【古殿唱片音樂故事】她只活了24歲，卻打碎了法國音樂界一百一十年的慣例：莉莉布蘭潔(Lili Boulanger,1893–1918)的創作
古殿殿主
法國的羅馬大獎（Prix de Rome），是這個國家給年輕作曲家最高的肯定。得獎者可以前往義大利住上一年，衣食無虞，什麼都不必做，就是專心創作。白遼士得過，德布西得過，佛瑞得過——那是一個時代最純粹的夢想。
自1803年這個競賽設立以來，得獎名單上從來沒有過一個女性的名字。一百一十年。
然後，1913年，一個19歲的女孩走進了考場。
她的名字是莉莉布蘭潔(Lili Boulanger,1893–1918)。在四週的隔離時間裡——規定不許使用任何樂器——她憑著記憶和想像力，寫下了一首長達30分鐘的清唱劇《浮士德與海倫》，為完整管弦樂隊、合唱團與三位獨唱者譜寫。投票結果出來的時候，36位評委中有31位把最高票投給了她。
她成為歷史上第一個贏得羅馬大獎的女性。
但這不是這個故事最讓人心碎的部分。
那一年，她的身體已經在倒計時了
莉莉布蘭潔在1895年，年僅兩歲時感染了支氣管肺炎，從那天起她的身體從未真正恢復。她一生與病魔共存，在臥病和創作之間反覆切換。她知道自己可能沒有太多時間，所以她以一種跟老天搶時間的速度在工作。
她的最後一部作品《虔誠的耶穌》（Pie Jesu），是她口述給姐姐記錄下來的——因為她已經虛弱到無法提筆書寫。
1918年3月15日，莉莉布蘭潔去世，年僅24歲。
距離她贏得羅馬大獎，只有短短五年。
但這個故事還有另一個奇怪的章節：她死後六十年，這兩首作品才第一次被完整錄音
《浮士德與海倫》——那首讓評委集體折服的得獎之作，那首被法國媒體評為「多年來最優秀的清唱劇之一」的作品——在她去世之後，沉默了將近六十年，沒有任何商業錄音問世。
直到1977年，在蒙地卡羅，指揮家伊果·馬克維奇(Igor Markevitch,1912–1983)率領蒙地卡羅國家歌劇院管弦樂團與合唱團，第一次把這首作品完整地刻進磁帶。連同另一首《一位士兵的葬禮》，這是這兩部作品的世界首次錄音。
為什麼是馬克維奇？
馬克維奇幼年時從俄國基輔移居巴黎，在那裡，他的音樂才華被阿爾弗雷德·科爾托（Alfred Cortot,1877-1962）發現。科爾托把他帶進巴黎正規音樂教育的圈子，他師從了兩位老師學習作曲與和聲：其中一位，正是莉莉布蘭潔的姐姐——娜迪亞·布蘭潔(Nadia Boulanger,1887–1979)。
馬克維奇是娜迪亞·布蘭潔的學生。他錄製的，是娜迪亞·布蘭潔那位英年早逝的妹妹的音樂。
那是一種穿越時空的傳承——一個姐姐，通過她教過的學生，替妹妹還了六十年的債。
一個體制問題，在1913年
你可能想問：為什麼1913年之前，這麼多年都沒有女性得獎？
這不是因為沒有有才華的女性作曲家。娜迪亞·布蘭潔本人曾四度報名，三度進入決賽，最終以次獎作收——評委在投票時，始終無法讓自己把最高票投給一個女人。直到娜迪亞·布蘭潔36歲，她放棄了作曲，餘生全力投入教學。
莉莉布蘭潔在1912年第一次報名，因病中途撤退。1913年再次報名——她成功了，比所有男性競爭者年輕六歲，在幾乎沒有鋼琴輔助的情況下，在孤立的房間裡憑空寫下了這首作品。
音樂誌《Musica》當時這樣報道：
「莉莉布蘭潔以主宰性的優勢、速度和從容，打敗了所有男性競爭者，讓其他候選人深感震撼。」
一百年的慣例，被一個19歲的病弱女孩在四週內打破了。
但最觸動我的，不是她的勝利，而是她的時間。
她知道自己的時間有限。所以她在有限的時間裡，把所有的重量都壓進了每一個音符。《浮士德與海倫》裡那種燃燒感，那種不肯浪費任何一個瞬間的密度，現在我們知道，是有原因的。
我手邊這張Varèse Sarabande編號：VC 81095的唱片，是1979年美國版，紅色標籤，馬克維奇與蒙地卡羅國家歌劇院管弦樂團的世界首錄。封底說明，這個版本特別從歐洲版的Dolby限制中解放出來，使用母帶進行更完整的製作，高頻得以恢復——聲音更接近1977年蒙地卡羅錄音現場的原貌。
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【Ancient Palace Music Stories】She Lived for Only 24 Years, Yet Shattered 110 Years of French Musical Tradition: The Creation of Lili Boulanger
The Prix de Rome is the highest honor France can bestow upon a young composer. The winner gets to live in Italy for a year with all expenses covered. You don't have to do anything but focus entirely on your creation. Berlioz won it, Debussy won it, Fauré won it—it was the purest dream of an era.
