Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) was the child of a composition teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris who was 77 when Lili was born, and a much younger Russian princess, who was a singer. Lili Boulanger grew up in a musical milieu, with prominent musicians as Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Florent Schmitt, and Charles Koechlin as frequent house guests.
Lili was not yet five years old when she accompanied her older sister, Nadia, to the conservatory. Soon she was taking classes in music theory and solfège. From 1909 to 1913 she attended the Paris Conservatory. Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, in 1913.
Lili Boulanger had been chronically ill since pneumonia at the age of two had compromised her immune system. In part, lessons were given at home because of her weak constitution. But her sister Nadia always took good care of Lili; both sisters lived together in a shared apartment in Paris. Nadia Boulanger, who later made a great career as a music educator and
conductor, continued to live in that same apartment until her
death.
Among Lili Boulanger's larger-scale works are three settings of Psalms for chorus and orchestra, as well as "Vieille prière bouddhique", an "Old Buddhist Prayer".
The two-part work D’un soir triste / D’un matin de printemps was completed just a couple of months before Lili's death in 1918, the first half being the moving portrait D’un soir triste (Of a sad evening). Boulanger originally arranged the piece for cello and piano. The second half, D’un matin de printemps (Of a spring morning), is the sprightlier of the two works that make up this musical diptych, and was originally arranged for flute/violin and piano. Both halves were also arranged for piano trio and for orchestra.
The first piece opens with chords that gives it a processional air. The atmosphere is serious, even funeral. The writing is gradually enriched, showing a great sense of harmonic color. A form of transfiguration appears when, at one point in the score, a major key is reached. The main theme will return under different guises, "as a distant memory", before the "painful and calm" conclusion. The second piece is one of the few pieces of a slightly optimistic character by Lili Boulanger. The same theme as in the first piece is presented here in the guise of a lively dance, shaking out over repeated chords with rich, Debussy-like sonorities.
Here we listen to the version for piano trio, played by Gabriela Díaz - violin; Rafael Popper-Keizer - cello; and Heng-Jin Park - piano.
Women Composers Index