Customer Reviews

Pierre Boulez: Rituel / Eclat / Multiples - Ensemble InterContemporain / BBC Symphony Orchestra

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This disc, with either two or three Boulez pieces depending on whether you count "Eclat" and "Multiples" or just "Eclat/Multiples," is one of the best of the select output by the French composer and conductor. One simple rule I have learned is to beware of longer works -- "Repons" at over 40 minutes loses energy and interest (see my review), and "Pli Selon Pli," which is 60 minutes long in the 1969 Sony recording (see my review) and 70 minutes in the latest DG version (see my review) needless to say tests the outer limits of endurance.

"Rituel in memoriam Maderna" (1974/5 -- 25' 19") sustains interest for its entire duration! The BBC Symphony Orchestra tackled this modern work in 1976 with the same enthusiasm they showed in their 1969 recording of "Pli Selon Pli." Opening with a keening oboe over a steady timpani rhythm, it is a static work which fascinates through its creative use of varied percussion and suspense. "Rituel" may be the most Messiaen-ic of all Boulez's compositions, a shifting progression of fifteen tableaus, gradually increasing the size of the orchestra to the midpoint, and then diminishing.

"Eclat" and "Multiples" are performed by Boulez's own Ensemble Intercontemporain. "Eclat" (1965 -- 9'41") opens with piano, and its 15 instruments are divided into two groups -- instruments capable of sustaining tones (flute English horn, trumpet, trombone & strings) as "sonorous background" for a group of soloists, all instruments whose sound dies away (piano, glockenspiel, vibraphone, mandolin & guitar). The slightest familiarity with Boulez reveals that this is a very Boulezian choice of instrumentation, leading to a characteristically Boulezian timbre. I would recommend this brief crystalline work as an ideal introduction to the music of Pierre Boulez. "Multiples" (1966-1970 -- 17'02") is unfinished. We can only hope it remains that way, though the liner notes threaten that it is supposed to be doubled in length when completed. It takes the "Eclat" ensemble and adds nine violas and a basset horn. Louder and more exuberant, it becomes quite different in style and mood than the preceding "part," and variety is a virtue in any Boulez recording.

This disc, part of the fine Sony PIERRE BOULEZ series, can be recommended without reservation -- it makes a great bargain-price introduction to Boulez, and it is an essential addition to a Boulez collection already underway.

Rituel is Boulez at his most accesible. An obssesive thredony, rich with oriental resonances, and jazzy 'improvisatory' woodwind polyphony, it owes a great debt to his teacher, Messian. Magical soundscapes of midrange instruments on Eclat and Multiple. As it's one of Boulez's indeterminate pieces (musicial events can be triggered in different orders and dynamics by the conductor), this piece would be best heard live, but retains an expectant tension on the recording. Multiples follows Eclat with vigor and verve. A hint for the uninitiated; listen to a little Boulez at first, and clear your mind of any preconceptions about harmony. Sampling a little each time, one can grow accostomed to his unique sounds, and begin to appreciate the music on its own terms. Personally, I like to listen to Boulez to clear my palette after a heavy meal of Romantic music, but many may find him a little dry.... Ah, well, I like it. Superb performance from the Ensemble. Sound suitably brilliant and clear throughout.

This Sony disc contains three pieces by Pierre Boulez with the composer himself conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. I think that the products of Boulez's middle period, following the Piano Sonata No. 3, are generally disappointing, showing a certain lack of focus. The pieces here, however, represent a coming back to life that was to lead to his great masterpieces of the 80s and 90s.

"Eclat" for 15 instruments (1965) continues Boulez's interest in aleatoric form. In this work consisting of a succession of elegant little motifs, the pitches, tempo, and dynamics are all predetermined, but the conductor can, on the spur of the moment, decide which motif he wants to signal next. The small ensemble is divided into two halves, those instruments whose sound dies away immediately unless trilled, and those instruments capable of sustaining there sound. In the interaction between these two groups, Boulez creates a web of beautiful colours. "Multiples", meant to always follow "Eclats" to form a single piece "Eclat/Multiples", was begun in 1971 and is still unfinished. It is an expansion of the ideas of the first piece, lasting twice as long and with the added instrumentation of nine violas, a basset horn, and a second piano. It shows a much greater variety of rhythms, and much of the writing consists of tuttis against the isolated cells of "Eclat". This second half of the joint work is one of my favourite pieces by Boulez, captivating for every minute of its duration and revealing new secrets on every listen.

"Rituel" for orchestra in eight groups (1974/75) was written in memory of Bruno Maderna, a Darmstadt figure who is nearly forgotten now but who was a close friend and inspiration to many composers who came of age in the 1950s. With its solemn pace and sad, mournful tones, the piece serves as a strong antidote to that usual conservative accusation that serialism "can't communicate anything." This is Boulez's vastest work in terms of percussion, with a large amount of exotic drums, cymbals, bells, wood blocks, and so forth on the stage. Its fifteen sections consist of highly mobile even-numbered intonations, unconducted after Boulez signals their starting points, contrasted with strict conducted responses. Over the course of the work, we move from one orchestral group to another, exploring all of its timbres even though the melodic material is intentionally limited to create a feeling of sorrow.

I should mention that appreciation of everything here can be vastly expanded through outside references. Dominique Jameux's PIERRE BOULEZ (Harvard University Press, 1991) contains a fantastic dissection, specifying what's happening minute by minute in each piece. For "Eclat" specifically, there's a documentary by Frank Schaeffer recently put out on DVD in the Juxtapositions series that shows Ed Spaanjard preparing to conduct the piece with the Nieuw Ensemble, with helpful commentary by Boulez himself.

