LSO Futures: Homage to Pierre Boulez
LSO Futures: Homage to Pierre Boulez Debussy, Neuwirth, Arcaro, Agar, Boulez London Symphony Orchestra / Maxime Pascal (conductor). Barbican Hall, 26.01.2025
Debussy Trois Images pour Ochestre (interspersed)
Neuwirth Tombeau II Hommage à Pierre Boulez (World premiere, LSO co-commission)
Arcaro Invention in Language of Child (LSO Panufnik commission, world premiere)
Agar suntime bedtime moontime (LSO Panufnik commission, world premiere)
Boulez Notations Nos. 1-4, 7
What a privilege to hear such a display of new music, from the awesome force that is Olga Neuwirth to the new voices of Brazilian born, London based Rafael Marino Arcaro and Lara Ager. Five pieces, three World premieres. Of course, some Boulez, hat towering giant, in his centenary year. This annual concert honours the Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composers’ Scheme (which began in 2005), which is clearly identifying huge talent.
One can look at Boulez’ influence on composers directly (Neuwirth) or one generation down (Arcaro and Agar); but what about influences on Boulez himself? Debussy was a prime influence (along with Stravinsky, of course); who could forget Boulez’ recording of Pelléas with Elisabeth Söderström? It was Debussy's Trois Images that peppered the programme, and which launched what I hope will be a long association with the LSO for Maxime Pascal. Known for his association with the French group Le Balcon (which he founded) and Stockhausen’s Licht cycle of operas (see my review of their 2019 Donnerstag), brings the vibrancy of youth to everything he touches, plus already a shedload of experience. The LSO responded throughout with their all; full respect was accorded to each composer.
‘Gigues,’ the first part of Images, was beautiful. An interesting aspect of the orchestral layout was that there was no terracing of wind and brass: all players were on one level. Everything was audible, though, and how Pascal placed the juxtapositions. An almost pastoral oboe was an interesting colour. Listen to Boulez’ Cleveland recording of this and you get a similar level of detail, interestingly:
And so to Olga Neuwirth, and that World premiere, co-commissioned by the LSO, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Neuwirth previously wrote Clinamen/Nodus for Boulez’ 75th birthday. This is Tombeau II. Hommage à Pierre Boulez; interestingly, Tombeau I (for orchestra and tape) will be premiered in France after Tombeau II, on February 8, 2025 by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Mathias Pintscher.
Neuwirth’s Tombeau II takes as its basis the ninth Notation for piano (not one of the ones Boulez re-imagined for orchestra). The original is marked ‘Lointain—Calme’ and is indeed a two-minute place of Boulezian peace and stasis. Neuwirth expands Boulez’ material both horizontally (ie, melodically) and vertically (chords). The result, along with an extension of rhythmic processes, is what Neuwirth calls an ’echo’ of the original. Bearing in mind the Boulez idea that a work’s duration should be in proportion to the forces performing it, the orchestral version Neuwirth posits is three times the length of the piano original and chimes with that idea. With its low, almost chthonic opening it could be a kazillion of contemporary pieces, but what then emerges is a sort of frozen Boulez. A bell, and slow repetitions invoke almost a ritualistic scene. Moments glisten; others seem to glow amid a welter of orchestral effects. The whole culminates in the most remarkable crescendo. Pascal conducts with absolute confidence: the performance was astonishing and, towards the end, undeniably visceral.
The move back to Debussy saw ’Iberia’ (the tripartite second section of Images) emerge in a blaze of light. The music bustled; woodwind chattered, the horn suddenly felt supremely Iberian. Brass was extremely agile (especially horns); but all this occurred with maximal dal audible (no mean feat in the Barbican acoustic). Atmosphere was certainly there though in ’Les parfums de la nuit’ while Pascal traced the trajectory of ‘Le matin d’un jour de fête' towards those extravagant dance moments to perfection. Here's Boulez:
Rafael Marino Arcaro took part in the 2022-23 Panufnik Composers’ Scheme and was invited back, and to bring a ten-minute piece with him. His piece i swallow clouds was the original, but he started from scratch, building on his workshop experiences. That work is invention in language of child (Arcaro clearly likes lower case titles; I wonder also if the title is meant to be some sort of linguistic feint to access the subconscious in that it feels deliberately not quite right). The piece is programmatic, a childhood memory of playing overnight as a child (his grandmother forgot he was outside). This reliving of a childhood sems to be a theme, as he has also written a piece called infanthood of clouds (available on YouTube here). Both that piece and invention in language of child are superbly scored: this is a composer of great sonic imagination. And yet, for all the structural hook of a story and the procession of gestures, it did not feel enough. He seems to compose a heartbeat, and definitely composes a Modernist lullaby at one point later on. But the actual ideas lack individuality. While some effects are tremendous (the idea of phrases ’melting' for example), and Arcaro’s harmonic vernacular is laudably consistent, this did feel rather overshadowed by the music that preceded it.
And, for that matter, the music that followed it post-interval, Lara Ager’s suntime bedtime moontime. Ager was nominated for an Ivor award in 2022 and is Guildhall-trained. She has a fascination with sound objects, as well as accidents and improvisation. The original version of this piece, for the scheme, was three minutes long; this is eight. As the title implies, the piece tracks the progress of a single day. She asks for deliberate detunings to give a ’fuzziness’ to the sound. The opening mimics layered digital synthesisers, like a dial being slowly turned until the speed ‘feels settled’. Th most important aspect was sheer beauty held within an incredible imagination, both evident at the opening with almost spectral strings. This is something like a post-Bartók nocturnal scene. Trumpets are asked to create what sounded like a ‘wha-wha’ vibrato (not a mute), unsettled, ungrounding; later, the textures seemed to glow, each event perfectly timed and, in performance, perfectly calibrated. A spectacular piece by a clear talent.
Pascal gave a speech at that point, introducing the Boulez and announcing the order of 1, 7, 4, 3, then 2 while rightly describing the final piece as a ‘party’; a sort of Rite of Spring on steroids. On to the final part of the Debussy, ‘Rondes de printemps’, an extraordinary blend of detail and atmosphere. Layers felt so clearly delineated, while Debussy’s processes seemed laid bare.
The first Notation, though, with its harp and trumpets, is not so far from the Debussy earlier. ‘Fantasque, modère' is the marking, and fantastical it certainly was. And full of the unexpected: the ascent that leads to a two-note trumpet 'fanfare' was ferocious (far more so than in Boulez's own recording with Ensemble Modern). Pascal also seemed to want to highlight an idea of post-Schoenbergian Klangfarbenmelodie in the percussion. Remarkable: as was No. 7, ’Hiératique, lent,' lit up by a beautiful viola solo. Concentrated, terse, timbre was perfectly realised, a muted trumpet a swish of colour. The fourth is marked ’Rhythmique’, and was both that (full eight percussionists) and bright, while the slow third holds decidedly Schoenbergian harmonies. Finally, that crazy dance, the perfect close. ‘Très vif’ is the marking, and that it certainly was, a glorious expansion of the around 20 second original.
It was so good to see the hall so packed for this event. So there is a thirst for new music that demands much from us, but gives so much back in return. Throughout, the LSO reacted with their all to Maxime Pascal: please, let him come back soon, and often.
The Boulez performance of the Debussy is available from Amazon here.