Album insights
Around thirty years ago, as a student, I came across the music of Lili Boulanger for the first time on a classic Markevich record originally released under the Everest label in the USA (now available under EMI). This encounter deeply moved me. I immediately wrote to her sister Nadia, who, despite being eighty, continued to teach with the same unbridled energy she had more than fifty years prior. That music and that letter truly changed my life. After studying with Nadia at the Fontainebleau Conservatory in the summer of 1967, I hosted my first music show the following year, centered around Lili (marking the fiftieth anniversary of her death in 1968). I've sporadically stayed connected to her music and in 1982, three years after Nadia's passing, I produced a record of chamber works for Unicorn-Kanchana (which is now out of print). Biographies of both Nadia and Lili have since been published, offering intriguing material for contemplation. However, none provide a clear explanation for how Lili, in my view, a great composer, died at the age of twenty-four. The Boulanger phenomenon remains truly unique in music history.
Everyone acknowledges Nadia Boulanger's significant contributions as a music teacher of her time. It's now clear that her life's pattern and purpose were heavily influenced by her relationship with her sister. In a letter to me dated November 1967, Nadia wrote, "She [Lili] passed away in 1918, but her words still guide and help me." It's probable that recognizing Lili's superior talent as a composer led Nadia to abandon her own composing pursuits. Lili's premature passing resulted in a distinct, almost maternal bond that Nadia sought to establish with each member of her international student family. Their mother devoted her life to Nadia, understanding her until the day she departed, while Lili, knowing she would not live long, said to Nadia, "Remember that as you grow older, all your students will bring you what I have given you until the day I leave you." The Boulanger sisters were captivating and talented women, with Lili perhaps embodying more conventional beauty ideals. Both were photogenic, especially Lili with her striking, deep, dark eyes. Contemporary accounts speak of Lili's strength of character, and her music truly reflects a juxtaposition of masculine and feminine elements.
Lili's life and music showcased qualities central to Nadia's teachings, including passion, inner energy, enthusiasm, keen perception, strong intellect, poetic sensibility, commitment, purposeful seriousness, discipline, and focus. Her masterpiece, "Du fond de l'abîme" ("De profundis"), demonstrates impeccable technical and intellectual maturity, compressing a lifetime's emotional experiences and profound understanding into a single work. The remarkable question remains: how did Lili achieve all this? Despite facing health challenges since a young age, she acquired highly professional skills with astonishing ease and speed. Her orchestration, notably, showcased mastery, revealing her as a sound poet with an artist's finesse for color and structure.
The majority of Lili's published compositions are vocal pieces, reflecting her upbringing surrounded by singing, opera, vocal and choral ensembles, and church music traditions. Notably, her secular work "Clairières dans le ciel" based on Francis Jammes' poems stands out as a pivotal piece. Lili's lifelong battle with illness, noted for intensifying her creativity, poses essential questions regarding the interplay between sickness and creative output. The associations between illness, talent, and creativity remain open to interpretation, shaping the unique legacy of Lili Boulanger in music history.
Christopher Palmer © 1994