View source for Structures (Boulez)

{{Italic title}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2021}}  
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
'''''Structures I''''' (1952) and '''''Structures II''''' (1961) are two related works for two [[piano]]s, composed by the French [[composer]] [[Pierre Boulez]].

==History==
The first book of ''Structures'' was begun in early 1951, as Boulez was completing his orchestral work ''[[Polyphonie X]]'', and finished in 1952. It consists of three [[movement (music)|movements]], or "chapters", labelled ''Ia'', ''Ib'', and ''Ic'', composed in the order ''a'', ''c'', ''b''. The first of the second book's two "chapters" was composed in 1956, but chapter{{nbsp}}2 was not written until 1961. The second chapter includes three sets of variable elements, which are to be arranged to make a performing version.{{sfn|Häusler|1965|loc=5}} A partial premiere of book{{nbsp}}2 was performed by the composer and [[Yvonne Loriod]] at the [[Wigmore Hall]], London, in March 1957. This was Boulez's first appearance in the UK as a performer.{{sfn|Griffiths|1973}} The same performers gave the premiere of the complete second book, with two different versions of chapter{{nbsp}}2, in a chamber-music concert of the [[Donaueschingen Festival|Donaueschinger Musiktage]] on Saturday, 21 October 1961.{{sfn|Südwestrundfunk|n.d.}}

[[File:Messiaen - Mode de valeurs et d'intensites series upper line -- Boulez - Structures Ia.png|thumb|center|upright=2|[[Olivier Messiaen]]'s ''[[Quatre études de rythme#"Mode de valeurs et d'intensités"|Mode de valeurs et d'intensités]]'' highest of three unordered divisions of the mode,({{sfn|Grant|2001|loc=61}}{{sfn|Toop|1974|loc=144}} or, less precisely, "three series forms [caption: 'for pitch, duration, dynamics, and articulation']...treated as unordered collections",{{sfn|Whittall|2008|loc=172}}—which Boulez, "the pupil intending to teach the master a lesson", adapted as an ordered series for his ''Structures Ia''.{{sfn|Whittall|2008|loc=172}}[[File:Messiaen - Mode de valeurs et d'intensites series upper line -- Boulez - Structures Ia.mid]]]]

''Structures I'' was the last and most successful of Boulez's works to use the technique of [[Serialism|integral serialism]],{{sfn|Hopkins and Griffiths|2001}} wherein many parameters of a piece's construction are governed by serial principles, rather than only pitch. Boulez devised scales of twelve dynamic levels (though in a later revision of the score these reduced to ten),{{sfn|Ligeti|1960|loc=40–41}} twelve durations, and—from the outset—ten [[Accent (music)|modes of attack]],{{sfn|Ligeti|1960|loc=43}} each to be used in a manner analogous to a [[Tone row|twelve-tone row]]. The composer explains his purpose in this work:
<blockquote>I wanted to eradicate from my vocabulary absolutely every trace of the conventional, whether it concerned figures and phrases, or development and form; I then wanted gradually, element after element, to win back the various stages of the compositional process, in such a manner that a perfectly new synthesis might arise, a synthesis that would not be corrupted from the very outset by foreign bodies—stylistic reminiscences in particular.{{sfn|Boulez|1986a|loc=61}}</blockquote>

==Discography==
===Book 1===
* [[Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky]], 1960, [[Domaine musical]]
* Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky, 1965, Ariola Tonstudio, Cologne, [[WERGO]]
* Pi-Hsien Chen and [[Ian Pace]], 2–5 October 2007, WDR Funkhaus, Klaus-von-Bismarck Saal, Hat-Hut
* {{ill|Michael Wendeberg|de}} and [[Nicolas Hodges]], 2019, Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, bastille musique

===Book 2===
* Pierre Boulez and [[Yvonne Loriod]], 20–21 October 1961, Hans-Rosbaud Studio, Baden.-Baden. ''75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage 1921–1996''. 12-CD set, mono & stereo. Col Legno Contemporary WWE 12CD 31899. [Munich]: Col Legno Musikproduktion GmbH, 1996. CD 10, Col Legno Contemporary WWE 1CD 31909, includes the world-premiere performance of ''Structures pour deux pianos'', deuxième livre, played by Yvonne Loriod and Pierre Boulez.
* Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky, 1965, Ariola Tonstudio, Cologne, WERGO
* {{ill|Bernhard Wambach|de}} and Pi-Hsin Chen, 30 March 1985, Weinbrenner-Saal des [[Kurhaus of Baden-Baden|Kurhauses, Baden-Baden]], Sony
* [[Florent Boffard]] and [[Pierre-Laurent Aimard]], October 1994, ESPRO, IRCAM, Deutsche Grammophon
* Pi-Hsien Chen and Ian Pace, 2–5 October 2007, WDR Funkhaus, Klaus-von-Bismarck Saal, Hat-Hut
* Michael Wendeberg and Nicolas Hodges, 2019, Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, bastille musique

==See also==
{{Portal|Classical music}}
* [[Time point]]

== References ==
{{reflist|15em}}
'''Sources'''
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Boulez|1986a}}|reference=Boulez, Pierre. 1986a. "Necessité d'une orientation esthétique (II)". ''Canadian University Music Review''/''Revue de Musique des Universités Canadiennes'', no. 7:46–79.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Grant|2001}}|reference=Grant, Morag Josephine. 2001. ''Serial Music Serial Aesthetics: Compositional Theory in Post-War Europe''. Music in the Twentieth Century, [[Arnold Whittall]], general editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-80458-2}}.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Griffiths|1973}}|reference=[[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Griffiths, Paul]]. 1973. "Two Pianos: Boulez, ''Structures'', Book 2". ''[[The Musical Times]]'' 114, no. 1562 (April): 390.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Häusler|1965}}|reference={{ill|Josef Häusler|de|lt=Häusler, Josef}}. 1965. "Klangfelder und Formflächen: Kompositorische Grundprinzipien im II. Band der ''Structures'' von Pierre Boulez". In liner notes to ''Pierre Boulez: Structures pour deux pianos, premier livre et deuxième livre'', 5–12. [[Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky]], pianos. Studio-Reihe neuer Musik. Baden-Baden: [[WERGO]]. LP WER 60011.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Hopkins and Griffiths|2001}}|reference=[[Bill Hopkins (composer)|Hopkins, G. W.]], and [[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Paul Griffiths]]. 2001. "Boulez, Pierre." ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Ligeti|1960}}|reference=[[György Ligeti|Ligeti, György]]. 1960. "Pierre Boulez: Decision and Automatism in ''Structure'' Ia." ''[[Die Reihe]]'' 4 ("Young Composers"): 36–62. (Translated from the original German edition of 1958.)}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Südwestrundfunk|n.d.}}|reference=[[Südwestrundfunk]]. n.d. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140524011010/http://www.swr.de/swr2/festivals/donaueschingen/programme/1921-1997/-/id=2136956/nid=2136956/did=3459908/jy5c3d/index.html Donaueschinger Musiktage: Programme seit 1921: Programm des Jahres 1961]". SWR website (archive from 24 May 2014, accessed 8 December 2016).}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Toop|1974}}|reference=[[Toop, Richard]]. 1974. "Messiaen / Goeyvaerts, Fano / Stockhausen, Boulez." ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 13, no. 1 (Fall–Winter): 141–169.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Whittall|2008}}|reference=[[Arnold Whittall|Whittall, Arnold]]. 2008. ''The Cambridge Introduction to Serialism''. Cambridge Introductions to Music. New York: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-86341-4}} (hardback) {{ISBN|978-0-521-68200-8}} (pbk).}}
{{div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* Boulez, Pierre. 1986b. ''Orientations.'' London: Faber and Faber. {{ISBN|0-571-14347-4}}.
* {{ill|Célestin Deliège|fr|lt=Deliège, Célestin}}. 1981. "Deux aspects de l'univers boulezien: ''Structures'' pour deux pianos à quatre mains". ''Critique'', no. 408:478–484.
* {{cite journal|last=DeYoung|first=Lynden|date=Spring–Summer 1978|title=Pitch Order and Duration Order in Boulez ''Structure Ia''|journal=[[Perspectives of New Music]]|volume=16|number=2|pages=27–34|jstor=832676|doi=10.2307/832676|ref=none}}
* [[Reinhard Febel|Febel, Reinhard]]. 1978. ''Musik für zwei Klaviere seit 1950 als Spiegel der Kompositionstechnik''. Herrenberg: Musikverlag Döring. Second, revised and expanded edition, Saarbrücken: Pfau-Verlag, 1998. {{ISBN|3-930735-55-5}}.
* [[Dominique Jameux|Jameux, Dominique]]. 1989. ''Boulez: Le Marteau Sans Maître''. Programme booklet. CBS Masterworks CD MK 42619.
* Jameux, Dominique. 1991. ''Pierre Boulez''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-66740-9}}.
* Losada, Catherine C. 2014. "Complex Multiplication, Structure, and Process: Harmony and Form in Boulez's ''Structures II''". ''[[Music Theory Spectrum]]'' 36, no. 1 (Spring): 86–120.
* Song, Sun-Ju. 2008. ''Music Analysis and the Avant-Garde Compositions of Post–World War II: Four Case Studies''. 2 vols. Ph.D. diss. Nathan, Queensland: [[Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University]].
* Wilkinson, Marc. 1958. "Some Thoughts on Twelve-Tone Method (Boulez: ''Structure Ia'')", ''{{ill|Gravesaner Blätter|de}}'' no. 10:19–29.
{{div col end}}

==External links==
*Work details, [https://www.universaledition.com/pierre-boulez-88/works/structures-5018 Book I], [https://www.universaledition.com/pierre-boulez-88/works/structures-5017 Book II], [[Universal Edition]]

{{Pierre Boulez}}
{{Portalbar|Classical Music}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Compositions by Pierre Boulez]]
[[Category:1952 compositions]]
[[Category:1961 compositions]]
[[Category:20th-century classical music]]
[[Category:Compositions for two pianos]]
[[Category:Serial compositions]]