Musical questions and answers thread

[jayne lee wilson]

Boulez - 'cummings ist der Dichter'

I would like to obtain the English texts to Pierre Boulez's work 'cummings ist der Dichter' for 16 solo voices or mixed choir and instruments, a setting of verse by American poet E.E. Cummins.

I will be grateful if anyone can please share them with me or point me in the right direction. I have a recording of the work conducted by Boulez on Erato/Apex but there are no texts included.

birds( here,inven ting air U )sing tw iligH( t's v va vas( vast ness.Be)look now (come soul; &:and who s)e voi c es ( are ar a From e.e.cummings NO THANKS (1935)

[Alison]

Thanks very much! I think I'm with you. I was wondering if you suggest a obvious example that I can maybe view on YouTube?

If you search ‘cadences’ on YouTube there are a number of brief explanatory choices.

[Stanfordian]

birds( here,inven ting air U )sing tw iligH( t's v va vas( vast ness.Be)look now (come soul; &:and who s)e voi c es ( are ar a From e.e.cummings NO THANKS (1935)

Many thanks Jayne,


Boulez hasn't selected much to work with!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If you search ‘cadences’ on YouTube there are a number of brief explanatory choices.

There are - some of them better than others; very useful for getting a grip on the ideas, but not all entirely accurate.

I missed Stanf's #929 yesterday - I'll try and come up with some examples from real works that illustrate how composers have used Cadences in their Music.

[Stanfordian]

There are - some of them better than others; very useful for getting a grip on the ideas, but not all entirely accurate.

I missed Stanf's #929 yesterday - I'll try and come up with some examples from real works that illustrate how composers have used Cadences in their Music.

Very kind. That will be a great help.

[Bryn]

There are - some of them better than others; very useful for getting a grip on the ideas, but not all entirely accurate.

I missed Stanf's #929 yesterday - I'll try and come up with some examples from real works that illustrate how composers have used Cadences in their Music.

How about the closing cadence of Turangalîla-symphonie? The final chord swells triumphantly.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

How about the closing cadence of Turangalîla-symphonie? The final chord swells triumphantly.

Most 19th Century Symphonies end with a huge Perfect Cadence and a crescendo on the final chord - but, unless I've misunderstood him, Stanf is asking for a piece of Music in which the various cadences can be heard?

[Serial_Apologist]

birds( here,inven ting air U )sing tw iligH( t's v va vas( vast ness.Be)look now (come soul; &:and who s)e voi c es ( are ar a From e.e.cummings NO THANKS (1935)

The story as to how Boulez came to title that work is quite amusing. Asked by his publisher for a title, the composer replied, "Cummings is the master", meaning the master wordsmith in this instance, but this was then assumed to be the title, and so Boulez decided to go along with it.

[Bryn]

The story as to how Boulez came to title that work is quite amusing. Asked by his publisher for a title, the composer replied, "Cummings is the master", meaning the master wordsmith in this instance, but this was then assumed to be the title, and so Boulez decided to go along with it.

I think you mean "poet", rather than "master", but the story has considerable currency.

[Serial_Apologist]

I think you mean "poet", rather than "master".

Oh yes, sorry about that - (I don't have German and was going on failing memory) - thanks Bryn for the correction.

[Bryn]

Oh yes, sorry about that - (I don't have German and was going on failing memory) - thanks Bryn for the correction.

I only know very little German. I just happened to recall the story of how the title came about.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I only know very little German. I just happened to recall the story of how the title came about.

Yes, wasn't the story that Universal Edition asked him what the title was going to be and whom they should credit the text to (ready for a pre-premiere press announcement) and Boulez wrote (in German) something to the effect that "I haven't got a title yet, but Cummings is the poet" - and a casual misunderstanding at Universal led to the announcement of the title as cummings ist der dichter?

Edit:

Ah, yes - in Conversations with Celestin Deliege (p98):

I could not find a title for the work. It was due for performance, first at Ulm and then at Stuttgart, and I was asked for a title so that the programmes could be printed well in advance. In a letter in German (as far as I can remember, my German wasn't very good - I wrote "I have not yet found a title for the work, but all that I can tell you is that Cummings is the poet I have chosen ". I then got a reply from a secretary, who had obviously misunderstood my letter: "As for your work, Cummings ist der dichter ..."

[Bryn]

Yes, wasn't the story that Universal Edition asked him what the title was going to be and whom they should credit the text to (ready for a pre-premiere press announcement) and Boulez wrote (in German) something to the effect that "I haven't got a title yet, but Cummings is the poet" - and a casual misunderstanding at Universal led to the announcement of the title as cummings ist der dichter?

Yes, that's it. Not quite up there with some of the titles Gavin Bryars has come up with, but I think it fits the work well.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks very much! I think I'm with you. I was wondering if you suggest a obvious example that I can maybe view on YouTube?

Not nearly as easy as I'd presumed - composers tend to play with conventions rather than provide clear examples of them! (So inconsiderate! ) But the famous Chorale setting of "Erkenne mich, mein huter" ("O Sacred Head Sore Wounded") from the St Matthew Passion gives some examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpci8m1cQo0

With Chorales, the ends of phrases are shown by fermatas ("pause marks" as they became, but weren't intended as such in this context during Bach's time). Here, the first Cadence occurs in the second bar, at the word "huter". It's a Perfect cadence, Dominant to Tonic (B major to E major).

There's another Perfect cadence two bars later, at "mich an" - but this time in a different key (G# major to C#minor).

The next four bars (up to "Guts getan") are a literal repeat of the first four bars of Music (with different words) so the next Cadence is in Bar 10, at "gelabet": this is a Plagal Cadence (Subdominant to Tonic): A major to E major.

In bar 12 (the second bar of the last system/line) at "susser Kost", the cadence ends on C# major - which sounds "incomplete", because it's the Dominant chord of F# (as if he's starting to modulate to that key, but doesn't get there). A Cadence that ends on a Dominant chord is an Imperfect Cadence.

Instead of modulating to F#, Bach immediately turns the expected chord of F# into an F#7 chord (F# A# C# E) which he sustains throughout the next phrase which ends (at "begabet") on a Perfect Cadence (F# major - B major) in B major. This B major chord is itself the Dominant of the Home Key of E major, with which the chorale ends with a perfect cadence.



[The only Cadence not used in this Chorale is the Interrupted Cadence, which is when a Dominant Chord - which we expect to move back to the Tonic chord - moves instead to a different chord, almost always the submediant. In E major, a simple Interrupted Cadence would be B major to C# minor - which doesn't happen here. BUT in bar 4, the cadence does end on a C# minor chord. What Bach is doing is enhancing what otherwise would have been a straightforward Interrupted Cadence - if he'd used a simple Dominant to submediant chord progression in E major - by replacing the more ordinary B major chord (on the word "mich") with G# major. Even in "simple" harmonizations of hymn tunes, Bach uncovers a rich seam of harmonic and tonal possibilities.]

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Late 18th and most 19th Century Music makes great use of Perfect Cadences - often a the expense of the other types. For an example of a Symphonic Movement that ends with a Plagal Cadence (in this case, F major to C major) there's the First Movement of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique or (for a louder example) the end of the First Movement of Sibelius' Third. (The very first cadence in that work, when the brass gently join the opening 'celli & Basses, is also a Plagal Cadence.)

The Finale of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings has a blatant Imperfect Cadence - where the Final melody comes to a halt, and the very opening of the first Movement reappears. The end of the first song in Schumann's cummings ist der Dichterliebe ("Im wunderschonen monat Mai" also ends with an Imperfect Cadence.