Dr K–Sextett, Nr. 28

The Sextet was composed as the result of a request made to eleven composers in January 1969 by the London office of Universal Edition for short pieces of music to celebrate the 80th birthday of Dr. Alfred Kalmus, who had been Universal's London director since 1936. All of the pieces were scored for performance by members of the Pierrot Players (Maconie 2005, 319). Collectively titled A Garland for Dr. K., the eleven works were premiered by the Pierrot Players on 22 April 1969 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in the Southbank Centre, London, on a programme that also included the world premieres of Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies, and Linoi II by Harrison Birtwistle (Mann 1969a). Seven years later (by which time Boulez's contribution had been expanded to a quintet), a recording of the entire Garland was made by a Spanish ensemble directed by Cristóbal Halffter for an LP produced by Universal Edition.