Boulez: ...Explosante-fixe...
List Price:
Our Price: $9.99
You Save: $6.99 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Composer: Ensemble IntercontemporainConductor: Pierre Boulez
Performer: Emmanuelle Oph?le
Performer: Pierre-Andre Valade
Performer: Florent Boffard
Performer: Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-02-08
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
- I. Fantasque - Modere
- II. Tres Vif
- III. Assez Lent
- IV. Rythmique
- V. Doux Et Improvise
- VI. Rapide
- VII. Hieratique
- VII. Modere Jusqu A Tres Vif
- IX. Lointain - Calme
- X. Mecanique Et Tres Sec
- XI. Scintillant
- XII. Lent - Puissant Et Apre
- Chapitre I
- Chapitre II (Pieces 1-2, Encarts 1-4, Textes 1-6)
- Transitoire VII - Interstitiel 1
Free Music Notes for Boulez: ...Explosante-fixe...
Free Music Review: One experiment, and two wonderfully accessible pieces, including a wild flute concerto
Hit: 5 Stars
This Deutsche Grammophon disc--originally released in 1996 but reissued in the "Echo 20/21" series for Pierre Boulez's 80th birthday--contains three pieces by the great French composer, conductor, and theorist. The first two pieces are writen for piano, "Notations" is performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and on "Structures pour deux pianos, Livre II" Aimard is accompanied by Florent Boffard. The third, "...explosante-fixe..." is for solo MIDI flute (Sophier Cherrier), two flutes (Emmanuelle Orphele and Pierre-Andre Valade), electronics, and orchestra, here the Ensemble Intercontemporain conducted by Boulez himself.
"Notations" (1945) is a series of twelve piano miniatures written in the very early days of Boulez's career and is fact the earliest piece he has published. Initially neglected after their composition, two Notations (5 and 9) were quietly used in "Pli selon pli", and then the work was fully uncovered in 1970s, when the composer embarked on orchestrating them. While the orchestral versions--much longer and of course with a greater range of colour--are impressive, the original piano Notations are a delight as well. Each consists only of twelve measures, featuring a twelve-tone row in much the same fashion as the work of Anton Webern. In spite of certain formal commonalities, however, the pieces widely range from free (e.g. 1) to tightly rhythmic (4, 6), contemplative (3) to frenetic (2). If you like Gyorgy Ligeti's "Musica Ricercata", you'll find this quite enjoyable. Aimard's performance here is so confident and poised, the man is a titan of contemporary piano repertoire.
"Structures, Livre II" (1956-61) shows that a decade later Boulez had come out from Webern's shadow and was expanding serialism with original contributions. Boulez had caught John Cage's fascination with musical chance operations, and so much of the material is left to the discretion of the performer (a feature shared by his Piano Sonata No. 3 of the same era). What is obligatory, however, is rigidly notated; the piece features serialisation of all elements, rhythm and dynamics too, not just pitch. Boulez even specifies the exact height of the pedal. Thus, the work is a strange combination of freedom and severity. This is not Boulez at his most accessible: the music of the two pianos is interrelated, but in not so charming a fashion as Stockhausen acheived in his "Gruppen" for three orchestras. For a more entertaining example of Boulez's thought during the mid-1950s, I'd recommend the piano sonata.
"...explosante-fixe..." (1991-93), taking its title from a line in Andre Breton's NADJA, was first conceived in the early 1970s when Boulez oversaw the founding of IRCAM and was interested in how cooperation between electronic technicians and composers might serve music. However, the state of the technology didn't satisfy Boulez at the time, and the work was finally presented anew twenty years later. In this piece, one of Boulez's most eerie and colourful, the concerto concept is vastly expanded through electronics: one MIDI flute performs great feats of sound high above the capabilities of the other instruments, while two normal flutes double its acrobatics in imperfect imitation and an orchestra fills out the sound. The work has an elegant formal scheme: it begins with two "transitory" sections derived from elementary material, and the elementary material is finally presented at the end, so that the piece seems to go from a wide cloud to a point. In between, there are two electronic interstitial passages. Yet, this piece requires no real formal understanding of musicology, it just sounds great. The early wall of sound gives way to, as it is often describes, a house-of-mirrors, which in turn leads to a liberation of all elements with thundering percussion and roaring violin, and the final "Originel" is shy and innocent, As usual, the Ensemble Intercontemporain give a flawless performance and show themselves as the premier interpreters of Boulez's work.
All in all, "...explosante-fixe..." is certainly the most accessible piece Boulez has written and so this is disc a fine introduction to his soundworld. Established fans will love this reading of the piano pieces.
Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Favorite french classical music
Henri Dutilleux: Ainsi la nuit; Pascal Dusapin: Time Zones; Quatuor IIIRelease date: 2000-09-12; Music CD
Best price: $23.78
Olivier Messiaen: ?clairs sur l'au-del? (Illuminations of the Beyond)Release date: 1994-08-16; Music CD
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops:
Olivier Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum; Chronochromie; La Ville d'en hautRelease date: 1995-10-17; Music CD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Dutilleux: Cello Concerto, Lutoslawski: Cello ConcertoRelease date: 2002-09-17; Music CD
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops:
Satie: 3 Gymnop?dies and Other Piano WorksRelease date: 2006-05-09; Music CD
Best price: $9.42
Price in other shops:
Franck - Sonata for violin and piano ? Debussy - Sonatas ? Ravel - Introduction and Allegro / Chung ? Lupu ? Ellis ? Melos EnsembleRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Pierre Boulez: R?pons / Dialogue de l'Ombre Double (20/ 21 series)Release date: 1999-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $27.11
Boulez: ...Explosante-fixe...Release date: 2005-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Olivier Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-J?susRelease date: 2000-07-18; Music CD
Best price: $22.58
Price in other shops:
Pavane: Ravel/ Satie/ Faur?Release date: 1997-04-15; Music CD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade/ Five Pieces For OrchestraRelease date: 1993-07-13; Music CD
Best price: $4.77
Price in other shops:
Gy?rgy Ligeti Edition 1: String Quartets and Duets - Arditti String QuartetRelease date: 1997-01-21; Music CD
Best price: $6.96
Price in other shops:
Boulez: Pli selon PliRelease date: 2002-05-14; Music CD
Best price: $28.47
Boulez: Sur Incises/ Messagesquisse/ Anth?ms 2Release date: 2000-10-10; Music CD
Best price: $19.32
Pierre Boulez: Rituel / Eclat / Multiples - Ensemble InterContemporain / BBC Symphony OrchestraRelease date: 1991-01-14; Music CD
Best price: $4.76
Price in other shops:
Boulez: Sur Incises; Messagesquisse; Anth?mes 2Release date: 2007-06-12; Music CD
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Boulez: The Three Piano SonatasRelease date: 2005-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops:
Complete WebernRelease date: 2000-05-09; Music CD
Best price: $55.95
Price in other shops:
Pierre Boulez: R?pons / Dialogue de l'Ombre Double (20/ 21 series)Release date: 1999-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $25.15
Boulez conducts BoulezRelease date: 2005-03-08; Music CD
Best price: $10.48
Price in other shops: