Started in Rome in 1914 and completed in Arcachon in 1917, Vieille pri猫re bouddhique sets a French translation of an old Buddhist prayer. Lili Boulanger鈥檚 friend Suzanne Karpel猫s, who was reading Oriental Studies at the Sorbonne, introduced the composer to the text and was also responsible for the translation from Pali, the Buddhist sacred language. Its subtitle 鈥楶ri猫re quotidienne pour tout l鈥檜nivers鈥� (Daily prayer for the whole universe) is an apt introduction to the flavour of the work. The theme of universal fellowship is conveyed through choral writing that is simple, direct and often in octaves, with everyone singing the same line. Modal touches, for instance in the main melody, move the musical language away from something specifically Western classical in style to something less time- and place-bound.
The most obviously 鈥榚xotic鈥� element of Vieille pri猫re bouddhique is the long flute solo that is both an elaboration of previously heard choral material and an evocation of an imagined alien culture in its incantatory style and rhythmic flexibility. The work was premiered on 9 June 1921 under the misleading title 鈥楶ri猫re hindoue鈥� at Paris鈥檚 Salle Pleyel, conducted by Henri Busser; the performers on this occasion included Lili鈥檚 sister Nadia Boulanger at the piano.
Lili Boulanger loved word games, ciphers and musical puns, and at the start of her 1912 diary she noted fragments of a private language, some of which is based on musical notes. One cipher represents the name 鈥楲ili鈥�: do鈥搒ol鈥揹o鈥搒ol (C鈥揋鈥揅鈥揋), a set of four notes which is prominent in Vieille pri猫re bouddhique. This suggests that this choral piece is not only a universal prayer, but also an intensely personal work.
Programme note 漏 Caroline Potter