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BIOGRAPHY Compositional career - Conducting - Compositional style - Works - Writings - Bibliography from The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition Boulez, Pierre born 26 March 1925, Montbrison
It was the latter which stood him in good stead when he moved to
Paris in 1942 and, against his father's wishes, opted for the Paris
Conservatoire rather than the Ecole Polytechnique; he had failed the
pianists' entrance examination. After three years he took a premier
prix in harmony, having attended Messiaen's famous harmony class.
Along with some of his contemporaries in Messiaen's class, he took
exception to the hidebound curriculum of the Conservatoire and looked
beyond its walls for instruction in counterpoint. This he studied
privately with Andrée Vaurabourg, the wife of Arthur Honegger. 2. Conducting. 
Boulez's conducting career began with the Domaine Musical concerts, where he
conducted many new works by young composers as well as his own Le marteau
sans maître. In 1957, at the invitation of Scherchen, he conducted
the first performance of Le visage nuptial in Cologne; during the next
year, he not only conducted the première of Doubles in Paris, but participated
with Rosbaud and the Grosses Orchester der SWF in the first performance of Poésie
pour pouvoir. He was again invited to conduct the same orchestra when an
early version of Pli selon pli was introduced in Cologne in 1960; meanwhile,
he had become a guest conductor with the orchestra, and had taken up residence
in Baden-Baden, partly as a gesture of revolt against French musical conservatism.
(The German spa town remained his principal home for 20 years, until he returned
to Paris to take charge of IRCAM and assume a position at the Collège
de France.) Although always primarily concerned with the performance of 20th-century
music, and notably that of Debussy, Stravinsky, Webern and Messiaen, he extended
his repertory during this time to include a number of earlier works (by Haydn,
Beethoven, Schubert and others) with which he felt a special affinity.After some years of alienation from the official musical world in Paris, Boulez returned there triumphantly in 1963 to conduct the first Paris Opéra production of Wozzeck. Very quickly he came to be in demand for a wide variety of occasions in many different countries. In 1964 he conducted a special concert performance of Hippolyte et Aricie for the Rameau bicentenary celebrations in Paris, in 1965 he was at the Edinburgh Festival to conduct Pli selon pli and in 1966 he was entrusted with Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1967 he became a guest conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra, with whom he made a number of recordings, and four years later he was appointed principal conductor of both the BBC SO and the New York PO. He relinquished these posts in 1974 and 1977 respectively. In 1976 he conducted the Ring at Bayreuth, in Patrice Chéreau's controversial production, and in 1979 at the Paris Opéra he had charge of the first production of Berg's Lulu in complete form. After this he reduced his conducting commitments drastically, but by the 1990s he was performing and recording frequently again, mostly in his favourite 20th-century repertory, but with some new acquisitions (Bruckner, Strauss). Boulez's performances are primarily noted for their analytical clarity of sound: every note, even in complex scores, makes its point as a contribution to the whole. This proved an invaluable feature of Boulez's pioneering performances of new music, even though at first they were often hampered by some aridity in orchestral sonority. Given superior orchestras, the freshness of his approach gave particularly successful