Claude Vivier’s Prologue pour un Marco Polo:

Analysis on Materials and Form

by
Mauricio Garcia de la Torre
McGill ID 260215316

MUCO 635 Seminar in Composition

Prof. Jean Lesage
Contents

Chapter

1. Introduction
1.2 Prologue’s Poetics: Why Marco Polo?
1.3 The Text

2. Musical Analysis
2.1 Overview

3. Modal Structures

4. Melody
4.1 Overview
4.2 Prologue’s Main Melody
4.3 The Dyads
4.4 Other melodies

5. Harmonic System
5.1 Overview
5.2 Prologue’s Harmonic System

6. Formal Design
6.1 Overview
6.2 Local Structures
6.3 Overal Form

7. Musical Sings from Vivier’s Poetic

8. Conclusion

- References

1
Vivier’s Prologue pour un Marco Polo:
Analysis on Materials and Form

Abstract

This paper examines Prologue pour un Marco Polo (1981), one of Claude Vivier’s
culminating pieces, through the analysis of the sketches located at the Vivier Archive at
Montréal University. The body of notes and sketches left by the Canadian composer
before his sudden death in 1983 permits an extensive study of the Prologue’ s
compositional process. The piece includes characteristic procedures that can be found
all over Vivier’s musical language, from the usual features of his early works, to the later
developments -especially in the field of harmony- which have been related to spectral
music. This study presents in detail the overall organization of the piece in terms of
melody, harmony and form.

Introduction
The music of Claude Vivier (1948-1983) has its origins directly in his own biography.
He was born to unknown parents, adopted by a poor French-Canadian family,
educated in a Marist school for a vocation in the priesthood, just to be expelled from
the seminary for “immature behaviour”; he was openly homosexual and obsessed
with immortality. Derived from these facts, his music addresses subjects such as
childhood, the search of the mother, love (in all categories), traveling and death. It is
not the purpose of this paper to discuss Vivier’s personal life, however, it is important
to realize how these subjects are reflected in his language and specifically in the
context of his last compositional period, in pieces such as Prologue pour un Marco
Polo.

One of the most recurrent subjects in Vivier’s music is traveling. Vivier was
fascinated by eastern cultures and traveled extensively throughout his short life in
the quest for new experience. The ritual music of Bali, Japan and the Middle-East
had significant influence on his writing, re-shaping his musical expression with a
ritualistic quality. Vivier found in eastern cultures the inspiration to produce music
more related to his own spirituality; much in a similar way as Scelsi (though there is

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no evidence Vivier was familiar with Scelsi’s music). Both composers saw
themselves as vehicles of music rather than individuals aiming to make aesthetic
statements, sharing a predilection for recreating the sounds of ancient cultures,
cities or rituals with their imagination. (e.g. Scelsi’s Uaxuctum, Riti I: Funerali di
Carlo Magno and Vivier’s Shiraz, Pulau Dewata among many others).

Prologue pour un Marco Polo can be considered within this train of thought. The
piece is about traveling, about an imaginary elsewhere; it is Vivier’s reconstruction of
the imaginary sounds of Asia in Marco Polo’s time and also is his reflection on the
vulnerability of the historical figure.

Prologue’s Poetics: Why Marco Polo?

In Western civilization, the figure of Marco Polo embodies the archetypical traveler,
the adventurer capable of leaving behind homeland in search for knowledge,
wisdom, richness and even personal notoriety. The Venetian explorer gained fame
for being one of the first Westerners to travel the silk road to China (along with
Niccolo and Mafeo Polo, Marco’s father and uncle). His journeys were recorded in
the book Il Millione or The travels of Marco Polo where he describes extensively how
he got to know the Great Khan of the Mongolian Empire, Kubliai Khan, and how he
became his confident and advisor regarding Western affairs. Vivier got fascinated
not only by Polo’s biography, but also by his spirit and personal journey. ''I have the
impression that Marco Polo is above all one who has tried to say something and has
not succeeded,'' Vivier said. The composer wrote the following programmatic note
on the piece:

“A melancholic view of Marco Polo’s tragedy and above all, a meditation on a

state of being, that of the seeker who is misunderstood. “Prologue pour un
Marco Polo” is all of this. A prologue to this mysterious Marco Polo says more
about his inner life than about his voyages (…)”

The name of the piece indicates that the Prologue may be an “overture” of a never -
composed opera. Apparently, Vivier had intended to incorporate Prologue,

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Bouchara, Zipangu and Lonely Child (all written between 1980-1981) into an opera
on the life of Marco Polo: Rêves d’ un Marco Polo. Unfortunately, this investigation
never found a convincing statement on whether Vivier intended to compose an
original opera on Marco Polo’s life or if he only intended to incorporate these works
into a single piece which central subject is the Venetian explorer.

