Caroline Potter

The End — Or Is It? Dutilleux's Revisions

Henri Dutilleuxs manuscripts, most of which are now owned by the Paul Sacher Stiftung, are wonderful examples of calligraphy. The care Dutilleux takes with his manuscripts means that little information about his working methods can be gleaned from his final drafts. However, there is one notable exception to this general statement: Dutilleux often rewrites the final bars of his works, and even his most recent manuscripts show that he still finds endings tricky. This paper, based on my study in 2009–2010 of the Dutilleux collection at the Paul Sacher Stiftung, focuses on three questions. Why does Dutilleux find endings difficult? Why did he choose to revise the final bars of several works, and what difference do these revisions make? What are the successful strategies Dutilleux has employed for ending a work? I focus on the conclusions to the Second Symphony and two recent works, Sur le même accord—Nocturne and Correspondances.