Notations

Composer and conductor Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) wrote his Twelve Notations when still a very young man in 1945. Though not published until many years later, these pieces provided source material and technical inspiration for Boulez as he turned to other, larger projects. Numerology and compositional process are incredibly important in these musical aphorisms: each of the twelve pieces is exactly twelve measures long; each uses the same serialized collection of twelve distinct pitches. Boulez manages to find incredible variety and freedom within very strict confines. Like the focusing power of a lens, the 12-tone system takes certain variables (like pitch) out of the equation, allowing Boulez to concentrate on other factors in shaping his musical form.

(c) Jason Stell