1918
D'un matin de printemps
Lili Boulanger
A bright five-minute orchestral sketch of spring morning, written in 1917 and 1918, now a favorite curtain-raiser and one of the last pieces Lili Boulanger completed.
What to listen for
The piece runs in one continuous stretch of about five minutes, so there is nothing to wait through. It opens with a quick, skipping tune, light on its feet and a little folk-like, tossed between the woodwinds over a gently rocking accompaniment. The rhythm has a lilt that keeps tipping forward, as if the music cannot quite stand still.
Listen for how that opening idea keeps coming back in new clothing: on flute, then in the strings, then colored by harp and a shimmer of high woodwind writing. Boulanger changes the lighting rather than the shape, so the tune stays recognizable even as the harmonies slide sideways into warmer, hazier territory.
About halfway through the momentum eases and the music turns inward, with longer lines in the strings and softer harmonies that sound closer to the darker companion piece Boulanger wrote at the same time. It is brief. The dancing figure returns and the orchestra gathers weight, with brass and percussion adding punch that the delicate opening never hinted at.
The ending is the moment to watch for: rather than fading out, the piece accelerates and snaps shut in a few decisive strokes. If your orchestra is playing the violin or flute and piano version instead, the same tune and the same abrupt finish are there in miniature.
The story
Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, the French state composition prize, in 1913, at nineteen. She was ill for most of her short life, and by 1917 she was working with her sister Nadia's help to get pieces finished. D'un matin de printemps, "of a spring morning," was one of them, drafted first for violin and piano and for flute and piano, then arranged by the composer for orchestra. It has a companion, D'un soir triste, "of a sad evening," built from related material but far darker in mood. Boulanger died in March 1918, at twenty-four. Both pieces were left for Nadia to see into performance, and Nadia, who became one of the most influential composition teachers of the twentieth century, championed her sister's music for decades. The orchestral version has been widely programmed since the late twentieth century as a short opener.
First time hearing it?
- About five minutes, played straight through with no breaks. Often placed first on a program.
- The same skipping tune returns throughout in different instrumental colors, so it is easy to track.
- Wait for the ending: the music speeds up and cuts off in a few sharp chords rather than fading.
- Exists in several versions. You may hear full orchestra, or violin and piano, or flute and piano.
- Its darker twin, D'un soir triste, is sometimes programmed alongside it.
Written by OrchestraFinder, reviewed September 2026.