Furious Craftsmanship

With the red clot at the rim of the nail

And the corpse in the basket

And plowing horses in harness

I dream with my head at the point of my Peruvian knife

In the nine movements of Le Marteau, Boulez presents three poems through the voice (Bethany Beardslee) and comments on them instrumentally. In each of the nine movements, Boulez uses a different ensemble chosen from the voice, alto flute (Harvey Sollberger), viola (Jacob Glick), guitar (Stanley Silverman), vibraphone (Paul Price), xylophone (Raymond Desroches), and percussion (Max Neuhaus). The texture of the sound is always clear, sometimes shimmering, sometimes punctiform, and always changing. With the flexibility of tempi and timbre goes an obvious fixity of notes and rhythmic patterns; certain intervals and rhythmic groupings recur constantly. And with all this planning, with all this studied freedom, the work still justifies a non-rational evaluation: it is dramatic, and worth hearing.

Producing Friday's concert must have required substantial labors of both Mr. Boulez and the Department of Music. By the end of the evening, the audience in Sanders appeared grateful. The Department should present more such concerts of new music, by Mr. Boulez and others, with artists of equal caliber. Musical education proceeds best through the ear.