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Claude Vivier (1948-1983) During his short career he composed 49 works and developed a musical style characterized by distinctive melodies and complex orchestral timbres. He was born in Montreal of unknown parents, raised in an orphanage and then adopted, at the age of three, by foster parents named Vivier. He discovered music at the seminary which he entered at sixteen, and from which he was expelled two years later for "immature behaviour". For a period of four years he studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he was considered an exceptional student; composition with Gilles Tremblay and piano with Irving Heller. His first publicly performed works - a String Quartet (1968) in two movements, Ojikawa (1986) for soprano, clarinet and percussion as well as Prolifération (1969) for ondes martenot, piano and percussion, written in an elaborated post-serialist language combined with theatrical and improvisational elements - attracted the attention of the public and the critics.
Assisted by a Canada Council grant, Vivier left to study in Europe (1971-1974). The first year was spent at the Institute of Sonology (Utrecht, The Netherlands) where he took classes in electroacoustic composition with Gottfried Michael Koenig. Following that, in Cologne, he studied with Hans Ulrich Humpert and Karlheinz Stockhausen (who, the story goes, was repelled by the stink of his ancient sheepskin jacket). In France he studied conducting with Paul Méfano, among others. With regards to compositional technique (quantification of parameters, permutative structures, ring modulations), Vivier was influenced considerably by Stockhausen, although he nonetheless developed a highly personalized language. These years of study in Europe were notable for the writing of such compositions as Musik für das Ende (1971) and Désintégration (1972) which indicated a more solid craft of writing and a rich temperament, all while displaying his preoccupation with those themes which would become favourites, death, childhood, love and immortality. Chants (1973) for seven female voices represents for him "the first moment of my existence as a composer".
Back in Canada, his reputation as a composer began to take hold. He taught at the University of Ottawa and was granted several commissions, among others by The Canadian Music Awards, Seven short, idiomatic pieces, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Liebesgedichte (1976) and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Siddhartha (1976) composed wholly on the basis of a single melodic phrase. In the autumn of 1976 Vivier undertook a journey through Asia, during which he spent time in Japan, Bali and Iran. It was during his stay on the island of Bali that his ideas concerning the role of the artist in society were solidified. This initiated a new period in the stylistic evolution of his music, a period characterized by affirmation and certainty. He said upon his return: "I realize that this journey was, above all, one of self-discovery". This was the period of his brilliant Shiraz (1977), of Orion (1980), of the opera Kopernikus (1980). For Vivier the orient was a metaphor for mystery; he became fascinated with the explorer Marco Polo and gave his compositions titles such as Zipangu (1980), Bouchara (1981) and Samarkand (1981). Lonely Child (1980) for soprano and chamber orchestra and Prologue pour un Marco Polo (1981) for five solo voices and instrumental ensemble are the most important works from this period.
The harmonic and rhythmic dimensions of these compositions are largely derived from their principal melodies: while cadential formulae display the influence of Gregorian chant, the suggested modality is of short duration as all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are systematically employed. Both the sectional nature of the form and the homorhythmic texture offer stable backgrounds for a rich exploration of orchestral timbres (what the composer called 'colours'), the most striking aspect of Vivier's late style. These 'colours' are in fact chords covering the whole instrumental range and can be understood as the sound of one large instrument, the ensemble. They are composed using a method which imitates electronic ring modulation: the pitches of all the parts are calculated by a series of additions based on the frequencies of the notes of the melody and the bass. These artificial timbres, containing many quarter tones and harmonics, are juxtaposed with the timbre of the gong, an instrument which Vivier used frequently in his earliest compositions. A preference for the human voice and an emphatic melodic orientation are characteristic of Vivier's oeuvre as a whole. He usually set his own texts, which express on the one hand uninhibited powers of imagination and lust for life, and on the other an anxious obsession with death. These texts also contain passages in a 'language' of Vivier's own invention, consisting of series of sounds which were chosen after, and in accordance with, the notes.
His outstanding development as a composer earned Vivier the title of "Composer of the Year" in 1981, awarded by the Canadian Music Council. Benefitting once again from a Canada Council grant, he settled in Paris, where he composed on an opera on the death of Tchaikovsky Trois Airs pour un opéra imaginaire (1982) for sopran and ensemble, a piece that embodies the superb synthesis of his mature style. In March 1983, while living in Paris, Vivier, who was gay, was stabbed to death by a male prostitute he had picked up in a Paris bar and had brought back to his apartment. It is suggested that his dead was a self sought murder/suicide. On his worktable was found his last work, an unfinished cantata for voices and orchestra Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele whose text is a first-person narrative about a man named Claude who is stabbed in the heart on a subway train by a young man he has just met. His music is a reflection of his personal life. Both directly and indirectly, the themes of his compositions were inspired by his unknown family origins (Vivier sought all his life to learn the identity of his unknown parents), his religious vocation, his homosexuality and even his premature death. Some of his last letters talk of suicide in the most haunting way.
Kopernikus, opéra-rituel de mort (1979). Comienzo.
Última edición por Zelenka el 24 May 2014 11:18, editado 1 vez en total
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