Boulez: Memoriale, Derive 1, Derive 2

Pierre Boulez: Mémoriale & Dérive 1 & 2 Boulez: Mémoriale for Solo Flute And 8 Instruments (2 Horns, 3 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello) Fabrice Jünger (solo flute) Dérive I for 6 Instruments (flute, Clarinet, Vibraphone, Piano, Violin, Cello) Dérive II for 11 Instruments (oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Vibraphone, Marimba, Piano, Harp, Violin Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, Daniel Kawka

This new release is dedicated to works by one of the legendary figures in the world of contemporary music, the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez. The disc includes three pieces for small orchestral groups, Memoriale, Derive 1, and the latest version of Derive 2 which is here receiving its world premiere recording. All three of the pieces featured on this new CD belong to the later output of their composer Pierre Boulez and date from after the opening of IRCAM in 1976. Apart from Mémoriale, which exists in two versions, they call for modest chamber forces without electronic extensions and are conceived as continuations of works in progress. All three also work with compositional techniques derived from canon and heterophony and each of them is dedicated to people close to the composer. The Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain is an instrumental ensemble with a nucleus of nineteen musicians which can expand to orchestral dimensions if necessary. It was founded in 1992 by its current music director Daniel Kawka and concentrates its activities on the music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Daniel Kawka is the music director of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and now established as one of the foremost interpreters of the music of the twentieth and twentyfirst century. He has conducted more than 400 contemporary works, many of which have been world premieres.