Barraqué: Complete Works (1950-1968) [Box set]

 

 

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There's something really quite bizarre here. An intense, reclusive musical genius dies unnaturally young aged 45 having written just six works. Between them his entire music, like that of Webern, scarcely plays for four hours. A group of truly dedicated professional musicians gather together to record these works. And you, cosy at home, can squeeze just a few clicks on your mouse and this entire lifetime of rare thought and skill can be sent to you for the price of a round of drinks.
I first came across the Barraqué Sonata, a work of astonishing precocity, thirty years ago in my student days. Roger Woodward's vinyl recording was completely compelling, from his unbelievable attack on the first few bars right through to the desolate conclusion fifty minutes later. It made no sense at all to my youthful ears, but instinctively I was sure this work had to mean something important. Rapt, I must have played that disc fifty or sixty times before I started to piece together the language.
About five years later Barraqué's mother came over to London for a memorial concert at the ICA in Pall Mall, I think for the tenth anniversary of the composer's death. Séquence, the first work on the third disc here, formed the short first half of that concert; Woodward played the Sonata as the second half, using his massively annotated and colour-coded copy of the score to guide him, turning his own pages. Mind-blowing again - we applauded to the roof because it was amazing. Woodward sat down again at the keyboard ... his encore was to repeat the entire piece, all fifty minutes of it.
I relate this to give you an idea just how remarkable this music is. You'll be brave to claim you can get the hang of the language at all easily - I certainly found it challenging, but I was young then !
The three CD's here present the music in a strange order. The spiky Concerto, which occupied Barraqué on and off for six years in the 1960's, opens the batting - best not to play this one first if you are new to the composer, for it is not his most user-friendly product, but Ernesto Molinari (whose marvellous efforts on a Grisey disc I was applauding in an Amazon review the other day) makes a prodigious attempt to reveal a warm aspect in this music. Next up are the three great writhing chunks of the unfinished torso of Barraqué's grand vision of setting Broch's Death of Virgil to music. Goodness only knows how the voices here learn their parts and pick their notes - it is awe-inspiring just to listen to them creating their sounds. To be fair to the real world I should mention that you could take large portions of the text out of context and submit them to Pseud's Corner, but sometimes true masterpieces are thus because they have lost contact with the normal world. The handsomely produced booklet that supports the set here has the honesty to admit defeat when it comes to trying to offer any kind of translation of the text for "... au dela du hasard ..." - the editor supplies an apologetic note with which I have some sympathy. This is music of swirling mists of consciousness. I don't find I get much out of it unless I wrap myself away and give it 100% attention. If I ever get the time I will read the Broch because I feel sure I can't really grasp the depth of Barraqué's vision here without a much better understanding of the underlying book - any reader who can point me to a copy would be much appreciated (nickgoulder@yahoo.co.uk). The second CD closes with Chant après Chant (1966), the last of the three Broch works.
Finally we come to the beginning, with the third disc giving us Barraqué's two earliest works, Séquence and the Sonata. Rosemary Hardy is in fine voice for the former; its Nietzschean texts are more readily accessible than the Broch and the closing Ariadne's Lament is particularly fine. I'd like to be more glowing about Stefan Litwin's performance of the Sonata - it's hard to complain when so much is so good but perhaps what you need is several versions of this, one of the last great milestones in the history of the Piano Sonata. What more can you do with those eighty eight keys, one wonders.
I'm left a bit wistful that this startlingly original genius could not have been better nurtured and appreciated. As the Greeks knew, those whom the Gods love, die young.

Barraque only started anything to do with music at the age of 15, after hearing Schuberts Unfinished. He spent his life wanting to create "something similar" to that feeling he got when he heard it.
Overshadowed by his contempories (Boulez among others), Barraque, because he started so late on in life, did not get school qualifications; he was not interested. After sitting in with Langlais, he sat at the back of Messiaens classes at the Paris Conservatiore. Having never been enrolled because of his lack of grades - how he managed this arrangment is not clear.

Having withdrawn all of his works before the Sonata (and effectively the Sequence and even the Etude), little is known of the work that came before Messiaen. However, an early piano sonata in D minor was found. Showing the obvious change in his work. (Walking into the Conservatiore doors still writing in D minor with the knowledge that Boulez ( an already successful classmate to be) would be there....? I dont think so.)

Barraque remains an obscure character. His complete dedictaion to music, and to that of his sense of quest slowed him down and broke him down. In one of a few silences, Barraque and Foucalt(brief friend - philosopher) spent much time together. The outcome being that through the ongoing project of The Death of Virgil (Broch) the only way he'd be happy to say it was complete - would be through the imcompleteness of his own death into the music. Heavy yes, successful... i think so.

He spent a life time on a quest for beauty, truth and meaning. And in my opinion - reached that level of beauty.

The CPO box set is an outstanding collection, and a must have for anyone whether they know of Barraque or not. Because this is the best way to find him out!!
The performers handle the music very delicately - jsut how one should. Every performer impressed me, including Litwin, who has been critised for his lack of drive and colour. I would care to disagree - and the first time I heard it was Pi-Hsien Chen, playing. The performers differ in many things. But the music is the same.

I recommend this recording to ANY one interested in new, special music. Or even those who just have a strong love of new, contempory music.
Among this I would recommend listeners to look up on and find out about Paul Keenan and Bill Hopkins who have very the same effect as this music. Also there is notably a link from Barraque.
Hopkins ws Barraques only pupil, Keenan was Hopkins' only pupil.

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