CLAUDE VIVIER (ARR. SAMUEL Z. SOLOMON): “Pulau Dewata” (1977)
In 1977, Canadian composer Claude Vivier undertook a long journey to Asia and the Middle East. This trip had a significant influence on his writing. The great variety of musical influences he received had the effect—paradoxically—of purifying his own musical expression. Melody gradually occupies a foremost position in his works and his concept of music as being an integral part of daily life is confirmed. He was writing a piece prophetically titled “Do you believe in the immortality of the soul,” when he died in Paris on March 7, 1983. He left some 40 works characterized by one of the most personal and expressive styles in the evolution of Canadian music.
Composed in 1977, “Pulau Dewata” is probably one of the most performed works of Canadian chamber music. What Vivier wrote was to be a work for the McGill Percussion Ensemble (Montreal); what he omitted was any indication of instrumentation. Writing for percussion offers a large world of possibilities, but rather than limit these by making specific choices, he left it open to interpretation. The written form of the work is simple. For the most part it consists of a single line, harmonized with no more than four voices; occasionally, a second line appears in counterpoint. The material is a succession of nine melodies, which owe their inspiration to Vivier's trip to Bali and Thailand (pulau dewata means “beautiful isle”), and owe their creation to his unique voice.
—Henry Kucharzyk
ABOUT COMPOSER CLAUDE VIVIER
The music of Claude Vivier (1948–1983) is a reflection of his personal life. Although a student of Stockhausen, Vivier ignored the avant-garde dictum against the expression of individuality through music. Both directly and indirectly, the themes of his compositions were inspired by his unknown family origins, his search for his mother, his religious vocation, his homosexuality, and even his premature and violent death. The 49 works composed during his brief career comprise the impressive legacy of an individual as passionate about life as he was about music.
Born in Montreal of unknown parents, Vivier was adopted at the age of three. He discovered music at the seminary he entered at 16, from which he was expelled two years later for "immature behavior." For a period of four years, he studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal—composition with Gilles Tremblay and piano with Irving Heller. Of the works from this period, “Prolifération,” written in an elaborated post-serialist language, has known the most success.
In 1971, as recipient of a Canada Arts Council award, Vivier left to study in Europe. The first year was spent at the Institute of Sonology (Utrecht, the Netherlands), where he took classes in electroacoustic composition with Gottfried Michael Koenig. Following that, in Cologne, he studied with Hans Ulrich Humpert and Karlheinz Stockhausen. With regard to compositional technique (quantification of parameters, permutative structures, ring modulations), Vivier was influenced considerably by the latter, although he nonetheless developed a highly personalized language. As such, “Chants,” composed during this period, represents for him "the first moment of my existence as a composer."
Back in Canada, his reputation as a composer began to take hold. He taught at the University of Ottawa and was granted several commissions, among others, by the Canadian Music Awards (seven short, idiomatic pieces), the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (“Liebesgedichte”), and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (“Siddhartha”). In the fall of 1976, Vivier undertook a long trip through Asia. It was during his stay on the island of Bali that his ideas concerning the role of the artist in society were solidified. This initiated a new period in the stylistic evolution of his music, a period characterized by affirmation and certainty. He said upon his return: "I realize that this journey was, above all, one of self-discovery.”
