INSIDE THE SCORE

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Boulez’s working desk in Baden-Baden (© Universal Edition/Alfred Schlee)

Screenshot of the interactive score

Pierre Boulez Douze Notations: Five interactive scores

During the winter of 1945 the 20 year old Pierre Boulez composed Douze Notations. The piano pieces offer a fascinating insight into the early development of the musical language of one of the leading composers of the 20th Century.

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Notation 1: Fantasque - Modéré

The 12-note row presented in fragments of sharply contrasting mood…

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Notation 2: Très vif

The entire keyboard becomes the composer's playground…

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Notation 4: Rythmique

An argument between right hand and left hand…

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Notation 5: Doux et improvisé

The underlying 12-note row in two broadly arched phrases…

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Notation 7: Hiératique

The influence of Asian music…

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The online scores of Notations are based on the printed edition of the work published by Universal Edition, Vienna.

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History and context

Texts, videos and pictures explain the work's genesis, Boulez’s compositional approach, and the history of the expansion of the original piano pieces into complex orchestral music.

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Boulez video interview

In 1945, at the age of 20, Pierre Boulez began to develop his musical language with Douze Notations. In a video interview from 2012 the composer introduces and discusses this early collection of piano pieces.

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