Composer

:

Lili Boulanger

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Compose Date

:

1916

Average_duration

:

5:45

Dans l'immense tristesse is a composition by Lili Boulanger, a French composer who lived from 1893 to 1918. She was the younger sister of the famous composer Nadia Boulanger. Dans l'immense tristesse was composed in 1915, during the First World War, and was premiered in Paris in 1917. The composition is a setting of a poem by the French poet Charles van Lerberghe. The poem describes a person who is overwhelmed by a sense of sadness and despair, and who longs for death as a release from their suffering. The music reflects the mood of the poem, with its slow, mournful melodies and dark harmonies. Dans l'immense tristesse is a single-movement work, but it is divided into several sections that reflect the different moods of the poem. The opening section is marked "Très lent" (very slow) and features a mournful melody played by the strings. This is followed by a section marked "Plus lent" (slower), which features a solo violin playing a haunting melody over a bed of dark harmonies. The middle section of the work is marked "Très lent et doux" (very slow and sweet) and features a solo voice singing the words of the poem. The melody is simple and plaintive, with the voice rising and falling in a gentle, mournful arc. The final section of the work is marked "Très lent et soutenu" (very slow and sustained) and features a return to the opening melody, played by the strings. The music gradually builds in intensity, with the addition of brass and percussion, until it reaches a climax of overwhelming sadness and despair. Overall, Dans l'immense tristesse is a powerful and moving work that reflects the mood of its time. It is a testament to the talent of Lili Boulanger, who died at the young age of 24, but who left behind a legacy of beautiful and haunting music.

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