La Taille de l’Homme

Prélude: Lento – Andante molto sostenuto ed espressivo – Arioso (andantino) – Tempo del Andante
Choral orné: Allegro – Poco adagio – Tempo I Sonate I: Lento – Allegro vivace
Sonate II: Andantino
Sonate III: Scherzo: Prestissimo – Trio (Adagio: variante de l’Arioso du Prélude) – Prestissimo
Sonate IV: Rondo [Allegro molto] – Cadenza for solo piano – [Allegro molto]

Composed by the 27-year-old Igor Markovitch when he was at the height of his creative powers, La Taille de l’Homme (The Measure of Man) is a virtuoso ensemble work which fully deserves to be in the repertoire despite its incomplete state (Part 2 was never written).

The libretto was written by C. F. Ramuz, author of text of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.

The score of this powerful evocation of life's stages linked to the passage of the seasons was long believed lost until it was discovered among the papers of Markovitch’s teacher, Nadia Boulanger.