In order to present a consequent analysis (by addressing all non-musical subjects in

this section), I will comment now on the various pieces of text found in Prologue.

The text
Done by Quebecer poet Paul Chamberlain and by Vivier himself, Prologue’s text
presents a combination of French and invented language. The text in French
elaborates on Marco Polo’s personality, his conflicts, his solitude and ultimately, his
historical legacy; this is presented both from Polo’s perspective and from other
characters’ such as The Wiseman, The Magician and The Mermaid. On the other
hand, the use of invented language (another of Vivier’s trademarks) is an element
that emphasizes the ritual atmosphere suggested in the piece. In works such as
Chants (1973) and Journal (1977), Vivier’s used this feature in a similar manner in
order to support the high content of surreal atmospheres and dream-like sonorities.
In the case of Prologue, the invented language is constantly evolving from non-
sense syllables towards meaningful “key words”. Most of the times, these key words
make reference to cities, regions and historical characters of Marco Polo’s time such
as Kublai Khan (The Mongolian Emperor), Cathay (today’s northern China), Manji
(today’s southern China) and Bouchara (Uzbekistan). A clear example of this
evolving process in the text can be found at the beginning of the piece, where the
choir sings the syllables I – AN - OU which eventually evolves into the word Zipangu
(by which name Japan was known during those days).

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Musical Analysis: Prologue pour un Marco Polo

Overview
The sketches analyzed for the purposes of this paper have shown an extensive
organization at all levels of the musical discourse and specifically a thoughtful plan
for the overall temporal proportions of the piece. It is remarkable to realize how
Vivier’s trademark elements remained for the most part the same since his first
meaningful piece1 Chants (1973): the predominance of melody, the initial
harmonization by dyads which evolves into more complex vertical sonorities, the
control of local and general proportions, etc. As mentioned before, Prologue’s main
innovation appears in the field of harmony due to the development of the so-called
colors; this will be further discussed later on.

The piece is organized, as most of Vivier’s works, by the use of numerology. The
utilization of numbers allowed him to control virtually every parameter of the music;
from larger formal proportions to the smallest rhythmic cells. In Prologue, the
number six plays the role of articulator in many of the piece’s processes, the most
relevant examples of the structural use of this digit are:

1) The use of six modes that ultimately generate all the melodies of the piece.
2) The main melody that can be divided into six parts.
3) There are six main sections within the overall form (at least in Vivier’s original
planning, which projects a total duration of 21 min, the sum of the series
1,2,3,4,5,6).
4) The original plan also shows the intention of having six main tempi,
accompanied by their corresponding overall dynamic.
5) More locally, at the first section of the piece the word Zipangu is sung six
times before the beginning of the second section.

_________________________
1) This was Vivier’s own opinion.

5
Modal Structures
The core material of the piece is based on a six-mode structure. Modes 1,2,3, and 5
contain similar intervallic (mainly m2, M2 and m3) whereas Modes 4 and 6 are more
particular: the first is formed exclusively by tritones, and the latter comprises only
one note (B). In spite of being extremely different than the others, Vivier’s structural
use of these modes doesn’t give place to further speculations; all six modes are at
the core of the Prologue’s discourse by generating the melodies and the thirty-six
main chords of the piece. No transposition or melodic transformation of the original
modes is evident judging by Vivier’s sketches. Figure 1 illustrates this six-mode
structure:

Figure 1

Melody

Overview
The melodic parameter is one of Vivier’s signature elements in his language. It is
well documented that Vivier had a musical education in which Gregorian chant was
present since a young age, due to his time in the seminary. This knowledge was
solidified during Vivier’s time in Gilles Tremblay’s class, in which Gregorian Chant
was a regular subject of study. In Vivier’s music, melody is not considered
exclusively a horizontal parameter; it is also capable of determining the harmonic
material and eventually the overall form. This is achieved by, first, considering
melody as the upper voice of harmonic progressions and second, by projecting the
melody in time. Initially, Vivier presents melodic material in a germinal state and as
the piece unfolds other more complete versions of the same material will appear.
Usually, the complete melody takes certain amount of time until its presentation;

6
once the desired pitches are presented, in general after the chromatic total has been
reached, a new process (harmonic-melodic) begins.