results in his performances of Debussy's scores, presenting a stark contrast with a long-standing tradition of impressionist cloudiness. A certain deliberacy of forward propulsion, admirably suited to many of the modern scores he performs (The Rite of Spring, for instance), can at other times impede the flow or overload the beat: the sensitivity of his musical ear is widely and justly renowned; the suppleness of his 'muscle' is less likely to claim such regard. He brings a composer's insight to the shaping of structure and form, and imagination to his interpretation of a work's aesthetic. This insight and imagination is also displayed in his verbal introductions to many of the works he performs, for he has continued, both in the concert hall and through the mass media, to be a most active propagandist and spokesman for the music of the 20th century. 3. Compositional Style Boulez's famous phrase about 'organized delirium' ('Son et verbe', 1958, in Releves d'apprenti, 1966) is a most useful starting-point for examining his style and aesthetics. 'Delirium' situates the music's essential poetics: it points to the post-Expressionist colouring of individualist subjectivism in which the humanism of Boulez's music has its deepest roots; and it directs the listener's attention to the unique inflections of the composer's voice. 'Organization', on the other hand, speaks of the effort to exteriorize expression in universal terms: it indicates the nature of the Platonic model to which Boulez relates his work, and instructs one to seek out the logic in its workings. Composers of Boulez's generation have commonly seen the inseparability of style and logic as a criterion of musical excellence; and it is within such terms as theirs that critical analysis of Boulez's music has most often been conducted. With rare exceptions (notably in the Third Piano Sonata), Boulez's music displays its firmest foundations in linear, melodic thinking. In adopting and imaginatively developing the principles of Schoenbergian serialism in his organization of pitches, Boulez rapidly evolved a melodic manner of wide-ranging flexibility. The freedom with which he uses every possible tempered melodic interval is restrained only by a recurrent tendency of these intervals to fall into 'characteristic' aggregations, somewhat in the manner of Webern. This gives rise to melodic 'cells', which can be used in an overtly thematic manner, as in the early sonatas and in the Sonatina, whose form is modelled on that of Schoenberg's Kammersymphonie op.9, and from which the following examples are taken. Ex.1 shows a principal theme of the work and some of its later appearances. The figure x, taken from a characteristic opening flourish (ex.2), is later used, together with its inversion (x'), retrograde (x'') and retrograde inversion (x''') forms, as the basis of an extended development section (ex.3). The use of repeated notes in this example anticipates their appearance in the first movement of the Second Piano Sonata, where they help to articulate the motivic content.   
The broader serial thinking of subsequent years produced a distinctly more improvisatory melodic style — sometimes highly embellished, sometimes circling round a central note or group of notes. As an example of this, the writing for solo clarinet in Domaines is interesting — often a single note is decorated in a manner suggesting, in Boulez's own phrase, 'a polyphony which remains latent' (Boulez on Music Today, p.137). The opening of Improvisation sur Mallarme I (ex.4) demonstrates the effect of a fixed 'constellation' of registers in melodic writing of this kind. Another, more incidental, feature of certain works of this period is the use of preponderant intervals, usually by means of a careful shaping of the registral scheme in an appropriate way; thus, much of Le marteau sans maitre shows a preponderance of minor 3rds (see ex.5), and Improvisation sur Mallarme II is likewise marked by major 9ths.  
