Boulez - Piano Sonata No. 3

Piano Sonata No. 3 (1955-1963) Formant 2: Trope I. Glose II. Texte III. Parenthèse IV. Commentaire Formant 3: V. Constellation -- Miroir Idil Biret, piano With his Piano Sonata No. 2 (1948), Pierre Boulez began expanding his use of serial techniques beyond the realm of pitch to other musical elements such as rhythm and dynamics. This led him to the notion of "perpetual expansion," a sort of open form in which works might vary extensively from performance to performance and exist in a constant state of revision. He derived this concept from the great French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, whose Livre was such a free-form collection, begun in the early 1870s but left unfinished at the poet's death in 1898. The Sonata No. 3 is the first such open form work, begun in the mid-1950s, revised in 1963, but never completed in the usual sense. The sonata is usually described by the composer and other commentators as having five movements or "formants" ("Antiphonie," "Trope," "Constellation," "Strophe," and "Séquence"); however, only two, Formant 2: "Trope" and Formant 3: "Constellation-Miroir," have been published. The other three are regarded as "works in progress." Boulez gave the Sonata its premiere on September 26, 1957, at Darmstadt, where he regularly taught in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There remains some controversy as to whether Boulez or Karlheinz Stockhausen -- whose Klavierstücke XI, also an open form work, was likewise premiered at Darmstadt in July 1957 -- was the real revolutionary in this area. Boulez described his Sonata's form and inspiration in the article "Sonata, que me veux-tu?" (Sonata, What Do You Want Of Me?). The "Trope" movement, which appeared in print in the form of a spiral booklet, consists of four sections: "Texte," "Parenthèse," "Commentaire," and "Glose." These can be played in several different orders. "Texte," probably the simplest of the four sections, is often featured first, whereas "Commentaire," with its scherzo-like playfulness and dramatic chords (including a particularly long-held one at its end), sounds most like a normal conclusion. The sheet music of "Constellation-Miroir" consists of nine large sheets in six "constellations" -- three of "Points" (structures concentrating on single notes, printed in green), two of "Blocs" (structures based on chords and arpeggios, printed in red), and a short "Mélange" (featuring both single notes and chords). "Constellation-Miroir" would normally be played in the order "Mélange" - "Points 3" - "Blocs II" - "Points 2" - "Blocs I" - "Points 1," as opposed to an unpublished version of the movement which is played in reverse order. Elements within each of the six sections can be arranged in several different ways. Boulez likens the structure to a map of an unknown city in which the performer "must direct himself through a tight network of routes." The music of "Constellation-Miroir" alternates between spare, delicate passages and more assertive, granitic sections; it is a remote and enigmatic movement, with considerable space between its gestures. [Allmusic.com] Art by Nicolas de Stael

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