Prologue’s Main Melody

A good example of the procedure described above is the presentation of the
Prologue’s main melody at Section 2, during the Speech of the Wiseman (Pages 3-
9, mm. 30-61). Derived from the six mode system, the main melody of the piece is
presented already harmonized with dyads. At the beginning of the process it only
comprises three pitches, Ab, C, and B, which are presented in a span of twenty-five
quarter-notes. Afterwards, a second group of pitches appears: D, E, Bb, A, C# and
G. This larger group takes thirty-eight quarter-notes to be presented. Subsequently,
the remaining four parts of the melody are presented, each taking different amount
of quarter-notes for their emergence. In total, Prologue’s main melody has twenty-
two notes (exceeding by one the structurally important number 21). Figure 2 displays
the piece’s main melody divided into six parts along with their origin in the modal
structure:

Figure 2

The Dyads
The harmonization in dyads is another typical procedure of Vivier’s music. The
dyads can have both melodic and harmonic function: They take part of the melodic
movement because, as we have seen, one of the voices (generally the upper voice)
is the actual pre-determined melody, and regarding their harmonic function, Vivier
use them as a starting point for the generation of the so-called “colors”, a technique
that uses addition of frequencies (in this case the frequencies of the dyads) to
generate chords. The main melody harmonized in dyads is shown in Figure 3:

7
 Figure 3

Other Melodies
In addition to the main melody, the piece also presents less structurally important
melodic material derived from the same modal structures. For example, the so-
called “expressive melody”, which is presented in the third section of the piece (page
9 -14, mm. 61- 83). Divided in five parts, this melody is constantly being interrupted
by a “character” (the bass) who sings bizarre vocalizations of the word “Zipangu”.
Vivier called this section “The invocation of Zipangu” and contains exclusively
invented language. The following summarizes the pitch structure of the “expressive
melody”:

Figure 4

Similar melodic constructions are presented in the upper voice throughout the
harmonic passages that follow Section 3, standing out the remarkable melody
presented in the final section of the piece: an almost ever ascending gesture sung
by the soprano coloratura who reaches the extreme of the high register. In an
analytical note, Vivier called this the “melody of the mermaid” (according to the
Greek mythology, mermaids enchant the sailors -in this case Marco Polo- leading

8
them to death). The melody is framed in a 312 quarter-notes passage and divided
into twenty-two phrases (again number 22). Figure 5 shows the first six parts of this
melody and the process of increasing number of pitches it follows:

Figure 5

The asterisk in Figure 5 show that the original idea was probably to have six pitches
in the third part of this melody, in order to follow the proposed series. In addition,
repeating here the value of durations (11 quarter-notes) may also be a consequence
of the same adjustment. This is because in similar structures, Vivier did not used to
repeat such values. At least, if this is a change because of taste, he is very
consequent by applying such modification to both the number of pitches and
durations.

Harmonic system

Overview
The main technical innovation found in Vivier’s later style is related to the field of
harmony. Derived from Stockhausen’s use of the ring modulator and from spectral
thinking of the Paris-based music of the 1970’s, the technique used by Vivier is ruled
by the addition or subtraction of frequencies. This procedure allowed Vivier to
generate large vertical sonorities used mainly to color his melodic lines. Initially, the
two pitches whose added frequencies produce each chord are assigned (the so-
called “fundamental dyads”). Once selected, these values are subject of different
mathematical operations such as: f1 + f2 , f1 – f2, 2(f1) + f2, 2(f1) – f2, f1 + 2(f2), f1
– 2(f2), and so on. For instance, if the frequencies of the fundamental dyad are
f1=220hz (A4) and f2=260hz (middle C), the addition of these two values will
produce f3=480hz (a quarter-tone high Bb5). This technique, as used by Vivier, does
not require the use of electronics at any stage, merely the calculation of frequency

9
values of musical notes. In addition, it is important to state that Vivier rounds these
frequency values to the closest quarter-tone in order to resolve any inconvenience
for the performance. The final result produces a bell-like sonority resulting from the
superimposition of partials.

