Bouchara

This article is about the 1981 chamber composition by Claude Vivier. For the Moroccan boxer, see Mohamed Bouchara.

Bouchara (subtitled "chanson d'amour") is a 1981 work for mixed chamber ensemble by Canadian composer Claude Vivier.[1] It was originally intended to serve as an interlude for his unfinished opera Rêves d'un Marco Polo (1983-), but was published independently of the opera after weeks of deliberation.[2] A typical performance lasts around twelve minutes.[2]

Composition

The piece was premiered on 14 February 1983, at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France.[3]

Program notes

The notes given by Vivier in the finished manuscript:

Bouchara se veut une longue chanson d'amour... le texte entier est une langue inventée, une langue d'amour, histoire se répétant éternellement.
Bouchara is meant to be a long love song... the entire text is sung in an invented language, a language of love, a story which repeats itself continually.[3]

Instrumentation

The work is written for a mixed ensemble of solo soprano, wind quintet, string quintet, and percussion battery.[3]

Woodwinds
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Horn in F
Bassoon
Percussion
Balinese gong
Chinese gong
Tam-tam
Tubular bells
Bass drum
Magnetic tape
Strings
2 Violins
Viola
Cello
Bass
Voice
Soprano

References

Citations

  1. ^ Lankenau et al. (2012), p. 50.
  2. ^ a b Gilmore (2014), p. 319.
  3. ^ a b c Lankenau et al. (2012), p. 31.

Sources

  • Braes, Ross (2003). An Investigation of the Jeux De Timbres in Claude Vivier's Orion and His Other Instrumental Works of 1979-80. University of British Columbia Press.
  • Christian, Bryan William (2015). Cardano: Chamber Opera for Three Singers, Actor, and Ensemble and "Combination-Tone Class Sets and Redefining the Role of les Couleurs in Claude Vivier's 'Bouchara'". Duke University's Thesis and Dissertation Repository.
  • Gilmore, Bob (2014). Claude Vivier: A Composer's Life. University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1-58046-841-1.
  • Lankenau, Steven; Chan, Trudy; Gewirtz, Eric (2012). Vivier Works: Claude Vivier (PDF). Boosey and Hawkes.