20th century
Baroque
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Holliger Heinz
Aitken, Robert
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Arrieu, Claude
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(é)cri(t) for flute alone
(é)cri(t) for flute alone
Heinz Holliger: (é)cri(t) for flute alone was written in 1988. The piece is dedicated to Aurèle Nicolet on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Nicolet was one of the most influential flutists of the 20th century and a frequent collaborator with Holliger. The piece serves as a "musical portrait" of Nicolet’s technical mastery and intellectual depth. It was premiered by Nicolet on July 20, 1988, at the Festival d'Avignon in France.
The title is a complex French pun involving the words cri (cry/shout), écrit (written), and rit (laughs). This reflects Holliger’s obsession with the "written cry": the idea of capturing a raw, primal human sound within a highly structured musical notation. Additionally, the piece represents the composer’s fascination with the intersection of language, breath, and physical struggle.
In 1987, Holliger was at the height of his "Beckettian" period, deeply influenced by the existentialist writer Samuel Beckett. Like Beckett, Holliger was exploring the limits of human expression. That year, he was working on several pieces that pushed instruments to the point of "sonic exhaustion." As a world-class oboist himself, Holliger understood the physical strain of wind playing. In (é)cri(t), he pushes the flute to its physical limits to mirror the psychological intensity of a "shout" that is simultaneously stifled. The same year, Holliger was heavily involved in phonetic music as well. He was experimenting with how the mouth's shape (phonemes) during speech could be translated into flute fingerings and embouchure adjustments.
Some musicologists often focus on the piece's extreme extended techniques. The piece requires the performer to produce multiple notes simultaneously and navigate intervals smaller than a half-step. Holliger incorporates the sound of the performer's breath (inhaling and exhaling) as a structural element, blurring the line between the musician and the instrument.
The central climax involves a high-energy "shout" through the instrument, symbolizing the "cri" of the title.
Holliger Heinz
Heinz Holliger (1939) is a Swiss oboist and composer. His work is characterized by a relentless exploration of the physical limits of instruments and a deep fascination with literature and mental states.
Born in Langenthal, Switzerland, he grew up in a culturally rich environment. His father was a doctor and an amateur musician, providing an early foundation for his dual interests in the "physicality" of the human body and the art of sound.
He began playing the recorder at age six and the piano at age ten. However, it was his transition to the oboe at age eleven that defined his career. He studied at the Bern Conservatory while still a teenager, showing equal aptitude for performance and theory.
In the late 1950s, he moved to Paris to study oboe with Pierre Pierlot and piano with Yvonne Lefébure. More significantly, he studied composition with Pierre Boulez, a central figure of the musical avant-garde, who deeply influenced Holliger's rigorous approach to structure. Holliger is credited with expanding the technical vocabulary of the oboe more than any other 20th-century performer. He pioneered the use of multiphonics, glissandi, and circular breathing.
His compositions often push other instruments, such as the flute in (é)cri(t), to similar extremes. His style is frequently linked to "linguistic music," where musical gestures mimic the phonetics of speech or the "cries" of human emotion.
A significant portion of his output is inspired by "outsider" literary figures, most notably Samuel Beckett, Friedrich Hölderlin, and Robert Walser. His opera Schneewittchen (Snow White) is a prime example of his dark, psychological aesthetic.