Prologue’s Harmonic System

Along with Lonely Child and Wo Bist du Licht!, Prologue pour un Marco Polo is
entirely based on the principle of addition and subtraction of frequencies. Vivier took
the six melodic modes (in Figure 6, 2nd line’s upper voice) as the foundation of a first
stream of chords (from now on “principal chords”). This generates a total of thirty-six
chords which contain eight to nine pitches each. Chords 2 and 11 are repeated in
chords 36 and 29 respectively, totalizing thirty-four different chords:

Figure 6

The selection of chords is ruled always by the upper melody, this is depending which
melody is presented throughout the sections of the piece. Additionally, Vivier had the
tendency of using these harmonies in shorter series ruled by chord’s numbers. For

10
example, from chords 1-6 he skips to chords 13-19, and subsequently returns to
chords 7-12, etc.

In addition to the principal chords presented above (chords that do not contain any
microtonal fluctuations), Vivier built another stream of harmonies used mainly in the
mid to late sections of the piece. This second group is formed by twenty-one of what
Vivier use to call “Les Couleurs”, chords that are the result of a similar procedure of
adding frequencies but this time containing the resulting microtonal fluctuations
derived from the previously referred operations. For example, the two original
frequencies of Color 2 are 260hz (middle C) and 146hz (D3). The initial operations
are as follows:
260 (C4) 260
-146 (D3) +146
114 (Bb2) +406 (low G#4)
552 (C#5)

Then Vivier calculates the remaining pitches:

Figure 7 shows all the resultant pitches of the above operations, leading to Color 2:

Figure 7
The total of twenty-one couleurs enhances the hypothesis that number 21 has a
structural importance, because it has inherence in all of the piece’s parameters:
melody (21+1 notes), harmony (21 colors) and form (21 minutes of projected total
duration).

11
Formal Design

Overview
In many of Vivier’s works, especially in early pieces, the form is often articulated by
the juxtaposition of sections punctuated by percussion instruments, a practice that
Vivier may have drawn from Balinese music. In this regard we could consider
Prologue pour un Marco Polo of a different nature. The piece, instead, seems to
develop into a more continuous single gesture towards its formal goals rather than a
piece with a number of juxtaposed autonomous blocks. This is another characteristic
of Vivier’s later style, pieces such as Bouchara and Wo bist du Licht! have similar
designs. Although there are recognizable sections in Prologue (some even
punctuated by percussion), there seems to be a more organic quality in the
components of the form and the transitions between these sections. This may be a
consequence of Vivier’s control over local structures. Before explaining the overall
form, it is necessary to elaborate first on such constructions.

Local structures
In Prologue pour un Marco Polo, the structures that present local processes are
especially coherent, solidifying Vivier’s control over the form. A good example of
such structure can be found in the first section of the piece (mm.1-29). The
beginning texture is a juxtaposition of two sonorities: the choir singing the note G#
(the only significant pitch of the section) and the “answer” gesture done by
percussions (bass drum pulsations plus the sounds generated by rubbing a
“superball” on the tam tam). The structure consists in controlling the number of eight-
notes (the duration) for each of the two mentioned musical objects. The series of
eight-notes for the choir are: 21,3,18,6,15,8,13. On the other hand, the series for the
percussion (silence for the choir) are: 1,4,7,11,14,16,19. The following sketch
(Figure 8) shows how Vivier obtained such series. Although the higher line (the
fives) is not involved in this process, the operations involving the three other lines
result in all the numbers of the two series described above. From the fourteen
operations, the seven on the left are subtractions, and the seven on the right
additions (including the line of twos). Therefore, the first column obtains the number

12
1 from the difference between numbers 9 and 10, the second column obtains the
number 3 from the difference between 7 and 10, and so on. From the resultant
fourteen numbers, Vivier chose to divide them in series of seven digits, by
systematically skipping one number. The arrows that lead us to the left correspond
to the percussions’ durations (silences of the choir) and the arrows that lead us to
the right correspond to the choir’s durations:

Figure 8

After the whole process is completed Section 2 (the Choral of the Wiseman) is
presented. Therefore, the form seems to be articulated by a juxtaposition of local
musical processes that efficiently result into the more continuous music.