The fixing in register of a field of pitches over a comparatively long stretch of music is a rather sporadic phenomenon in Boulez, though he continues to resort to this technique in '... explosante-fixe ...'. The static, decorative effect to which it gives rise is particularly evident in certain passages of Boulez's writing for the piano (in Structures II and Eclat, for instance); and in Don, the opening section of Pli selon pli, it notably draws the attention from the pitch structure to details of instrumental timbre. By contrast, Boulez went to the other extreme in his early works. Here he consistently avoided fixity of register by maintaining a steady flow of transpositions, even in the slower passages of orchestral writing occurring in Le visage nuptial and Le soleil des eaux. Sometimes, indeed, the flow is so fast as blatantly to contravene the Schoenbergian guiding principle of octave avoidance (see exx.1d and 3). Boulez's polyphonic thinking, unlike Webern's, is allied to a harmonic style of some density which has its roots not only in Schoenberg but in Messiaen too. This is evident in Boulez's richly sounding vertical aggregates and instrumental voicing, in his cluster effects, in his treatment of the extreme registers of the piano, and in his occasional use of organum-like parallel chord movement (see ex.1d; more complex examples are to be found in later works such as Eclat). Less obvious, although no less effective than parallel homophonic movement, are those passages dominated by preponderant harmonic intervals. The third movement of the Second Piano Sonata is haunted by major 2nds; and the character of Le marteau sans maitre owes much to the deployment, both melodically and harmonically, of 3rds and 6ths (ex.5). This example demonstrates one of the methods most commonly used by the serialists in their attempts to bring about a fusion between horizontal and vertical pitch structures. The melodic line in ex.5a contains a full range of intervals, yet for the most part it is developed from the sort of chordal spacing suggested in ex.5b, which is exclusively occupied with the minor 3rd and its inversion. (In the transcription of this example, certain details are omitted, notably the part for percussion.) It should be noted, however, that this type of fusion leaves the typical melodic and harmonic textures unaltered. The harmonic writing here is obstinately in four parts; and only the slight hint of 'latent polyphony' in the vocal line shows Boulez moving towards the textural fusion which marks the Third Piano Sonata. The procedures Boulez came to use in order to produce suitably mobile pitch structures from serial premises are described in Penser la musique aujourd'hui. In the example he gives there, a melodic series is broken up into polyphonic segments (one- to three-part writing), each of which is thickened by 'multiplication' — that is, by transposing the same interval or chord onto each of its notes. (For example, if the segment F—G—B is multiplied by the interval C—Eb, the result is F(—Ab)—G(—Bb)—B(—D), i.e. F—G—Ab—B—Bb—D.) It is this technique of multiplication that represents the true 'diagonal' between melody and harmony. It is possible that Boulez had been consciously seeking this path from the very start; rapid flourishes using equal durational values (e.g. ex.2) frequently appear in the early works and may have been conceived, if naively so, as a fusion between vertical and horizontal writing. But it is only the later technique that represents a truly serial approach to textural