Boulanger, Lili : D'un vieux jardin
Work Overview
Genre：Various works
Copyright：Public Domain
Commentary (2)
Author : Hirano, Takatoshi
Last Updated: May 19, 2015
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Author : Hirano, Takatoshi
D'un vieux jardin (From an Old Garden)
- Composition: May 26–27, 1914; completed June 3, Villa Medici (Rome)
- Publication: Ricordi, Paris, 1919
- Dedication: Lili Jumel
Composed between May and June 1914 at the Villa Medici in Rome. The Villa Medici was a facility established for artists who had recently won the Prix de Rome to reside, create, and interact with their peers. Lili Boulanger stayed at the Villa Medici for approximately four months in both 1914 and 1915, during which she composed important works such as the song cycle Clairières dans le ciel. D'un vieux jardin (From an Old Garden), D'un jardin clair (From a Bright Garden), and Cortège (Procession) were first published by Ricordi, a long-established Milanese publisher with whom she had an exclusive publishing contract, the year after Boulanger's death. Sixty years later, in 1979, these pieces were reissued by the New York publisher G. Schirmer as "Three Piano Pieces" and have since become widely known.
D'un vieux jardin is the earliest completed of the four piano pieces Boulanger composed at the Villa Medici. A relatively free-moving melody, reminiscent of a song, supported by intricate harmonies, creates a dreamy and archaic atmosphere. Lili Jumel, to whom it is dedicated, was likely one of the individuals Boulanger met in Paris. After its initial completion on May 27, revisions were made by June 3, adding 11 measures to make it 52 measures long. At the beginning of the manuscript, it is noted: "How pathetic I am to be afraid of D-flat minor [the enharmonic equivalent of C-sharp minor, the key of this work]. How should one handle 3/4 in such a case?" The title "D'un vieux jardin" was added upon its publication by Ricordi and is not present in the manuscript. For performance, it is advisable to adhere as closely as possible to the meticulously notated dynamics and tempo markings. Pay attention to passages where phrases begin on the third beat.
This commentary is a revised version for the Pitina Piano Encyclopedia, originally published in 'Lili Boulanger Piano Works' (Edited by Takatoshi Hirano, Kawai Publishing, 2015).
Author : Sato, Yuko
Last Updated: March 12, 2018
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Author : Sato, Yuko
It is said that Lili was a girl who sang constantly from the age of two and a half. Soon after, she sang songs at sight, and Fauré visited her home to accompany her singing. Her sister Nadia recounted that Lili sang lyrics as if she understood them, even though she should not have been able to at that age, and stated that the precocity of her sensibility stemmed from the sorrow of her father's death, which she experienced at the age of six. As was the case with her sister, their mother Raïssa was the one who gave her her first musical instruction. She taught by memorizing an entire textbook on harmony. In 1910, when Lili, at the age of 17, decided to become a composer, Nadia began preparing her with all her knowledge, just as their father had done for her, and two years later, Lili entered the Paris Conservatoire. Remarkably, she won the Prix de Rome the very next year. Regarding her exceptional talent, Jacques Chailley stated that even genius composers who died young had not managed to write works like her three Psaumes at the tender age of 24. Lili temporarily suspended her studies at the former Medici villa, a reward for the Prix de Rome, for medical treatment and recuperation, but during her stay in Rome, she completed important works in a short period and also interacted with local musicians. In 1915, as World War I approached the country, she proactively went with her sister to provide musical comfort to soldiers. After Lili's death, her sister Nadia put down her pen, feeling powerless compared to Lili's extraordinary talent, and dedicated herself to education. While it was a wise decision to understand where her talent could be best utilized, both sisters were equally distinguished in their talent and excellence. The family's bond, the depth of their affection, and their love for music and earnest pursuit of it spark interest in the roots of their lineage, but ultimately, tracing back their origins leads to ancient Greece, the source of all things. In Europe, old castles and buildings of royalty and nobility still remain. Standing there, one falls into the illusion of having time-traveled to a distant era. While strolling with her sister Nadia in the garden of an old Roman villa, the sisters encountered an old woman cutting grass. The old woman smiled at them and said, "May you have a good day today—" Nadia recounted the memory, stating that it was a wonderful moment when, by that old woman's single remark, they felt that they were blessed by God. The setting for Vieux Jardin and Clair Jardin is that very garden. One senses Lili's youthful freshness, striving to live brightly and positively, even while faintly feeling the creeping footsteps of war and the darkness of death due to illness. Even amidst the reverberations created by the cumulative accumulation of harmonic sounds, she continued to experiment, believing that the underlying structure remained unchanged, then as now. One perceives a spontaneous sublimity in Lili's music. Inheriting Impressionism, she further paid attention to the placement of sounds, and no rebellious spirit is felt there. Is the third piece, Cortège, a procession for a "Bacchanal"? It is a festival for Bacchus, the ancient Greek god of wine and harvest. It is a work where one feels wit and humor in the pentatonic melodic movement, conveying joy, and it is hard to believe that this was composed by someone undergoing recuperation who would die five years later. Was Lili perhaps feeling that she had fulfilled her sister Nadia's fervent wish! That she had repaid her kindness!...
