Répons
Répons is a composition by French composer Pierre Boulez for a large chamber orchestra with six percussion soloists and live electronics. The six soloists play harp, cimbalom, vibraphone, glockenspiel/xylophone, and two pianos. It was premiered on 18 October 1981 at the Donaueschingen Festival. The composer expanded it until its completion in 1985. The work is dedicated to Alfred Schlee "on his 80th birthday".
Répons was the first significant work to come out of Boulez's endeavors at IRCAM, an institute in Paris devoted to making technological advances in electronic music. It has been celebrated for its integration of the electronic and the acoustic. Its title, Répons, reflects the fact that the composition is constructed on various types of responses: the acoustic sounds and electronic responses to them as well as the medieval idea of responsorial mirroring between players and speakers in different parts of the concert hall.[1] Tom Service of The Guardian has called it "Boulez’s most ambitious masterpiece of electronic and acoustic fusion".[2]
Recordings[edit]
In 1996 Boulez conducted the Ensemble InterContemporain in a Deutsche Grammophon recording of this piece. Released in 1998, it won a Grammy in 2000 for best classical contemporary composition.[18] Tommasini called it "an exhilarating performance".[19]