Brilliant Classics

Lili & Nadia Boulanger: Piano Music

Lili & Nadia Boulanger: Piano Music
Composer Lili Boulanger, Nadia Boulanger
Artist Duco Burgers piano
Faelix Collective
Anthony Scheffer conductor
Format 1 CD
Cat. number PCL10325
EAN code 5029365103251
Release September 2025

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About this release

A unique collection of both piano solo and concertante pieces by the Boulanger sisters, inspiringly brought to life by the Dutch pianist Duco Burgers.
Despite her tragically early demise from tuberculosis in 1918, aged just 25, Lili Boulanger has become almost a household name in classical music during the last generation, through her slender but exquisitely crafted works for choral, orchestral and chamber forces above all, exemplified by her Psalm settings and her tone-poems such as D’un soir triste.
Her music for solo piano is less well known, but still distinctive, as Duco Burgers persuasively demonstrates in these new recordings of the Prelude in D, the Trois Morceaux and the Theme and Variations. The Prelude is a work of her prodigious teenage years, while the Trois Morceaux belong to the happiest period in her short life, while she was staying at the Villa Medici in Rome, having won the prestigious Prix de Rome.
The Fantaisie affords a fascinating window on to the aesthetic ambitions of the 25-year-old Nadia Boulanger as a creator in her own right, years before she became the renowned facilitator of others’ creativity as a teacher of composition, theory and technique. The model of Franck’s Symphonic Variations may be evident in the form and scale of the 20-minute work, dating from 1912, but Nadia presents her own, high contrasts of tragic nobility and free-flowing fantasy within the piece. Darker still is Vers une vie nouvelle, a solo piece from 1918, brooding and powerful out of all proportion to its brevity.
In his booklet essay, Duco Burgers weaves together commentary on the life and work of the sisters, entwined but distinct threads of energy, creativity and tragedy shaped by the world around them.

Track list

Disk 1

  1. Lili Boulanger: Prélude en ré
  2. Lili Boulanger: 3 Morceaux pour piano: I. D'un vieux jardin
  3. Lili Boulanger: 3 Morceaux pour piano: II. D'un jardin clair
  4. Lili Boulanger: 3 Morceaux pour piano: III. Cortège
  5. Lili Boulanger: Thème et variations
  6. Nadia Boulanger: Morceau de concours: I. Hommes
  7. Nadia Boulanger: Morceau de concours: II. Femmes
  8. Nadia Boulanger: 3 Petites pièces pour piano: [I]
  9. Nadia Boulanger: 3 Petites pièces pour piano: [II]
  10. Nadia Boulanger: 3 Petites pièces pour piano: [III]
  11. Nadia Boulanger: Vers la vie nouvelle
  12. Lili Boulanger: Prélude en si
  13. Nadia Boulanger: Fantaisie variée pour piano et orchestre