Since the competition was established in 1803, the list of winners had never contained a single woman's name. Not for 110 years.
Then, in 1913, a 19-year-old girl walked into the examination room. Her name was Lili Boulanger (1893–1918).
During her four weeks of isolation—where rules strictly forbade the use of any musical instrument—she relied solely on her memory and imagination. In that quiet room, she composed a massive 30-minute cantata, Faust et Hélène, scored for a full orchestra, chorus, and three soloists.
When the votes came in, 31 out of 36 judges cast their highest ballot for her. She became the first woman in history to win the Prix de Rome.
But that isn't the most heartbreaking part of the story. That year, her physical body was already on a countdown.
Lili contracted bronchial pneumonia in 1895 when she was just two years old. From that day on, her health never truly recovered. She lived her entire life alongside illness, constantly switching between being bedridden and composing. She knew she might not have much time, so she worked at a pace that felt like she was stealing time from God.
Her final work, Pie Jesu, had to be dictated to her older sister—because she was already too weak to even hold a pen.
On March 15, 1918, Lili Boulanger passed away at the tender age of 24. It was only five short years after she won the Prix de Rome.
A 60-Year Silence, Redeemed by a Sister’s Student
But this story has another strange chapter: it took sixty years after her death for these works to receive their very first complete recording.
Faust et Hélène—the prize-winning masterpiece that stunned the judges, the piece praised by French media as "one of the finest cantatas in years"—fell completely silent after her death. Not a single commercial recording existed.
Why? It traces back to the deep-seated prejudices within the institutional system. Lili’s older sister, Nadia Boulanger, had entered the competition four times and reached the finals thrice. Yet, back then, the judges simply couldn’t bring themselves to give the top prize to a woman. By the age of 36, Nadia gave up composing completely, dedicating the rest of her life to teaching.
Women’s genius was suppressed by the era, but life always finds its way.
It wasn't until 1977, in Monte Carlo, that conductor Igor Markevitch led the Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo to engrave this piece onto magnetic tape for the first time.
Why Markevitch? Because he was none other than the prized student of Nadia Boulanger.
This is a beautiful, timeless lineage. A sister, through the student she raised, finally paid back the 60-year debt of silence that the world owed to her late, brilliant little sister.
Shut Down Your Mind, Hear the Burning Density of Time
The Fr
ench music journal Musica reported at the time: "Lili Boulanger defeated all her male competitors with dominant superiority, speed, and ease, leaving the other candidates deeply shocked."
Yet, every time I listen to this record, what touches me most isn't her victory, but her sense of "time."
She knew her days were numbered. Therefore, she pressed the entire weight of her existence into every single note. The burning sensation in Faust et Hélène, that breathtaking density that refuses to waste even a fraction of a second—now we know exactly where it came from.
The copy I hold in my hands is a 1979 US pressing (Varèse Sarabande, VC 81095) of Markevitch’s world-premiere recording. The liner notes mention that this version was specially released from the Dolby limitations of the European release. Mastered directly from the original tapes, the high frequencies are fully restored, bringing the sound incredibly close to the raw reality of that 1977 Monte Carlo recording venue.
When the needle drops, it doesn't offer you a clean, sterile, modern audio effect. Instead, it captures the living, breathing air of the space. You can hear the tragic grandeur in the choir’s voices. It is the sound of Lili Boulanger using her last, faint breaths to leave an unforgettable cry to the universe.
After a long day at work, give yourself 30 minutes. Turn off your phone, shut down the calculations in your brain. Open your ears and your body.
Through this original sound, you will hear how a 19-year-old girl, trapped in the most fragile physical body, lived out the freest and most powerful state of human existence.