Slow Listening #5

Lili Boulanger, 'D’un soir triste' and 'D’un matin de printemps' (1917-1918)

These are two companion pieces that twenty-four-year-old Lili Boulanger composed in the final months of her life, before her untimely death from internal tuberculosis. They are completely different in character. D’un matin de printemps, meaning ‘Of a morning in spring’, is full of energy, marked ‘Quite lively, light, cheerful.’ But D’un soir triste (‘Of a sad evening’) sounds like Boulanger’s musical vision of a nightmare.

Both pieces, though, have a cinematic feel, and share an inventive orchestration that creates sudden, evocative changes in timbre. Listen out for the solos in the central sections of each piece; the viola in D’un soir triste, violin and cello in D’un matin de printemps. They provide a really important contrast to the surrounding material, giving us an individual, personal voice in the middle of the orchestral tumult.

These were written when Boulanger herself was very sick, and also during World War I, which affected the composer profoundly. Perhaps we can hear in these pieces Boulanger’s responses to war and to her illness — both desolation and desire to escape.

Listening Prompts

• What is it about these pieces that make them both sound so sinister, even in their lighter moments?

• When have you been most afraid? How do you feel about that moment now?

Recommended Recording

Yan Pascal Tortelier cond. BBC Philharmonic: Lili Boulanger

I love this recording. It gets the contrast between the two works perfectly. And as a bonus, if you love these pieces and want to explore more, this recording also has her brilliant Faust et Hélène and Psalm 130.

If you’re UK-based and want more Boulanger, then her Vieille prière bouddhique is at the BBC Proms on 23 July 2026. Tickets and info here.