- Boulanger composed this nocturne for flute (or violin) and piano (or orchestra) in 1911. She originally entitled it simply Pièce courte (Short Piece).1 Boulanger was 18 years old when she composed this work.
- Boulanger composed this work over the course of just two days (her manuscript says it was “Composed September 24th and 25th, 1911.”) At the time, she was in the midst of composition studies with the goal of entering the Prix de Rome competition. In 1913, she would become the first woman to win the Prix de Rome for composition.2
- This work was published in 1918, paired with another work Boulanger composed for the same instrumental combination, Cortège (1914).3
- Boulanger dedicated this nocturne “à ma chère Marie-Danielle Parenteau.”4 Parenteau was also a friend of Boulanger’s sister Nadia; some of Parenteau’s letters to Nadia survive.
Sources
- Annegret Fauser and Robert Orledge. “Boulanger, (Marie-Juliette Olga) Lili.” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed June 29, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003704.
- Sylvia Typaldos, “Nocturne for violin (or flute) & piano,” AllMusic, accessed June 23, 2021, https://www.allmusic.com/composition/nocturne-for-violin-or-flute-piano-mc0002362240.
- “2 Pieces for Violin and Piano (Boulanger, Lili),” IMSLP, accessed June 23, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/2_Pieces_for_Violin_and_Piano_(Boulanger%2C_Lili).
- Ibid.
Cut IDs
15692 23637 24107