Helffer)
Rip Date...: December 2006 Cat.No.....: E 7716
Style......: Avantgarde Label......: Astree
Quality....: VBRkbps Type.......: Album
Size.......: 80,9 MB Source.....: CDDA
r e l e a s e . n o t e s
Ripper's note: Hey, if you have doubts about DPS releasing
avantgarde work, as we've said before, just listen for the bleeps
hard enough and they'll be there! Even this amazon.com reviewer
agrees... enjoy with open ears!
Pierre Boulez's three piano sonatas are early works indeed. The
first two were written in his early 20s, while the third came not
long after. On this disc, a Montaigne reissue of an Astree Auvidis
recording from 1980, the French pianist Claude Helffer performs.
Even for those familiar with much serial music, even if you've
heard everything else Boulez composed, the piano sonatas can be
difficult listening. In fact, in the beginning one might think it
merely a series of bleeps and bloops without order. Gaining
insight into these takes time, and in the beginning one should
focus on the simple succession of individual gestures even if the
musical development on a large scale can't be perceived. Over
time, however, the sonatas unlock their secrets, and one begins to
notice motifs and clever form.
The first two sonatas are not Boulez's first pieces--they were
preceded by the recently rehabilitated "Notations" for piano
(1945)--but they are Boulez's first individual achievement. In the
"Piano Sonata No. 1" (1946) the sonorities of Webern (especially
the "Symphonie" op. 21), coexist with an interest in dynamic and
attack which is pure Boulez. The first movement is developed out
of merely four opening gestures: a rising minor sixth, an
appoggiatura, an isolated note, and a brusqe arpeggio. The second
movement opens with cells all over the keyboard, and the dashing
between octaves hints at Boulez's later solo piano work "Incises".
For much of his career has sought to take serialism beyond mere
miniatures, like Webern, to grand designs. The four-movement
"Piano Sonata No. 2" (1948) is, at nearly a half an hour long, an
important venture in this direction. Popular opinions about Boulez
as entirely detached from tradition will be amazed at the work's
clear debt to Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" and "Waldstein" sonatas,
and it even uses a B-A-C-H motif throughout. Its first movement is
marked "extremement vif"--right off we find a violence and
virtuosity never before heard in Boulez--and it posseses the
elegant dramatic arc of classical sonata form,
exposition--development--recapitulation. The second, slow movement
is lyrical and melodic, while the brief (three-minute) third
minute combines variation and scherzo form. The fourth movement,
however, is extremely rich, made up of an introduction, a fugue, a
rondo, and a coda. A twelve-tone fugue makes for exciting
listening.
The "Piano Sonata No. 3" (1955-57) was written during Boulez's
interest in quasi-aleatoric writing where the performer was free
to decide the order of the piece's sections. Inspired by Mallarme
and the possibility of a book in perpetual expansion, this quality
can be found also in Boulez's "Eclat" and "Pli selon pli", though
Boulez ultimately fixed the ordering of the latter. This sonata
has remained uncompleted for almost fifty years, and of the five
"formants" (not "movements", since they don't move forward) which
are to make up the piece, only the second and third have been
published. The Third Sonata is by far the most abstract of the
three, and understanding its structure involves close listening,
ideally with score at hand. While based on an interesting concept,
it offers fewer possibilities for mere entertainment than the
first two.
Helffer's performance is good, but I'm reluctant to think too
highly of it. In 2005 Deutsche Grammophon released a recording by
Pavali Jumppanen that, if not called outright definitive by
Boulez, still seems to carry the composer's approval. Helffer
ranks a bit below with Idil Biret on Naxos; both take a spritely
approach this is refreshing, but they both flub a few spots in the
Second Sonata especially, and the sparing use of pedal doesn't
seem in keeping with the score. This recording has fine liner
notes, but for best understanding the sonatas I'd recommend
getting a copy of Dominique Jameux's PIERRE BOULEZ (English
translation Harvard University Press, 1991 ISBN 0-674-66740-9).
For me, Boulez really hit his stride after "Eclat", when he
produced a number of works full of brilliant colour and elegant
construction such as "Sur Incises", "...explosante-fixe..." and
"Repons". I'd recommend those first to anyone curious about
Boulez's music. Still, the piano sonatas are an interesting step
in Boulez's musical development, as well as some of the most
rigorous and adventurous serial writing of the generation after
the Second Viennese School. Get Jumppanen's performance first,
seek out the rest if you're a passionate Boulez fan.
-Christopher Culver @ amazon.com
p l a y l i s t
01 premiΦre sonate pour piano - i lent 04:31
02 premiΦre sonate pour piano - ii assez large, 04:30
rapide ..
03 deuxiΦme sonate pour piano - i extrΩmement rapide 05:48
04 deuxiΦme sonate pour piano - ii lent 10:25
05 deuxiΦme sonate pour piano - iii modΘrΘ presque 02:12
vif ..
06 deuxiΦme sonate pour piano - iv vif 09:33
07 troisiΦme sonate pour piano formant 3 11:34
08 troisiΦme sonate pour piano - format 2 06:46
55:19 min
g r e e t i n g s
agw - amok - bass - bcc - bex - boss - cmg - cmc - cms - d2h
def - dh - disc0 - drum - emp - ftd - fwyh - gem - i8 - ipc
jce - jfk - jrp - just - khz - kinky - kw - lame - maem - mbs
mgc - psycz - r2r - rac - radial - rapid - rks - rtb - sb
sever - sfe - soup - sour - sq - tr - trt - ube - uc - upe
uki - xtc - yard - zi
respect to music lovers worldwide
never forget : go to the show. buy the t-shirt. order the vinyl