Claude Vivier (1948-1983)

Started by bhodges, April 13, 2007, 12:43:33 PM

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karlhenning

Quote from: Sean on June 28, 2009, 12:37:19 AM
. . . it's fairly unusual and keeps the attention but shows Stockhausen's influence . . . .

I am trying to understand the use of the conjunction but here . . . .

Sean

Don't worry, I was just trying to say that the influence of his German sojourn is a too bit obvious. He managed to find a voice though, which is more than some.

not edward

There is definitely something in common between the soundworld of late Vivier and the Licht-era Stockhausen, but I'd venture to suggest that the works of Vivier's last five or so years sound nothing like any other composer. (By contrast, I find a lot of his earlier work rather dated and anonymous.)
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

snyprrr

In this boxset 'Dutch Miracle' is the first Vivier I've heard, a,...scene?,...I don't know, but it's 9mins. of what sounds like,...mmm,....,uh,

It's called Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (anyone?), from 1983, the year of the composer's murder. There are singers, and a speaker, and an ensemble. I haven't heard Die Soldaten, but this is partly what I imagine it sounds like. The end result is like taperecording the party of someone who will commit suicide later that evening. There is ranting :o!!

I thought Vivier was going to be a whole lot more,...mmm,...musical? This is dreary dreary, southside gutter music. Perhaps this is what a love-letter to a male prostitute sounds like? Creepy! ;D

UB

You can see a performance of this unfinished work here

It is interesting that he was writing a work about the immortality of the soul when he was killed.
I am not in the entertainment business. Harrison Birtwistle 2010

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: snyprrr on June 03, 2010, 04:06:58 PM
It's called Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (anyone?),

"Do You Believe in the Immortality of the Soul?"
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

UB

If you are interested in listening to almost all of Vivier's music you should go to CMC and listen to the archived recordings. I suggest 'Lonely Child' and 'Wo bist du licht' for his late works.

So much music - so little time.
I am not in the entertainment business. Harrison Birtwistle 2010

snyprrr

Quote from: snyprrr on June 03, 2010, 04:06:58 PM
In this boxset 'Dutch Miracle' is the first Vivier I've heard, a,...scene?,...I don't know, but it's 9mins. of what sounds like,...mmm,....,uh,

It's called Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (anyone?), from 1983, the year of the composer's murder. There are singers, and a speaker, and an ensemble. I haven't heard Die Soldaten, but this is partly what I imagine it sounds like. The end result is like taperecording the party of someone who will commit suicide later that evening. There is ranting :o!!

I thought Vivier was going to be a whole lot more,...mmm,...musical? This is dreary dreary, southside gutter music. Perhaps this is what a love-letter to a male prostitute sounds like? Creepy! ;D

LOL :laugh:

Uhor

He's like a Messiaen or a Stockhausen but with all the extra notes removed. There is a purity in his music that is rare among anything coming from the avant-garde.

Mandryka

I knew this was on but missed it, I regret it very much

https://www.youtube.com/v/oGfVnzrpXLQ

QuoteHiérophanie (from the Greek meaning manifestation of the sacred, and inspired by Vivier's reading of the philosopher Mircea Eliade) was written when the composer was 22, but was only premiered forty years later, in 2010. It is a rite of passage, a means of communication and meditation, of contact with the primordial and primitive. Here an utterance, movements, random elements, club music, and improvisations, with many a recollection from childhood, and the Salve Regina and a Delphic hymn from ancient Greece all expound a spiritual and religious awakening.
The stage director Silvia Costa (well known to audiences of the Festival d'Automne à Paris) has devised the spatial staging of Hiérophanie.

The same programme note says this, which may or may not be a good sign, I'm saying nothing . . . yet

QuoteGérard Grisey, who knew Claude Vivier very well, particularly in the 1970s, shared his penchant for mysticism, for the "Shamanic power" of music, and the "magic of sound", such magic being the only means of expression capable of conjuring up "a voice lost", able to venture into "the mysterious strata of a being".
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

Coming up live at 11:45am (EDT), Barbara Hannigan conducts the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in two works by Vivier, with some Busoni and Haydn, too. (I think the concert will be archived.)

Busoni Berceuse élégiaque
Vivier Wo Bist Du Licht?
Haydn Symphony No 26 "Lamentatione"
Vivier Lonely Child

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Hannigan conductor
Tuuri Dede mezzosopran
Aphrodite Patoulidou soprano

https://www.gso.se/en/gsoplay/video/hannigans-surprise/

--Bruce

Mandryka

#51

Quote from: Brewski on April 13, 2007, 12:43:33 PM
I have liked all that I've heard (not that there's much!) by Claude Vivier, especially Lonely Child and Orion.  Tomorrow afternoon I'm finally seeing Kopernikus, the first half of Rêves d'un Marco Polo, and can't wait since Lis and others have raved about it. 

--Bruce



Quote from: Brewski on April 16, 2007, 02:03:39 PM
On Saturday I saw some of Vivier's Rêves d'un Marco Polo, and mostly enjoyed it.  We watched the Marco Polo disc (the other one is Kopernikus) including Shiraz, for solo piano (stunningly played by Marc Couroux), Lonely Child (with Susan Narucki singing in radiant form), Zipangu, Wo bist du Licht! (with Kathryn Harries), and the amazing finale, Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (Do you believe in the immortality of the soul) (also with Narucki, who is just superb).

It is staged by Pierre Audi on a huge steel catwalk-type structure (for the Netherlands Opera), with the ASKO and Schoenberg Ensembles playing magnificently, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw.  Vivier's sound world is passionate, gutsy and often sad, particularly the finale, which was left unfinished and has Narucki just ending in mid-sentence.  You can hear the occasional influences of so-called "spectral" composers in his writing, but Vivier is hard to categorize, which makes him so interesting.

Almost more compelling was the hour-long documentary on his life by Cherry Duyns, who uses interviews with people who knew him, some obviously rare footage of the composer, and footage from the rehearsals for the works on the DVD.  Given that Vivier's music is not performed all that often, it is wonderful to have it done so well here, and filmed so beautifully. 

--Bruce

Well 15 years after you I'm finally hearing it on this, to me it sounds camp! But then it's opera so, that's OK. I recommend this CD, it's fresh, the music is original and fun.



Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

bhodges

Quote from: Mandryka on March 26, 2022, 10:58:33 AM
Well 15 years after you I'm finally hearing it on this, to me it sounds camp! But then it's opera so, that's OK. I recommend this CD, it's fresh, the music is original and fun.



15 years! Since I don't recall that many details (other than Audi's busy staging, and Narucki's expert vocalising), "camp" may be exactly the right description. I'll have to keep this recording in mind, so thanks for the alert.

--Bruce