What did Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, David Diamond, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, Serge Tcherepnin, and Astor Piazzolla have in common? All first-hand benefactors of the wisdom of Nadia Boulanger.

In honour of International Women's Day (yesterday), we turn to a documentary about one of the most prolific pedagogs in Western Music. Her ears were remarkable and her instincts true. Admitting she alone couldn't truly define what made a work exceptional, perhaps it was the openness of her mind that allowed her students to find the brilliance in their own voices.

"When you accept a new pupil, the first thing is to try to understand what natural gift, what intuitive talent he has. Each individual poses a particular problem."

She went on:

"I can't provide anyone with inventiveness, nor can I take it away; I can simply provide the liberty to read, to listen, to see, to understand."

Her student, Aaron Copland, had this to say about her:

"Nadia Boulanger knew everything there was to know about music; she knew the oldest and the latest music, pre-Bach and post-Stravinsky. All technical know-how was at her fingertips: harmonic transposition, the figured bass, score reading, organ registration, instrumental techniques, structural analyses, the school fugue and the free fugue, the Greek modes and Gregorian chant."

Demanding, yet diplomatic; Nadia Boulanger's legacy still lives on.  Dive into her life with French violinist/writer/filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon's 1977 documentary Mademoiselle. Also, be sure to check out more of Monsaingeon's music documentaries focused on other famous 20th century musicians!

 

 

Stay tuned for a new episode of Mid-week Musicology every Wednesday on Classic107.com!