Le Visage nuptial

Instrumentation#

The piece is scored for soprano solo, alto solo, women’s choir, and an orchestra consisting of nine percussionists: ;Woodwinds :4 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo, 4th doubling on G flute) :3 oboes :English horn :3 clarinets (1st and 2nd in B and A, 3rd in E and A) :bass clarinet in B :4 bassoons (4th doubling contrabassoon) ;Brass :4 horns :4 trumpets in C :3 trombones (3rd doubling bass trombone) :Tuba ;Percussion :timbales :9 players (see below) ;Keyboards :celesta ;Strings :2 harps :16 violins I :14 violins II :12 violas :10 cellos :8 double basses The parts are as follows: ;Percussion 1 :xylophone, sounding an octave lower :glockenspiel, sounding two octaves lower :Japanese wood blocks :pair of crotales, sounding an E 5 ;Percussion 2 :marimba :2 claves (medium and high) :Turkish cymbal, suspended (medium) :pair of crotales, sounding a B 4 ;Percussion 3 :vibraphone ;Percussion 4 :set of cowbells, ranged G 3 to A 5 :3 tom-toms :2 Turkish cymbals, suspended (medium, medium-high, and low) :Chinese cymbal, suspended :Sizzle cymbal, suspended :claves (low) :2 maracas (medium) :pair of crotales, sounding a B 5 ;Percussion 5 :set of steel drums, ranged G 3 to B 5 :2 maracas :güiro :2 Japanese wood blocks :slit wood drum :bass drum :triangle :gong (medium-low) :tam-tam (large) :pair of crotales, sounding an A 4 ;Percussion 6 :glockenspiel :4 metal blocks :claves :whip :güiro :2 maracas :Turkish cymbal, suspended :2 gongs, sounding B 3 and C 4 :tam-tam (large, same as Percussion 5) :pair of crotales, sounding a D 5 ;Percussion 7 :set of crotales (2 octaves) :crotale, sounding an E 4 :2 frame drums :3 Japanese wood blocks :güiro :whip :gong (medium) :2 tam-tams (medium and large) ;Percussion 8 :tubular bells (2 octaves) :snare drum (without snare) :2 conga drums :claves :güiro :large triangle :2 anvils, medium and large :2 gongs, high :tam-tam, medium :pair of crotales, sounding an F 5 ;Percussion 9 :4 bongo drums :2 maracas :2 Turkish cymbals, suspended (high, low) :large sizzle cymbal :2 bell plates, sounding B 3 and C 4 :pair of crotales, sounding a C 5

Structure#

The performance’s duration is twenty minutes.

External links#

• Le Visage nuptial, Music Sales Classical
• “Pierre Boulez: les traits messins de son Visage nuptial”, Le Républicain Lorrain (7 January 2016)
• “Le Visage nuptial de Pierre Boulez, dernière version 2014”, Classicalnews.com