density, offering a solution which had eluded Boulez at the time of his research into the possibilities of total serialization. A way into the serialization of rhythm came from the arithmetical series of durational values in Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensites. Boulez favoured the same approach (see Structures Ia), and his subsequent conception of musical time owes much to it. However, the 'global' organization of time and the performance of rhythms within time require greater differentiation than the exclusive use of such durational series offers. In Structures Ib, Boulez introduced regular subdivisions of the larger temporal units, and soon (see 'Eventuellement ...', 1952) he was finding ways of incorporating a flexibility of rhythmical movement commensurate with that of his early works. These works were firmly founded on a form of cellular rhythmic motivicism which derived from the practice of Messiaen. Small rhythmic groups could be varied and developed by using simple procedures of permutation, augmentation, diminution, extension and elision; in this way, a very small number of rhythmic ideas could engender enough rhythmic forms to sustain an extended composition. There are some simple examples of this in the Sonatina. The values marked x' in ex.1b are a regular diminution of the first three notes of ex.1a; and the first four values of ex.1b appear in a reversed form in ex.3 (x and x'; retrograde in x'' and x'''). As a means of articulating the thematic content of sonata forms, the technique has many advantages, and it corresponds admirably to the use of recurrent pitch aggregates. A similar correspondence can be found in nonthematic music, where passages of varying rhythmic regularity can be set off against highly regular or highly irregular passages; this parallels the musical characterization that can be achieved by the control of pitch structures. The extreme regularity of the subdivisions in Structures Ib continues to represent one type of characterization, as, for example, in Domaines (see the writing for trombones in their 'Miroir' section). The harmonic example of Le marteau sans maitre (ex.5b) shows how regularity of values can link up with motivic thinking. Irregular durations are generally formed by introducing 'irrational' subdivisions (a technique Boulez took over from Varese and Jolivet) or by adding fractional values in the manner of Messiaen (ex.1 contains simple instances of both techniques). From the first, these rhythmic techniques were an important factor in the suppleness of Boulez's melodic style, especially in his writing for the voice. Ex.5a is a typical example of the masterly way in which he welds together rational and irrational, regular and irregular elements. In many of his works, Boulez's approach to problems of musical form has been guided by a poetic text. In Le visage nuptial the relationship between text and musical form is particularly transparent: it is a curiosity of the final version of this work that, for all the vast orchestral resources Boulez could call upon, there are amazingly few bars of vocal inactivity. The text very closely determines the form of the music, even when (as in the fourth movement, 'Evadne') it is merely declaimed relentlessly in unpitched semiquavers. Le soleil des eaux shows a marked advance on this, and its instrumental interludes and wordless vocalise anticipate the commentary movements in Le marteau sans maitre. In the later vocal works, the texts become 'sources of irrigation', the 'centre and absence' of the musical conceptions Boulez builds around them ('Poesie — centre et absence — musique', 1963, in Boulez, 1981). They continue to suggest forms, without dominating them. The instrumental forms preferred by