Challenging Historiographic Assumptions: Opening Up Serialism with Pierre Boulez's Don

Abstract

This article combines historiographic reflections on the open-work concept in serial music with a new philology of Pierre Boulez's Don, the opening piece of Pli selon pli. I begin by presenting challenges in defining the open-work concept. I also deconstruct the dual use of the term ‘serialism’ to define a set of compositional techniques and a musical style. This leads me to a reconsideration of the similarities between the changing compositional strategies of Boulez and John Cage (and their influence on others) during a time of formal and stylistic experimentation in the 1950s. Finally, I segue to Boulez's compositional plans for Don. In doing so, I provide a concrete example of how the techniques of serialism often belie the aesthetic and extramusical connotations at play in works that are serial in style.