Symbolism in the Music of Lili Boulanger: an Analysis of Clairieres dans le ciel
Symbolism in the Music of Lili Boulanger: an Analysis of Clairieres dans le ciel
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Date
1993
Authors
Dopp, Bonnie Jo
Advisor
Davis, Shelley
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Abstract
French composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) lived and
worked at a time of experimentation and change in European
musical techniques and aesthetics. Her documented
interest in French Symbolist literature, her sheltered,
sickly life and her mystic personal beliefs were reflected
in a style of composition that grew more subjective as she
matured. Analysis of her longest work, the song cycle
Clairieres dans le ciel, when amplified by specific
information about her life, reveals symbolism that
parallels personal meanings contemporary Symbolist artists
in literature and painting encoded in their work. Other
composers of the period engaged in similar semiotic
invention, though the term "Symbolist" is seldom applied
to them. When critical hallmarks of Symbolist writings
are employed, they support the assignation "Symbolist" to
the music of Lili Boulanger.