Boulez in the late 1940s are only superficially affiliated with the neo-classical movement. Sonata forms provided the merest skeleton, a pretext for thematic presentation and development at a time when Boulez's serial language was superbly equipped to follow those lines. His later forms are both more freely conceived and more sectional. Serial organization on a broad scale stimulates the invention of forms whose constituent parts are related only to one another, rather than to a pre-existing model. It also provides general criteria for linking structures in a number of alternative ways, thus clearing the way for the open forms Boulez used in, for example, the Third Piano Sonata and Domaines. In the Sonata the five movements, or 'formants', can be played in a number of different orders, always grouped round the central 'Constellation'; the order and choice of sections within formants is similarly variable. In Domaines there are 12 sections to be played through in two groups of six, the order being chosen once by the soloist, once by the conductor. To have gained a perspective in which serialism implies, and even logically entails such freedom, is one of the triumphs of Boulez's imagination. Yet the earlier works are far too convincing in themselves to be dismissed as preparatory exercises. Some critics have shown concern at the vast difference in character between early Boulez and post-1952 Boulez. The 'musical scientist' may indeed have satisfied his thirst for a system; but, so long as that system remains an open one, he is still free to go on making discoveries. WORKS
vocal-orchestral• Le soleil des eaux (R. Char), S, T, B, chbr orch, 1950 [after incid music], Joachim, Mollet, Peyron, Orchestre National, cond. Desormière, Paris, 18 July 1950, unpubd; rev. S, T, B, STB, orch, 1958, Nendick, Krebs, Rehfuss, Hesse Radio Chorus and SO, cond. Bour, Darmstadt, 9 Sept 1958; rev. S, SATB, orch, 1965, Gayer, Berlin Philharmonic Choir and PO, cond. Boulez, Berlin, 4 Oct 1965 • Le visage nuptial (Char), S, A, female chorus, orch, 1951-2 [after chbr work], Steingruber, Bornemann, Cologne Radio Chorus and SO, cond. Boulez, Cologne, 4 Dec 1957; rev. 1986-9, Bryn-Julson, Laurence, BBC Singers, BBC SO, cond. Boulez, London, 25 Jan 1988 [inc.], same perfs., Metz, 16 Nov 1989 [complete], unpubd • Pli selon pli (S. Mallarmé), S, orch, 1957-62: • 1 Don, S, pf, 1960; Rogner, Bergmann, Cologne, 13 June 1960 [first perf. of Pli selon pli], unpubd; new version, S, orch, 1960-62, Rogner, SWF SO, cond. Boulez, Amsterdam, 5 July 1962; rev. 1989-90, Tuomela, Finnish RSO, Eötvös, Helsinki, 18 April 1990, unpubd • 2 Improvisation sur Mallarmé I: Le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd'hui, S, hp, tubular bells, vib, 4 perc, 1957; Hollweg, members of NDR SO, cond. Rosbaud, Hamburg, 13 Jan 1958; arr. S, orch, 1962, Rogner, SWF SO, cond. Boulez, Donaueschingen, 20 Oct 1962 • 3 Improvisation sur Mallarmé II: Une dentelle s'abolit, S, cel, hp, pf, tubular bells, vib, 4 perc, 1957; Hollweg, members of NDR SO, cond. Rosbaud, Hamburg, 13 Jan 1958 • 4 Improvisation sur Mallarmé III: A la nue accablante tu, S, orch, 1959; Rogner, SWF SO, cond. Rosbaud, Donaueschingen, 10 June 1959; rev. 1983-4, Bryn-Julson, BBC SO, cond. Boulez, London, 23 Feb 1984; both versions unpubd • 5 Tombeau: S, orch, 1959; Rogner, Domaine Musical Ens, cond. Boulez, Donaueschingen, 17 Oct 1959, unpubd; rev. version, Rogner, SWF SO, cond. Boulez, Cologne, 13 June 1960 • cummings ist der Dichter, 16 solo vv/mixed chorus, chbr orch, 1970; Schola Cantorum Stuttgart, Stuttgart RSO, cond. Boulez, Gottwald, Ulm, 19 Sept 1970; rev. 1986, Stockholm Chamber Choir, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Boulez, Strasbourg, 23 Sept 1986 orchestral full • Symphonie concertante, pf, orch, 1947, lost 1954 • Doubles, orch, 1957-8; Lamoureux Orch, cond. Boulez, Paris, 16 March 1958; extended as Figures-Doubles-Prismes, orch, 1963, SWF SO, cond. Boulez, Basle, 10 Jan 1964; further extended, 1968, Residentie Orch, cond. Boulez, The Hague, 3 March 1968; all versions unpubd • Poésie pour pouvoir (H. Michaux), 5-track tape, 3 orch groups, 1958; SWF SO, conds. Rosbaud, Boulez, Donaueschingen, 19 Oct 1958; unpubd • Livre pour cordes, Ia, Ib, str, 1968; Ia, New Philharmonia, cond. Boulez, London, 1 Dec 1968; with Ib, same perfs., Brighton, 8 Dec 1968; rev. in 1 mvt 1988, BBC SO, cond. Boulez, London, 17 Jan 1989 • Rituel: in memoriam Bruno Maderna, orch, 1974-5 [related to '…explosante-fixe…'], BBC SO, cond. Boulez, London, 2 April 1975 • Notations, 1978- [developed from pf pieces]; I-IV, Paris Orch, cond. Barenboim, Paris, 18 June 1980; VII, Chicago SO, cond. Barenboim, Chicago, 14 Jan 1999, unpubd chamber • Notations, 11 nos., 1946, unpubd [arr. of pf pieces] • Polyphonie X, 18 insts, 1950-51; SWF SO, cond. Rosbaud, Donaueschingen, 6 Oct 1951; unpubd, withdrawn • Domaines, cl, 21 insts in 6 groups, 1961-8; Boeykens, RTB SO, cond. Boulez, Brussels, 20 Dec 1968; unpubd except for cl pt performable as cl solo • Eclat, 9 perc, 6 insts, 1965 [related to original Don and Strophes]; members of Los Angeles PO, cond. Boulez, Los Angeles, 26 March 1965; extended as Eclat/Multiples, 9 perc, orch, 1970, BBC SO, cond. Boulez, London, 21 Oct 1970, inc., unpubd • Répons, 2 pf, hp, vib, glock, cimb, orch, elecs, 1980-84; Ensemble InterContemporain, IRCAM technicians, cond. Boulez, Donaueschingen, 18 Oct 1981; extended version, same perfs., London, 6 Sept 1982; further extended version, Turin, 22 Sept 1984; all versions unpubd • '…explosante-fixe…', version for MIDI fl, orch, elecs, 1991-3, Valade, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Robertson, Turin, 13 Sept 1993 [Transitoire VII]; Valade, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Boulez, New York, 11 Nov 1993 [Transitoire VII, Transitoire V, Originel]; both versions unpubd unaccompanied choral • Oubli signal lapidé (A. Gatti), 12 solo vv, 1952; Ensemble Vocal Marcel Couraud, Cologne, 3 Oct 1952; unpubd; material used in cummings ist der Dichter chamber and solo instrumental vocal • Le visage nuptial (Char), S, A, 2 ondes martenot, pf, perc, 1946 [2 movts]; Paris, 1947, unpubd • Le marteau sans maître (Char), A, a fl, gui, vib, xylorimba, perc, va, 1953-5; Plate, members of SWF SO, cond. Rosbaud, Baden-Baden, 18 June 1955 3-11 instruments • Quartet, 4 ondes martenot, 1945-6; unpubd • 3 essais, perc, 1950, unpubd • Livre pour quatuor, str qt, 1948-9: Ia, Ib, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IV (unpubd), V, VI; Ia, Ib, II, Marschner Qt, Donaueschingen, 15 Oct 1955; V, VI, Hamann Qt, Darmstadt, 9 Sept 1961; IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, Parrenin Qt, Darmstadt, 8 July 1962 • Pour le Dr Kalmus, fl, cl, va, vc, pf, 1969, private perf., London, 16 May 1969, unpubd • '…explosante-fixe…', version for fl, cl, tpt, London Sinfonietta, London, 17 June 1972; version for fl, cl, tpt, hp, vib, vn, va, vc, elecs, New York PO, New York, 5 Jan 1973; rev., BBC SO, Rome, dir. Boulez, 13 May 1973; rev., Musique Vivante, dir. Masson, La Rochelle, 6 July 1974; all versions unpubd • Messagesquisse, solo vc, 6 vc, 1976; Claret, members of the jury of the Rostropovich Competition, La Rochelle, 3 July 1977 • Dérive I, fl, cl, pf, vib, vn, vc, 1984; London Sinfonietta, cond. Knussen, London, 31 Jan 1985; related to Répons • Mémoriale, fl, 8 insts, 1985 [after fl pt of 1972-4 '…explosante-fixe…'], Cherrier, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Boulez, Paris, 29 Nov 1985; rev. in 