Overal form
In an interview, Vivier described the piece’s form as the following:

1) Discovery of the word Zipangu

2) Grand Chorale and the speech of the Wiseman who apparently understands Polo
(but also ridicules his work).

3) Call of Zipangu. Sadness that glimpsed but never attained

4) Grand Chorale, which from a state of anarchy returns to a perfect homophony, all of
this leading to the Magician’s solo. The structure is again untangled. This section
ends in a last appeal from Zipangu.

5) Solo on the solitude of Marco. Preceded by an almost barbarian introduction. Solo

superimposed on the amorous supplication the four voices. Slowly the music
embroils all this and becomes the state of grace of solitary visionaries.

6) Clear and vertiginous visions of the shades of death and obliteration of the being

7) Marco Polo today, a conversation but also fruits, he’s not death

13
 8) 8) The testament of Marco Polo, an always ascending solo, the voice of God, almost
the voice of madness. Mermaid solo.

In contrast to this last statement, which has a programmatic nature, the formal
sketches at the Vivier Achive show a different intent of organization. As mentioned
before, Prologue, was meant to have six sections, this according to the following
formal sketch. In this sketch Vivier assigned a term representative of the music of
each section, indicating always the durations in minutes:

Figure 9

In his sketches there can be found at least three similar versions of the scheme
presented above, all ruled by calculating chronometrically the time of each section
and always adding up to 21 minutes of total duration. It seems Vivier was trying to fit
the piece in this amount of minutes, which is, again, the sum of the numbers 1-2-3-4-

14
5-6. In addition, Vivier intended to organize the piece in six different tempi, a
procedure that relates directly to the formal planning itself. In order to do that, he
calculated the length of each section in relation to the tempi. Nevertheless, the piece
in its final version shows considerable differences from all this original plans to an
extent that none of the recordings consulted for the purposes of this paper fulfills the
chronometric durations of the sketches, and in fact the score also contains different
values for the piece’s tempi.

All this facts, lead this investigation to the speculative field. Although the number 21
ruled several procedures in the sketches, it seems Vivier consistently added an extra
number to these parameters in the score. For example, the number of notes of the
main melody sums 22 (being the note B the last note added and also the only
component of mode 6). Consequently, this changes the number of chords that color
the main melody, also reaching the same quantity. Formally speaking, assuming the
series 1,2,3,4,5,6 are the durations in minutes of the piece’s sections, there is no
obvious meaningful section in the score which last only for one minute.
Nevertheless, there are at least two segments of total duration circa two minutes, the
first may correspond to number 1 (+1) while the second corresponds to number 2.
Therefore, after measuring chronometrically the time of each section, this
investigation suggests the approximate in minutes related with Vivier’s formal sketch
in the following scheme:

Section Description Timeline Suggested

(in Recording) Form in minutes
I Introduction 0’00’’ .
II Speech of the Wiseman 2’11’’ 2 min
III Invocation of Zipangu 5’20’’ 3 min.
IV Grand Chorale 6’40’’
Solo of the Magician 9’18’’ 4 min.
V Presentation of 22 chords 10’47’’
VI Marco’s Solitude solo 11’58’’
VII Shades of death 15’41’’ 6 min.
VIII Mermaid Solo 17’39’’ 2 min.

TOTAL DURATION 22’10’’ 5 min.