Nothing here has quite the same grand proprtions of such later pieces as "...explosante-fixe...", "Repons", or "Sur Incises" (though "Multiples" gets close), but they are generally entertaining and represent a vast improvement over the lack of focus in "Pli selon pli" or the Piano Sonata No. 3.

It hardly makes much difference if you want to listen to Éclat/Multiples in its entirety, but Sony has inserted the tracking point for the division between Éclat and Multiples incorrectly. Éclat actually ends with the cadential-sounding chord struck at roughly 9:12 of track 2, and Multiples begins after the resonant sonority of that chord has finally all but subsided at roughly 9:20 of track 2. In other words, Multiples begins within track 2 and not at track 3, where Sony has inserted a track division.

-david gable

Exotic musical structures - at once arresting for the definiteness and crispness of the instrumental sounds. Boulez captures the world of the microscopic (atleast that is what it feels like to me). His music is like examining the fractures of a tiny crystal, or looking at the multiple droplets that make up a pool of water on the floor. The music amplifies the world of the small (in my mind's eye). He wants us to listen to micro fractures and tiny geometric patterns of sound shapes. He is not trying to produce big lush themes which are hummable (or committable to memory) instead he is interested in creating combinations of musical alphabets which can hold together as single logical atomic unit of notes which when strung together are musical pearls. The extra musical associations expressed in this review are all mine. Boulez music's is devoid of 'familiarly conventional musical' tunes. To me the Boulez's music makes me think of the microscopic - the drop of water in the puddle on the floor, the falling of 101 nails on a glass floor, the tiny fractures in a crystal, the small cracks in one particular rock that you picked up out of a 1000. There are three tracks on this CD, but actually 2 works on this CD. The second work is incomplete with 1 complete movement (track 2) and the 2nd movement incomplete (track 3) - a work still in progress.

Track 1:
Rituel was a piece Boulez composed as a memorial piece for Bruno Maderna (composer and friend). It has an interesting concept. Eight groups of forces are separated out on the stage: One oboe, two clarinets, three flutes, four violins, (five) a wind quintet, (six) a string sextet, (seven) a woodwind septet and a group of fourteen brass instruments. A percussionist is added to seven of these groups. See the arithmetic? Boulez actually studied higher mathematics before he decided to turn to music, he always has these numeric progressions in his orchestral forces.

Track 2:
Eclat is first of the currently incomplete work of currently 2 movements. This composition is like waves of water shifting around in an enclosed finite space. The celeste and the numerous percussive instruments make me feel like small drops of water shifting the organic geometric patterns of ripples in three dimensions, in this enclosed space. As mentioned before, his music is cerebral even in the construction of the orchestral forces. He scored Eclate for 2 keyboards (Piano and Celesta), 3 strings (Harp, Viola and Violin), 4 woodwinds (Alto flute, Enlgish horn, Trumpet, Trombone) and 6 percussionist (Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Mandolin, guitar, Cymbalum, Tubular bells).

Track 3:
Mutilples in the continuation of the work which started with Eclat. This piece has more orchestral density than Eclat. This piece is 17 minutes long at present and is expected to be twice as long when completed. It dazzles in the higher register instruments & percussion. It feels to me like sunlight shimmering off a larger body of water or body of glass. The spiky resonant percussive orchestration, feels like sunlight hitting you in the eyes when a sharp, and spiky beam reflects off the surface of the shimmering water or pieces of glass. If I could characterize the music - I would call it 'crystalline'. It has been isolated to the treble and timber; at times it feels like several pins falling on a plate of glass at different intervals.

This CD took me 3 hearings to get a feel for the music. The music grows with multiple hearings. Since there is no thematic music in any of pieces on this CD, the music can seem very abstract. At first, I did not know what to make of the music. When I kept listening to it, it made certain subjective impressions and images in my mind. You have to close your eyes, and let your imagination go when you listen to these pieces. 'Mutiples' I decided felt to me like the modern 21st century condensed and crystallized version of 'La Mer' by Debussy but on a smaller scale. It is not the choppy sea, but may be a nearby river or pond? It was very difficult for me not think of some body of water reflecting sunlight. Consider 'La Mer' but viewed through a microscope. Each water droplet reflecting light in different patterns. Swirls of droplets moving this way and that never steady - always in motion. A small insect floats on the water and disturbs the oscillations, creating a new resonance in the ripples. Sometimes harsh light, sometimes warm light - that we don't wince at - hitting us from the droplets.

But this is not for everyone. Listen to the samples first and see if you think you might be interested, if you were to hear it 3 times in a row. It may not make sense the first time you hear this unless you are really into Boulez or similar composers. The works on this piece make Steve Reich & Esa-Pekka Salonen seem mainstream. Boulez requires time and patience. It all sounds brilliant in orchestration, but since it is hard to discern the musical outline, purpose or where the music is going, it will take repeated hearings to really enjoy these pieces over and above looking at them as peculiar attractions. It is not random like it felt to me at first. There is a purpose and an outline to it but is just hard to see it without multiple hearings.

Eclat is a peculiar sound world in which i'v experienced great beauty. the language of this work of art is pure, and the outcome is light and magical. Rituel is probably a masterpiece, and certainly this is the best recorded performance of it i'v ever heard, so do not purchase another cd but this one for Rituel. boulez conducts in this recording and does it so much better than anyone else in this case of his own works.

I've heard these pieces several times. I like Eclat very much. It is a bright piece. Rituel is also very good for its rithmic continuity with a sparkling instrumentation in wich I heard some remembrance of the use of orchestral colouration of Maderna. The performances are as you can expect from Boulez: Very clear and exact.