Hymne au soleil

From this poem of exalted Romanticism rooted in antiquity, Lili Boulanger first brings to the fore “bénissons la puissance” (let us bless the power), “célébrons son retour” (let us celebrate his return), “il se lève, il s’élance” (he rises, he soars), and “un hymne d’amour” (a hymn of love), the chorus, in homophonic major triads, projecting these words upward with a triumphant sonority. The chorus is supported by a massive piano part in repeated quarter notes, conceived as the sketch of an orchestral score of majestic sound. Then, at a slower tempo, one senses the ring of brass, like an echo of ancient pantheistic festivals. The end of the first stanza, “Sept coursiers…” (Seven steeds…), is set in imitation, the piano evocatively introducing a sturdy dotted-rhythm figure that mimics the irrepressible gallop of the horses and propels the chorus toward a new, dazzling climax. The second stanza changes character: its bucolic imagery invites more fluid, more songful writing, with the iridescent arpeggios Lili Boulanger loved, as the voices gradually fade. The return of the first stanza is harmonically renewed and ends forcefully after a vigorous crescendo. Despite the academic straitjacket, Lili Boulanger asserts herself through the vigor of her harmonic progressions and displays a fine energy, scarcely perceptible in her earlier works, that heralds the Psaumes.

© Ricordi 1918
© Schirmer 1981

The piano part, often laid out on three staves, is close to a keyboard reduction of an orchestral score. Of that score, however, only a sketch in Lili Boulanger’s hand exists. The orchestration was completed in 2004 by the German composer Oliver Korte.

© Anthony Girard