Voices of Connection: 07/28 Lili Boulanger: Hymne au soleil

LILI BOULANGER Hymne au soleil
Orpheus Vokalensemble | Michael Alber, Conductor
Antonii Baryshevskyi, piano

FROM GUEST CURATOR MALCOLM J. MERRIWEATHER

Early 20th century changes in the social and legal status of women fostered an atmosphere where they could finally be recognized as composers. Though established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV, women were first allowed to compete for the Prix de Rome in 1903, and Lili Boulanger was the first woman to win the coveted prize, in 1913. Sister of the great 20th-century educator and pedagogue Nadia Boulanger, Lili was poised to embark on a successful career when she died five years later, only 24 years old, from complications associated with Crohn’s disease. Boulanger left behind a handful of compositions for choir; one of the finest is the gripping “Hymne au Soleil” (“Hymn to the Sun”). This piece makes me think of Claude Monet’s painting Sunrise-- the rich, sometimes blurred harmonies of Boulanger’s piece evoke the colors of Monet’s clouds, while the ostinato quarter notes throughout the piece suggest the infinite waves that envelop the harbor in the painting.

– Malcolm J. Merriweather

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