1991-3 version of '…explosante-fixe…' • Initiale, brass, 1987, Houston, 4 June 1987; extended, 1992, members of Chicago SO, cond. Boulez, Chicago, 20 Nov 1992; both versions unpubd • Dérive II, 11 insts, 1988-93; Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Boulez, Milan, 21 June 1990; rev. version, same perfs., London, 7 Feb 1993; both versions unpubd • sur Incises, solo pf, 2 pf, 3 hp, 2 vib, mar, 1995-8 [after pf work Incises], Vassilakis, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Boulez, Basle, 27 April 1996; extended, 1998, Vassilakis, Ensemble InterContemporain, cond. Robertson, Edinburgh, 30 Aug 1998; both versions unpubd 1-2 instruments • Sonatina, fl, pf, 1946; private perf., Boterdael, Mercenier, Brussels, 1947; first public perf., Gazzelloni, Tudor, Darmstadt, 1956 • Domaines, cl, 1961-8; Deinzer, Ulm, 20 Sept 1968 • Dialogue de l'ombre double, cl, elecs, 1982-5 [after Domaines]; Damiens, Florence, 28 Oct 1985; version for bn, elecs, 1995, Gallois, Paris, 3 Nov 1995 • '…explosante-fixe…', version for vib, elecs, 1986, Forestier, Basle, 2 Sept 1986 • Anthèmes, vn, 1991 [after vn pt of 1972-4 '…explosante-fixe…'], Arditti, Vienna, 18 Nov 1991; Anthèmes II, vn, elecs, 1997, Hae Sun Kang, Donaueschingen, 19 Oct 1997 piano • Nocturne, pf, 1944-5, unpubd • Prelude, Toccata and Scherzo, pf, 1944-5, unpubd • 3 psalmodies, pf, 1945; Grimaud, Paris, 1945; unpubd • Theme and Variations, pf left hand, 1945, unpubd • Notations, 12 pieces, pf, 1945; Grimaud, Paris, 1945; orch versions, 1946, 1978- • Sonata no.1, 1946; Grimaud, Paris, 1946 • Sonata no.2, 1947-8; Grimaud, Paris, 29 April 1950 • Structures, livre I, 2 pf, 1951-2; Messiaen, Boulez, Paris, 4 May 1952 [Ia only]; Grimaud, Loriod, Cologne, 13 Nov 1953 [complete] • Sonata no.3: Antiphonie, Trope, Constellation (also retrograde version Constellation-Miroir), Strophe, Séquence, 1955-7; Boulez, Darmstadt, 26 Sept 1957; rev. 1963; unpubd except for Sigle (fragment of Antiphonie), Trope and Constellation-Miroir • Structures, livre II, 2 pf, 1956-61; Loriod, Boulez, Donaueschingen, 21 Oct 1961 • Incises, pf, 1994; Umberto Micheli Piano Competition, Milan, 21 Oct 1994 tape • 2 Etudes, tape, 1951-2 incidental music • Le soleil des eaux (radio play, Char), S, orch, 1948; ORTF, April 1948, unpubd • Orestie (stage play, Aeschylus, trans. A. Obey), 1955; Renaud-Barrault Company, cond. Boulez, Bordeaux, 1955; unpubd • Symphonie mécanique (film, dir. J. Mitry), tape, 1955 • Le crépuscule de Yang Koueï-fei (radio play, L. Fauré), 1957; Paris, RTF, 5 July 1957; unpubd; related to Improvisations sur Mallarmé I-II • Mon Faust (stage play, P. Valéry), 1962, unpubd • Ainsi parla Zarathoustra (stage play, J.-L. Barrault, after F. Nietzsche), v, inst ens, 1974; Renaud-Barrault Company, Paris, Oct 1974; unpubd plans and projects • Un coup de dès (Mallarmé), chorus, orch, 1950, unpubd • Strophes, fl, insts, 1957, inc., unpubd, related to Orestie • Marges, perc ens, 1962-4, sketches only, unpubd • '…explosante-fixe…', compositional plan, 1971; various realizations listed above • Also op projects with J. Genet, 1960s and H. Müller, 1980s juvenilia • 1942-3: songs (C. Baudelaire, R.M. Rilke); Berceuse, vn, pf editions and arrangements WRITINGS
most of the composer's articles, essays and lectures have been published in
