Pierre Boulez
Tombeau
Fac-similés de l'épure et de la première mise au net de la partition / Facsimiles of the Draft Score and the First Fair Copy of the Full Score
Édité par / Edited by Robert Piencikowski,
Une publication de la Fondation Paul Sacher / A Publication of the Paul Sacher Foundation
Universal Edition
Vienna - London - New York
2010
154 pages – clothbound in slipcase - 37,0 × 46,5 cm
Introduction in French and English
EUR 170
Order from Universal Edition
ISBN 978-3-7024-6861-3
ISMN 979-0-008-08207-8
UPC 8-03452-06577-7
UE 34 972
Unlike the world première of Marteau sans maître (1952–55), that of Tombeau for orchestra (1959), which took place in Donaueschingen on 17 October 1959, passed almost unnoticed – outshone by Pierre Boulez’s unexpected triumph as a conductor when he stepped in to replace Hans Rosbaud at the head of the Südwestfunk-Sinfonieorchester. Originally conceived as an individual tribute to Prince Max Egon zu Fürstenberg, who died suddenly in spring 1959, the work was ultimately included in the Pli selon pli cycle (1957–62, 1983, 1990). To celebrate the composer’s 85th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the world première, the Paul Sacher Foundation and Universal Edition are now publishing the two original manuscripts of the score for the first time: the pencil draft and a fair copy in different coloured inks. These fine examples of high-quality reproductions are also the earliest evidence of Boulez’s friendship with Paul Sacher. The composer presented the scores to Sacher in the early 1960s. The facsimiles are prefaced by an introduction, which places the work in a historical and aesthetic context and takes a look at the compositional techniques used. It is illustrated by a selection of manuscripts from different stages of the creative process, as well as other related documents.