Lili Boulanger - Prélude in D flat major

Recorded today on may 19, 2024, the Prélude in D flat major by Lili Boulanger (1893-1918).
The sisters Lili and Nadia Boulanger were both hugely talented composers and pianists. The elder sister Nadia lived until age 92, becoming one of the most prominent musical figures of the 20th century and the teacher of many famous musicians. By contrast, Lili succumbed, only 24 years old, to a chronic lung disease (thought to be tuberculosis or, in hindsight, possibly Crohn's disease), which had plagued her during her entire lifetime. Her untimely death is a great loss to the musical world, as who knows what heights she might have achieved.
This short and enigmatic Prelude was written in 1911 and has not been published. The score I use here is based on Manuscrit Autographe MS-19467 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (see ks15.imslp.org.... The piece is firmly in the French tradition, with much pentatonic writing reminiscent of Debussy. The complete absence of any performance indications
regarding tempo, dynamics and interpretation, and the somewhat inconclusive ending, leads one to think that perhaps the piece was not quite finished yet. Whether that is true or not, it does force the performer to make rather more choices than usual. I hope mine have been right.
Chris Breemer, piano
buymeacoffee.c...
---
Recording date: Sunday May 19, 2024
Piano: Kawai Novus NV10S
Setting: SK-EX Warm
Postprocessing: Concert Hall Light reverb

[@daveking3494]

Plenty of whole tone scales there. I knew Pierre Boulez around 1970 he has studied with Nadia, but I didn’t get a chance to ask him about working with her.

[@ChrisBreemer]

Yes I had meant to write this was very Debussy-esque but I forgot. The list of Nadia students is mighty impressive.

[@GuillermoPSKrebs]

OMG! You brought to life this piece... Nice work!

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thank you 😊

[@RileyTuckerMusic]

Bravo Chris!

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thanks Riley !

[@AB-piano]

What a fantastic piece, it has very interesting harmonic paths and is structurally very well designed. It was cool to watch the score and your performance is simply excellent. Kawai's sound is so good here! Many greetings.

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thanks André ! It's certainly an interesting piece although I agree with those who write that it feels a bit unfinished. Some of the transitions are a wee bit clumsy and the ending is kind of underwhelming. Still, Lili's huge talent shines through. I must one day get to work on her Theme and Variations, they are really good.

[@grahamtwist]

Thank you for sharing this extraordinary music with us. I would have guessed it was composed later than 1911 with those spicy dissonances, though the influence of Debussy can still be heard. I think your interpretation and performance does Lili's creative genius full justice: bravo, Chris! (I'm hoping that in the coming weeks, my friend Andre in Brazil will perform my latest composition for piano since I remember you saying you thought I was neglecting to write pieces for this instrument!)

[@ChrisBreemer]

Thanks Graham ! So it seems you took my gentle reproach to heart 😁I am looking forward to hear André's performance of your new piece. Meanwhile I would like the score of course, I'm sure I'll want to record it too.