Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974–75) is a composition for large chamber ensemble in eight groups by the French composer Pierre Boulez. It was first performed in London, 2 April 1975, by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Boulez.
Contents
History
The work was written after the death of Boulez's fellow composer Bruno Maderna, and Boulez describes it as "A ceremony of memory, in which there are numerous repetitions of the same formulas, in constantly changing profiles and perspectives".
Gunther Schuller conducted the Berkshire Music Center Orchestra, a student ensemble, in the U.S. premiere of Rituel on 14 August 1975 as part of the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Boulez conducted the New York Philharmonic in the New York premiere (and the U.S. premiere by a professional orchestra) on 13 January 1977. He "was greeted with boos as well as cheers. He took several bows, and the cheers eventually won out." Though Boulez separated the groups of players as far apart on the stage as possible, David Robertson, conducting the Orchestre National de Lyon at Carnegie Hall in 2003, placed some in the auditorium's balconies. In 2012 Alan Gilbert led a performance in New York's Park Avenue Armory, placing the groups "high and low all over the hall".
Analysis
Boulez based the tonal structure of Rituel largely on a set of seven tones, corresponding to the number of the letters in the name "Maderna". These are the same pitches used in the row of ...explosante-fixe....
The work divides the players into eight groups, that are widely separated across the performance space. Each group features a different category of instruments and a different number of players (one oboe, two clarinets, three flutes, etc.). Except in the case of the brass group, which is the largest, a percussionist is assigned to each group to maintain its specific tempo, since the groups are independent of one another in terms of rhythm, while the conductor maintains a larger scale organization. The use of groups and their spacing reflects many of Maderna's works, such as Quadrivium (1969).
Reception
In 1977 Krzysztof Penderecki, asked which contemporary composers he liked, said: "I like Boulez's last piece Rituel, because it's like Messiaen; Boulez seems to have changed his style."