Pli selon pli

"Pli selon pli" ("Fold by fold") is a piece of classical music by the French composer Pierre Boulez. It is for solo soprano and orchestra, and is based on the poems of Stéphane Mallarmé. At over an hour, it is Boulez' longest work.

Movements and poems

The composition is in five movements, each based on a poem by Mallarmé:

#"Don" - based on "Don du poème"
#"Improvisation I on Mallarmé" - based on the sonnet "Le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd'hui"
#"Improvisation II on Mallarmé" - based on the sonnet "Une dentelle s'abolit"
#"Improvisation III on Mallarmé" - based on the sonnet "A la nue accablante tu"
#"Tombeau" - based on the poem of the same name

The title is taken from another Mallarmé poem, "Remémoration d'amis belges", that is not used in the piece, in which the poet describes how a mist that covers the city of Bruges gradually disappears Harv |Breatnach|1996|pp=82–83: :Comme furtive d'elle et visible je sens:Que se dévêt pli selon pli la pierre veuve:("As if by stealth and visible I sense:That fold by fold the widowed stone unrobes itself")"So, fold by fold, as the five movements develop, a portrait of Mallarmé is revealed," Boulez said Harv |Breatnach|1996|p=82.

Conception and composition

The piece was begun in 1957 with the composition of the first two "Improvisations on Mallarmé" for soprano and percussion ensemble Harv |Jameux|1991|p=108. In 1959 a third "Improvisation" was written, for soprano, instrumental ensemble and a large group of percussion, together with "Tombeau", for soprano and large orchestra Harv |Jameux|1991|p=108. In 1960, what is now the opening movement of the piece, "Don", was completed in a version for soprano and piano Harv |Jameux|1991|p=108. In 1962, this movement was rescored for soprano and orchestra, and "Improvisation I" was also rescored, completing the work in its initial form.

As with many of his other pieces, Boulez later returned to the work and revised it. In 1982 "Don" was rewritten and in 1989 "Improvisation III" was revised. In both cases, Boulez removed some flexibility which had previously been allowed in the order that sections of these movements could be played in.

The music

*"Don"
** 3 flutes, alto flute in G, oboe, E-flat clarinet, clarinet in A, bass clarinet in B, bassoon
** 4 horns in F, trumpet in D, trumpet in C, tenor trombone, bass trombone, contrabass trombone
** piano, 3 harps, celesta, mandolin, guitar
** 7 percussionists
** 4 violins, 4 viola, 5 violoncellos, 3 double basses

*"Improvisation I" "Le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd'hui"
** 2 flutes (both doubling on piccolos), E-flat clarinet (doubling on clarinet in A, 2 alto saxophones in E-flat
** 4 horns in F
** 8 percussionists
** 3 harps, mandolin, guitar
** 8 violas, 6 double basses

* "Improvisation II" "Une dentelle s'abolit"
** harp, vibraphone, tubular bells, piano, celesta, 4 percussionists

*"Improvisation III" "À la nue accablante tu"
** 3 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling on piccolo), alto flute in G (doubling on piccolo)
** tenor trombone
** 7 percussionists
** 3 harps, celesta, mandolin, guitar
** 5 violoncellos, 3 double basses

*"Tombeau"
** 2 flutes (1st doubling on piccolo), English horn, E-flat clarinet, clarinet in A, bass clarinet in B-flat, bassoon
** horn, trumpet in D, trumpet in C, tenor trombone, bass trombone, contrabass trombone
** 2 harps, piano, guitar, vibraphone, tubular bells, xylophone, bass drum (playing the vibraphone and timbales), gongs (playing the tom-tom and plate bells)
** 4 violins, 4 violas, 2 violoncellos, 2 double basses

Each of the five movements is based on a Mallarmé poem, moving from the early "Don du poème" of 1865 in the first movement to the late "Tombeau" of 1897 in the last. Boulez does not use Mallarmé's poems in full, instead taking occasional lines from them (the first movement, for instance, uses just the first line of Mallarmé's poem, and the last movement just the last line). The soprano does not sing very often, and is treated more like another instrument than a soloist.Fact|date=September 2008

It has been pointed outweasel-inline|date=September 2008 that the fact that the piece moves from an early text to a late one means the work constitutes a sort of biography of Mallarmé, something emphasised by the fact that the last word of the piece (and the only clearly intelligible word of the last movement) is "mort" (death).

The musical language of "Pli selon pli" is atonal, and there are usually just a few instruments playing at once with little doubling of parts (different instruments playing the same notes). This is typical of Boulez' style, and appears to demonstrate the acknowledged influence that Anton Webern has had on his work.Fact|date=September 2008

The piece has a relatively simple large-scale dynamic shape: the outer movements are written for large ensembles, the second and fourth movements for smaller groups, and the third movement is for a group of just ten instrumentalists and the soprano, meaning the overall tendency is that the piece starts and ends loudly, becoming quieter in the middle. This tendency is emphasised by the opening of the first movement - a loud sound which immediately becomes quiet; and the closing of the last—a rapid crescendo.

Igor Stravinsky described "Pli selon pli" as "pretty monotonous and monotonously pretty". [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/10515]

Recordings

The piece has been recorded three times: in 1969 with Halina Lukomska singing the solo part and the BBC Symphony Orchestra accompanying; in 1981 with the same orchestra but Phyllis Bryn-Julson taking the solo part; and in 2000 with Christine Schäfer accompanied by the Ensemble InterContemporain. On each occasion, Boulez himself conducted.

References

*Citation | last=Breatnach | first=Mary | title=Boulez and Mallarmé: A Study in Poetic Influence | publisher=Scolar Press | place=Aldershot | year=1996 | isbn=1859281206
*Citation | last=Jameux | first=Dominique | title=Pierre Boulez | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, MA | year=1991 | isbn=0674667409

External links

* [http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/special/insighttext.htms?ID=boulez-pliselonpli&DETAIL=2 Pierre Boulez in conversation with Wolfgang Fink about "Pli selon Pli"]
* [http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/special/insighttext.htms?ID=boulez-pliselonpli&DETAIL=1 Pierre Boulez's "Pli selon Pli"] by Paul Griffiths
* [http://www.uemusic.at/truman/en_templates/view.php3?f_id=339 A page from the "Pli selon pli" score] , nr.2 improvisation I sur Mallarmé "le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd´hui", on Universal Edition's website