Boulez told Stockhausen about his discovery of Mallarmé's Book after he had begun composing his Third Sonata.
This transposition of the Book into music took stock of the notions of chance and open form other composers, including Stockhausen, were already using at the time without direct reference to Mallarmé. Klavierstück XI, Zyklus and Refrain, presented in the exhibition and performed separately in concert, were designed as open-form pieces allowing the performer to chose his circuit freely within the piece.
In 1998, two commissions made on the occasion of the centenary pursue the multiple relationship between Mallarmé and music. Voiles by Denis Cohen, for five instruments, recorded voice and computer combines a high degree of formalisation and the constant presence of the sung poem. With Bussotti, the object-score of Questo Fauno for three instruments, bass voice and narrator, perpetuates the theme of the Faune.
