Boulez Fragment d'une ébauche - v1
Channel: cosmos
Date: 2021-01-05

Three versions of Pierre Boulez's Fragment d'une ébauche
v1 - https://youtu.be/idRaoLz1kfM
v2 - https://youtu.be/yVHkbed7k4Y (v1 artificially sped up 30%) 
v3 - https://youtu.be/mxYDouIiMO8 (human player emulating v2)
Performed by Elaine Chew

The piece was dedicated to Jean-Marie Lehn in 1987 on the occasion of his Nobel prize in Chemistry, "The fragment of a future work for piano and instrumental ensemble, still in draft form. But for a Nobel Prize winner, one can make an exception and give a simple draft as a token of friendship and admiration." ~ Pierre Boulez

See discussion with Jean-Marie Lehn and Philippe Manoury on performance tempo and musical structure at http://cosmos.ircam.fr/?p=2178 

This little experiment raised the questions: Should the piece be played at tempo or slower, to reveal which structural details? How does the hybrid (artificially sped up) fast version differ from the wholly human one? How does the tempo change the structures performed and perceived?

The piece was published by Universal Edition Wien and received its world première by pianist Wilhem Latchoumia on 29 September 2013 at the MUSICA Festival in presence of Pierre Boulez and Jean-Marie Lehn. Also present were composer Philippe Manoury and festival director Jean-Dominique Marco.

#Boulez #tempo #EuropeanResearchCouncil #EUfunded #ERCAdG #CNRS #STMSLab #Ircam #Sorbonne #MinistèreCulture #Bösendorfer #EnspirePRO