Reflections on Notations:Perhaps th

Reflections on Notations:Perhaps the easiest way for a new listener to approach Boulez’ masterpiece is the way I tried to fully appreciate Shakespeares A Midsummer Night’s Dream – first reading it (with a dictionary!) and then seeing it on stage. Boulez’ own recording, with or without headphones, is illuminating but the live concert experience with an enormous symphonic ensemble alternating dynamics, both pulsating and transparent, is absolutely the best way to learn to appreciate this score.The original piano solo ‘Notations’, with elegant, even poignant references to Schönberg (op. 19) and Stravinsky (Sacre), can be a useful introduction to the more complex and developed orchestral work. The orchestral score offers a third dimension of depths and layers to the vertical and horizontal structures of the original; one listens from within.