Figure10

15
Musical Signals in Vivier’s poetic
In many of his pieces, Vivier appeals to specific musical objects that constitute an
integral part of his overall language. This reiterative musical sings are often made of
particular instrumental techniques that are common in the context of contemporary
music writing (e.g. fast descending glissandi of harmonics in the strings or an
ascending run through the harmonics of the double bass). Within the pieces, these
musical objects have the function of emphasising crucial harmonic centers, tending
to stabilize the discourse at the end of sections or even at the end of pieces.
Although such techniques are used extensively in the repertoire, the fact that Vivier
“appropriates” these gestures by their constant reiteration in his repertoire is, to say
the least, surprising. Prologue pour un Marco Polo is not exempted of these poetic -
bearing elements. The following shows a sketch of the very last bars of the piece,
where the soprano coloratura reaches the highest point of the Mermaid solo; when
this happens the double bass starts its characteristic ascending run through the
harmonics of the note E, marking the very last musical gesture of the piece:

Figure 11

This musical object is presented twice in the piece, being the other time immediately
after the solo of the magician and is probably the most common of Vivier’s musical
signs. Among the works that present this characteristic run of harmonics are
Zipangu, Lonely Child and Bouchara.

16
Conclusions

The main purpose of this paper has been to show the relevant organization of
Prologue pour un Marco Polo along with the essential poetic elements that make this
a master piece of the contemporary repertoire of the last thirty years. The study of
the Prologue’s sketches, allowed me to realize the depth of Vivier’s control over his
materials; showing an obsession for exercising this control upon almost every
parameter: local structures, melodic cells, streams of chords, etc. The most
surprising discovering, in my opinion, are the heard results of his compositional
techniques; the music itself. In spite of being completely systematized, Prologue
pour un Marco Polo can be heard as a fluid piece capable of evoking what is meant
to, which I consider a great asset for every composer.

The findings of this study, especially those related to the formal design of the piece,
show non-conclusive results. This is not to say that the form of the piece cannot be
analyzed and explained, but the fact that Vivier’s sketches do not match the final
version of the score is, to say the least, intriguing. By being acquainted with his
music from some time now, it is probable safe to say that inconsistencies in his
scores can be found. Nevertheless, this does not overshadow by any means his
magnificent pieces neither his genius. It is possible that by studying in depth
sketches of other works a clue may arise to resolve this issue.

While Claude Vivier’s stature as the pre-eminent French-Canadian composer of his

generation is well recognized, music theory has yet to generate a considerable body
of writings that fully explore his distinctive musical language. Hopefully, this study
minimally contributes in these regard.

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References

Braes, Ross. “A Response to Janette Tilley’s Eternal Recurrence: in the Orchestral

Music of Claude Vivier” Discourses in Music: Volume 2 Number 2 (Fall 2001)

Gilmore, Bob. “On Claude’s Vivier Lonely Child”. Tempo 61 (239) pp. 2-17.
Cambridge University Press 2007

Levesque, Patrick. “Le Voix de Vivier: Langage harmonique, langage mélodique, e

langage imaginaire dans les dernières oeuvres de Claude Vivier”. McGill University.
Faculty of Music Thesis (2004)

Tilley, Janette. “Eternal Recurrence: Aspects of Melody in the Orchestral Music of

Claude Vivier”. Discourses in Music: Volume 2 Number 1 (Fall 2000- 2001)

Tremblay, Jaques. « L'écriture à haute voix : Lonely Child de Claude Vivier ».

CIRCUIT, vol. 11, n° 1 (2000)

Vivier, Claude. "Prologue pour un Marco Polo: Sketches and Compositional Notes".
Vivier Archive at Montréal University. Document No. P235 D/4-48

Vivier, Claude. « Prologue pour un Marco Polo ». Circuit Volume 2, No. 1-2 (1991).
Les Presses d L’Université de Montréal

Vivier, Claude. « Quelques considérations sur la composition musicale ». Circuit

Volume 2, No. 1-2 (1991). Les Presses d L’Université de Montréal

Vivier, Claude. « Introspection d’un compositeur ». Circuit Volume 2, No. 1-2 (1991).
Les Presses d L’Université de Montréal

Recordings:

Claude Vivier
Prologue Pour Un Marco Polo/Lonely Child/Zipangu/Bouchara
PHILIPS 454231 CD 1980-81, recorded in 1996

DVD :

Claude Vivier: Rêves d’un Marco Polo

Kopernikus, Prologue Pour Un Marco Polo
Shiraz/ Lonely Child/ Zipangu/ Wo bist du Licht/
Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit/
BBC/ OPUS ARTE, released in 2006

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