Henri DUTILLEUX (1916-2013)
Symphony No.2 ‘Le Double’ (1955-59) [27:58]
Timbres, espace, mouvement (ou, La nuit étoilée) (1976-78, rev.1991) [19:41]
Mystère de l’instant (1989) [14:58]
Françoise Rivalland (cimbalom, Mystère)
Orchestre National de Lille/Darrell Ang
rec. L’Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle, Lille, September 2015 (Symphony & Timbres), March 2016 (Mystère)
NAXOS 8.573596 [62:38]
The best way to understand the achievement of Henri Dutilleux
is place him on a trajectory from Debussy, Ravel and Albert Roussel. Much
of his music is in antithesis to the experimentation of Pierre Boulez et al.,
although his orchestral mastery ranks alongside that of Olivier Messiaen.
Not for Dutilleux was the cul-de-sac of ‘total serialism’ or of
electronic experimentation. On the other hand, he did make use of elements
of jazz, and ‘traditional’ serialism: he could be sympathetic
to certain techniques used by the avant-garde if it suited his purpose. The
characteristic that sums up (for me) Dutilleux’s success must be his
skilful use of instrumental and orchestral colour.
The opening work on this exciting and imaginative CD is the ‘early’
Symphony No.2 ‘Le Double’ which was composed between 1955 and
1959. The work was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation for the 75th
anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered on 11th December
1959, conducted by Charles Munch.
The Symphony is scored for two ensembles: a 12-member chamber group and the
full orchestra. Paul Conway, in the liner notes, suggests that this ‘formation
allows for subtle interplay between the two musical protagonists as they join
forces, confront each other and offer reflected images in a series of shifting
inter-relationships.’ I wonder at the use of the word ‘protagonist’:
I feel that much of the musical dialogue is supportive and constructive, rather
than antagonistic. It is this duality that has given the symphony its subtitle,
‘Le Double.’ The composer has described it as ‘a musical
play of mirrors and of contrasting colours’. In the first two movements,
the effect is a dreamlike world, where the two ‘orchestras’ reflect
and sometimes distort each other. In the powerful and rumbustious finale,
the composer lets his hair down and indulges his passion for jazz.
There is an interesting pendant to Dutilleux’s Symphony No.2. After
the premiere, it was pointed out to the composer that the work seemed to have
an affinity to Gaugin’s painting ‘D’où venons-nous? Que
sommes nous? Où allons-nous?’ (‘Where do we come from? What are
we? Where are we going?’). I am not sure if this helps the listener
(see the record sleeve for the painting) however the composer accepted the
fact that each movement ends on a questioning note, except for the last. He
changed this ‘oversight’ for subsequent performances.
Timbres, espace, mouvement was commissioned by the National Symphony
Orchestra of Washington in 1976. It was premiered on 10 January 1978, conducted
by Mstislav Rostropovich. The inspiration for the work came from Vincent van
Gogh’s famous and ubiquitous painting ‘Starry Night’. This
canvas had been painted in June 1889 and presents a view from Van Gogh’s
room in the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It has been on display in the
Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1941. For a generation of listeners
that enjoyed 1970s pop music the painting will be familiar as the source of
inspiration for Don McClean’s ‘Starry Starry Night’ (1971)
which cleverly and movingly presented the story of Van Gogh’s life and
death for the ‘pop’ generation.
Henri Dutilleux has written that Timbres, espace, mouvement is not
a tone poem or musical depiction of the painting, but a ‘record of the
composer’s response to it.’ He found, like most people, that the
painting was ‘an enormously powerful and disturbing masterpiece’.
The technique that Dutilleux uses to create his ‘impression’ of
the ‘sense of space and upward movement’ is his unique use of
instrumental colour. The orchestra is unusual in that there are no violins
or violas. To counter this, the composer has added to the woodwind section
as well as scoring for a wide variety of percussion.
Timbres, espace, mouvement is written in three movements. The first
and last are titled ‘Nébuleuse’ and ‘Constellations’.
These are connected by a short interlude, added in 1991, scored mainly for
12 cellos. Orchestre National de Lille under Darrell Ang give full weight
to the marvellous orchestral colouring of the work. It is a sympathetic response
to the swirling forms of Van Gogh’s haunting and coruscating canvas.
Mystère de l’instant is a fascinating work by any definition.
It was commissioned by the Swiss conductor, impresario and patron Paul Sacher
for the Basel Chamber Orchestra and was first heard at the Tonhalle in Zurich
on 22nd October 1989.
The liner notes explain that the work is constructed as a series of ten contrasting
‘snapshots’ which are presented without a break. Each ‘snapshot’
is standalone: there are no musical relationships between them, no sense of
being ‘cyclic.’ Titles of these include ‘Litanies’,
‘Rumeurs’, ‘Echo’ and ‘Embrasement’ (burning).
The notes do not mention that the ninth section, ‘Metamorphoses’
is based on a six-note theme musically spelling Sacher’s name in a concatenation
of German and Italian notation.
The titles may or may not be helpful to the listener in navigating their way
around the work. I found that I could conveniently ignore them. The key to
this work is (again) the impressive instrumentation and effective use of tone
colour creating ‘a miraculous diversity of mood, textures, registers
and techniques.’ Mystère includes the skilful use of the cimbalom
(Hungarian instrument, descended of the dulcimer with stings stretched over
a soundboard and struck with hammer). The clever thing is that Dutilleux uses
the cimbalon as ‘colouring’ and does not allow this distinctive
instrument to dominate or overstay its welcome. The other instruments include
24 strings and percussion. The title translates literally, ‘The Mystery
of the Moment’.
The liner notes by Paul Conway give a detailed introduction to these three
‘masterpieces.’ Brief notes are included about the Orchestre National
de Lille and their conductor Darrell Ang. The performance is always satisfying
and constantly displays Henri Dutilleux’s scintillating and sensuous
scores in the best possible light.
This is a splendid CD that presents the listeners with three undoubted masterpieces
from the composer’s pen.
John France
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