Lot n° 304
Estimation :
4000 - 5000
EUR
Maurice OHANA (1913-1992). Autograph music... - Lot 304 - Ader
Maurice OHANA (1913-1992). Autograph music manuscript signed, Harpsichord figures, 1968; [3]-65 leaves 37.5 x 28 cm.
Orchestral score of this suite for harpsichord and orchestra, premiered on June 8, 1969 in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland), as part of the Diorama Festival, by Elisabeth Chojnacka (to whom the work is dedicated) and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, conducted by Jean-Claude Casadesus. [CCP65, p. 357-360*]
The orchestra includes flute, oboe, clarinet and bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, 3 percussionists, harp, and strings. Duration about 19 minutes.
The work is in five parts: I Counterpoints. Dechant. Choral ; II Deflagrations. Passacaglia. Chaos of chords ; III Stars. Clouds; IV Columns. Volutes ; V Cadence. Echoes. Rumours.
"The word Numbers is to be taken here in its sense of secret writing, of a sign to be "deciphered" in order to grasp its hidden meaning. In the same way that sound reality goes beyond the sign that represents it on paper, the profound meaning of this work goes beyond the immediate meaning of the titles that appear at the beginning of each of the five parts that make up the book. The titles refer to writing procedures (counterpoint-demand-cadence), to musical genres (chorale, passacaglia), but above all to sound visions suggested by the contemplation of nature (deflagrations, chaos of chords, stars, clouds, columns, volutes, echoes). The concrete, identifiable starting points are also only signs of a reality hidden behind appearances that the music tries to flush out" (Christine Prost).
The manuscript is carefully written in Indian ink on tracing paper, generally with 24 lines; it bears numerous corrections by scratching. The title is calligraphied, with Ohana's monogram signature and the date 1968. Two introductory pages give the list of instruments, notes for the performance, the dedication, the arrangement of the music stands, and the mention "Score revised and corrected by the author (1978)" (hence the scratches). The manuscript is dated at the end "20 x 68", and signed and dated in the margin "Maurice Ohana Paris 1967 - x 1968".
Discography: Élisabeth Chojnacka, Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, conducted by Stanislas Skrowaczewski (Erato 1984).
Copies of the harpsichord part and parts of the orchestral material on tracing paper are attached.
* We refer to the catalogue of Ohana's work provided by Édith Canat de Chizy and François Porcile, Maurice Ohana (Fayard, 2005), with its remarkable comments.
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