Vieille prière bouddhique

1. 0:00
   Opening chant on G

   Altos and basses begin together and return repeatedly to G. The accompaniment centres on C, and the lowered second, D♭, gives the chant its Phrygian sound. Boulanger marks the passage grave, simple (solemn and simple).

2. 0:35
   French text by Suzanne Karpelès, 1914

   Suzanne Karpelès gave Boulanger the French text in 1914. The prayer names every breathing creature, women and men, gods and humans, east and west, north and south. It asks that each overcome suffering and move freely along its own path.

3. 1:35
   The Mettā Sutta

   The words of the prayer come from Buddhist scripture, where they are known as the Mettā Sutta. Boulanger’s score subtitles them Prière quotidienne pour tout l’Univers (a daily prayer for the whole universe).

4. 2:28
   Flute interlude from bar 36

   The choir’s last notes are held while a solo flute takes up its phrases. Boulanger marked the passage laisser la Flûte chanter librement. The flute decorates the chant with grace notes and quick runs above harps, pizzicato violas and divided violins playing tremolo.

5. 3:18
   Tenor solo, third stanza

   Michel Sénéchal sings the third stanza, marked calme et clair. Beneath his line the divided strings alternate bowed and plucked notes. The prayer names women, men and fallen beings, and the most dissonant chords accompany the words about those who have fallen.

6. 4:45
   Composition, Rome and Arcachon, 1914–⁠1917

   Boulanger began the score in Rome in 1914 and finished it at Arcachon, on the Atlantic coast, in 1917. Both places appear on the last page. She never heard the finished work in concert; Henri Büsser conducted its première on 9 June 1921.

7. 5:30
   Humming and full choir

   Closed-mouth humming leads to a long held pause. The full choir and strings then sing and play the chant in octaves. The strings remove their mutes, and the voices are marked clamant, crying out, as the prayer turns to east, west, north and south.

8. 6:05
   Georges Migot on the work, 1921

   Writing on 1 August 1921, Georges Migot found enough exotic colour in the piece to leave Western sensibility undisturbed. He compared its architecture to the Temple of Angkor for its simplicity and power.

9. 6:45
   Coda from bar 98

   The words end, and the choir continues on open vowels. Repeated notes accelerate through the orchestra, and the harps and winds play descending figures. At Large the tempo broadens into a held chord, which grows to fortississimo.

Joins

1. 2:28
   Solo flute enters at a Tempo

   The choir holds its last syllable while the bass moves to a new chord. At a Tempo (bar 36) the solo flute enters above repeated harp notes, pizzicato violas and divided violins playing tremolo sur la touche. The flute takes the chant’s short phrases and adds grace notes and runs, and the harmony moves away from the opening C.

2. 3:18
   Tenor entry at figure 4

   A Cédez slows the flute’s run before figure 4. At a Tempo the tenor enters, calme et clair. The violins and violas divide between bowed and plucked notes. Cellos and basses sustain the slower-moving bass line, and bass clarinet and bassoons hold their chords.

3. 5:30
   Long fermata before the ff entry

   The voices hum over held wind chords and a descending harp run. A fermata marked long follows. The choir then enters in octaves, ff clamant, with the strings, which have removed their mutes. Low winds, trombones and basses double the next sustained chord.

4. 6:45
   From the text to the wordless coda

   The choir moves from its final syllable to an open Ah. Winds repeat accented notes above a descending bass, and the orchestra accelerates at Accel. A downward run in harps and winds leads to Large. The choir holds its chord while brass, strings and percussion make a crescendo around it.