Three Pieces by Nadia Boulanger Chamber Music - Sheet Music

SKU: PR.114425330

ISBN 9798299601138. UPC: 680160699162. 9x12 inches.

Best remembered as the preeminent composition pedagogue of the 20th century, Nadia Boulanger largely abandoned her own composition career after her younger sister, Lili, died prematurely in 1918. Among the works of Nadia’s that have endured are the exquisite Three Pieces, best known in the scoring for cello and piano. The music’s unique blend of impressionistic detail and free-flowing neoclassicism is transformed and illuminated in this rewarding and refined arrangment by flutist Matthew Ross. .
Nadia Boulanger and her sister Lili have long been figures of admiration and fascination to me. Daughters of a distinguished choral conductor and a Russian princess and singer, both Nadia and Lili showed amazing ability in composition from a very early age. Nadia, the elder by six years, set her sights on winning the prestigious Prix de Rome, entering four times and placing as high as second. However, it was Lili who ultimately won at age 19, becoming the first woman to win the first prize.A few years later, Lili died at age 24 from “intestinal tuberculosis,” or possibly Crohn’s disease. The sisters were incredibly close, having lost their father very early in life. Nadia saw herself as Lili’s protector and was deeply affected by her death. Believing Lili to be the more gifted composer, Nadia chose to dedicate herself almost entirely to teaching.Nadia became a truly renowned composition teacher, inspiring a “who’s who” of composers and artists across musical genres. She prioritized the aesthetic content of a piece above all else, valuing uniqueness and creativity over strict adherence to form and tradition. This mindset is exemplified by the extraordinary range of her students’ output. Among her hundreds of students were Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Elliott Carter, Astor Piazzolla, and Philip Glass, as well as Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, and Lalo Schifrin. Her influence on twentieth-century music is second to none.When I first heard the Three Pieces performed in its original setting for cello and piano, I was enamored by Nadia’s use of harmony and color, particularly in the first movement. The way she produced major changes in affect through subtle shifts in the harmony is spellbinding, and indicates true mastery of her craft. I sought to preserve as much of that atmosphere as possible in my transcription. Much of the contour of the piece remains unchanged, with some octave displacement occuring in the final movement (which I think actually allows flutists to lean into the character of the movement even more!).It is interesting to note that the first two movements of the cello and piano pieces were themselves transcriptions of earlier works for organ. My phrase markings in the first two movements align more closely with the original organ versions than they do with the cello, wherein bowings necessarily shape the musical line. The titles of the first two movements in this publication (“Improvisation” and “Petit Canon”) also come from the original organ pieces, and are typically omitted in printings of the cello and piano version. The third movement (scored for cello and piano from the start) was titled “Danse Espagnole” at its premiere, in which Nadia performed the piano part. Finally, the metronome markings in this publication are my own, and offered only as guidelines from my experience as a performer of these wonderful pieces. Given Nadia’s advocacy for creativity and artistic freedom, I hope she would approve of these choices.