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Boulez: Sur Incises

Translation of his Masterclass
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=500M4!"rbw

Not so much enthusiasm even before I start! Afterwards,
that would be better!

We meet here tonight to talk about a piece which I wrote,
which is called 'Sur Incises'

!
So obviousl", wh" # "ou ask # what does this title mean$
It seems %uite m"sterious but in fact it isn't, in fact

&ecause the origin of this piece is that it is a piece I wrote
for solo piano at the re%uest of 'uciano &erio, I
remember, an Italian composer who is one of m" friends,
and (auri)io *ollini, who is a soloist whom certainl"
ever"bod" knows

+he" were setting up a *iano ,ompetition and the" asked
me, ',ould "ou write a piece for this *iano ,ompetition$'

Now in general these competition pieces are ver" short,
but the" have to test the virtuosit" of those presenting
themselves

And it is indeed a virtuosic piece which I wrote, and it's
called, 'Incises'

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/
+hat's the two contrasts which there are in this small
piano piece which, as I sa", is reall" ver" short and was
conceived reall" for a competition

&ut afterwards I fre%uentl" wondered about this piece
and thought, 'well, what shall I make it into$'

+he piece is short, and it's like a seed0 and I thought, 'I
will consider how to make it more e1tensive2'

3ow can I make it more e1tensive$ I considered various
solutions

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Now there are man" wa"s of enlarging an idea0

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4ou will hear that there is one note which is preceded b"
a kind of appogiatura2
5

one notethen a rapid smudge of sound

I said to m"self0 '4es, it is a note which is important6 it is
coloured b" a chord which comes before it6 so we do not
hear 7ust a note but a kind of ob7ect

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And it's this ob7ectwhich I am going to enlarge2

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+his note, which was isolated in the small 8gure of the
beginning, which is the original version, suddenl" repeats
itself, but coloured, and alwa"s coming back in the same
wa"2

4es # there are three harps, three pianos, three
percussionists

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When I develop an idea, I also develop the wa" it is
presented2 and for me that's ver" important0 it's not 7ust
something theoretical, but something which arises out of
the sounds the instruments are able to produce2

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4ou have a 8rst 8gure which is like a kind of musical
slap2

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It's a rh"thm which is ver" eas" to remember0 short-
long! # and we are left hanging there, in suspense2

+hen there is a second feature0 and the resonance, to
8nish with

If we put the three together
:

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So, "ou'll hear now, if I can sa" it like this, how I
multiplied this 'slap'this musical slapalwa"s starting
from the same place, but greatl" e1tending it

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Notice, I alwa"s kept that 8rst gesture, at the beginning0 I
mean the short-long! 4ou see me making the gesture,
an"wa" # it's ver" eas" to seebecause when conducting
it I do it m"selfand then there's an e1pansion, which is
this0 the more it goes down, the more it descends to the
lower pitches2

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And then at the end there's a kind of resume6 which is
simpl" the initial rh"thm, and which arrives, via a bit
which is e1tremel" rapid, at a resonance which all the
instruments reinforce
;

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4ou are going to see now # "ou understand # "ou know #
"ou are going to recogni)e immediatel" # the musical
gesture2

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+hat's the gesture alone2

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<irst enlargement2

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+he pianos alternate, alwa"s2

=
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Now ever"one2

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4ou will have noticed also the use of space2

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>>>>>>>
-opening.
?
-detail.