Nadia's very talented sister who died of TB at the age of 24. At the
height of her composing at age 16. With a large catalog of works, her
style is typical of French music at the turn of the 19th century. Her music is little known but deserves much more attention. At 19 she won the Prix de Rome and her Psalms were written during her year-long stay at the Villa Medici, in 1916. She died less than three years later, from Crohn's disease. Mostly of a Catholic religious nature, her music is modern-sounding but tonal and full of a rare beauty. Psalm 129 initially establishes the men's voices, particularly the baritones, whose upward-arching lines give the music great expressive impact. Here we discover how sophisticated Lili's sense of harmony is; chords made up of fourths and fifths predominate but the harmonic movement in this music is always sure and strong, one of its most satisfying features. The coda of this Psalm is especially beautiful, with once again, the women's voices entering for the first time but here in wordless vocalise, creating a gentle halo of sound.
Lili Boulanger (Marie-Juliette Olga Lili Boulanger, 21 August 1893–15 March 1918) was a French composer, the younger sister of the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.
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