Siddhartha (Vivier)

Siddhartha is an orchestral suite by Canadian composer Claude Vivier, which was completed in 1976.^[1]

Claude Vivier in 1980

Composition

Vivier was commissioned to write an orchestral piece by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He was inspired by Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha (1922), whose main character follows the teachings of Buddha. The work was completed in 1976, but it could not be premiered by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada under Marius Constant as planned, as they believed it was too difficult.^[2]

It was finally premiered on 14 March 1987, four years after the composer's death, in Montreal, by the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Walter Boudreau, one of Vivier's former classmates at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.^[3]

Instrumentation

The suite is written for an orchestra with the following instrumentation.

Woodwinds 3 flutes 4 oboes 4 clarinets 3 bassoons Brass 4 horns 3 trumpets 3 trombones 1 tuba

Percussion Timpani Vibraphone Strings 30 violins 12 violas 10 cellos 8 basses