volume form; only uncollected items are listed separately• Musikdenken heute (Mainz, 1963/R; Fr. orig., Paris, 1964/R, as Penser la musique aujourd'hui; Eng. trans., 1971, as Boulez on Music Today) • Relevés d'apprenti (Paris, 1966; Eng. trans., 1968, as Notes of an Apprenticeship and, 1991, as Stocktakings from an Apprenticeship) • 'Technology and the Composer', Times Literary Supplement (6 May 1977) • 'Through Schoenberg to the Future', Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, (1976-7), 121-5 • Points de repère (Paris, 1981; Eng. trans., 1986, as Orientations) • 'Le timbre et l'écriture', Le timbre: métaphore pour la composition: Paris 1985, 541-9; Eng. trans. in CMR, ii (1987), 161-71 • 'Necessité d'une orientation esthétique (II)', Canadian University Music Review, (1986), 46-79 [part I in Points de repère] 'Maestro Computer: • Erforschung der neuen Tongrenzen', Computermusik, ed. G. Batel, G. Kleinen and D. Salbert (Laaber, 1987), 37-47 • IRCAM: Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique
(Paris, 1987) • 'Computers in Music', Scientific American, no.258 (1988), 44-50
• Correspondance et documents, ed. J.-J. Nattiez (Winterthur, 1990;
Eng. trans., 1993, as The Boulez-Cage Correspondence • Recherche et création vers de nouveaux territoires (Paris,
1992) • Correspondance 1954-1970, ed. R. Pereira de Tugny (Paris, 1988) BIBLIOGRAPHY
interviews• M.D. Hastings: 'M. Boulez' Press-Conference', MO, lxxxix (1965), 21-7 • J. Buzga: 'Interview mit Pierre Boulez in Prag', Melos, xxxiv (1967), 162-4 'Sprengt die Opernhäuser in die Luft!', Der Spiegel (25 Sept 1967); Eng. trans. in Opera, xix (1968), 440-50 • G. Harewood: 'Whither Opera?', Opera, xx (1969), 922-31, 1026-31 • M. Cotta and S. de Nussac: 'L'express va plus loin avec Pierre Boulez', L'express, no.979 (1970), 144 • H. Pousseur: 'Pierre Boulez', VH 101, no.4 (1970-71), 6-11 • M. Kendergi: 'Pierre Boulez interrogé', Cahiers canadiens de musique/Canada Music Book, no.2 (1971), 31-48 • U. Stürzbecher: Werkstattgespräche mit Komponisten (Cologne, 1971), 46-57 • O. Tomek: 'Lösungen für unsere Zeit finden! Gespräch' NZM, JG.132 (1971), 62-8 • J. Bornoff: 'Music, Musicians and Communication: 2. Pierre Boulez', Cultures, i/1 (1973), 123-35 • M. Stegmann: 'Gespräch mit Pierre Boulez - Komponist und Dirigent', Musik und Medizin, no.3 (1975), 49-53 • Z. Peskó: 'Gespräch mit Pierre Boulez', Melos, xl (1973), 274-9; Eng. trans. in Tempo, no.127 (1978), 2-9 Par volonté et par hasard: entretiens avec Célestin Deliège (Paris, 1975), Eng. trans. as Conversations with Célestin Deliège (London, 1976) • B.A. Varga: Muzsikusportrék (Budapest, 1979) • J. Cott: 'Sur l'état de la musique aujourd'hui', Débat, no.33 (1955), 140-51 • J. Beckman: 'Et rum fuld af spelje: interview med Pierre Boulez', DMt, lx (1985-6), 16-20 • D. Gable: 'Ramifying Connections: an Interview with Pierre Boulez', JM, iv/1 (1985-6), 105-13 • C. Gehlhaar: 'Entretien avec Pierre Boulez - Paris, le 19 décembre 1985', Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basle, 1986), 351-8 '"Messieurs, faites vos jeux": Michel Foucault - entretien avec Pierre Boulez', Débat, no.41 (1986), 179-88 • P.M. Menger: 'Du Domaine musical à l'Ircam', Le Débat, no.50 (1988), 257-66; Eng. trans. in PNM, xxviii (1990), 6-19 • P. Aradi: 'Csak az igazán fontos dolgokat kell megorizni' [We should remember only what is really important], Kritika, no.6 (1989), 26-9 • P. McCallum: 'An Interview with Pierre Boulez', MT, cxxx (1989), 8-10 Conversations de Pierre Boulez sur la direction d'orchestre avec Jean Vermeil (Paris, 1989); Eng. trans. as J. Vermeil: Conversations with Pierre Boulez: Thoughts on Conducting (Portland, OR, 1996) • J. Häusler: 'Ich biege ein Stück Holz und plötzlich bricht es: Pierre Boulez im Gespräch', ÖMz, xliv (1989), 290-95 • L. Bayle: 'Imagination ou bureaucratie: entretien avec Pierre Boulez', InHarmoniques, no.6 (1990), 30-35 • M. Lodge: 'Pierre Boulez', Canzona, no.33 (1990), 2-7 • A. Ford: Composer to Composer: Conversations about Contemporary Music (London, 1993) • P. Szendy: 'Le texte et son prétexte', Genesis, no.4 (1993), 135-48 monographs and symposia • A. Goléa: Rencontres avec Pierre Boulez (Paris, 1958/R) • M. Cadieu: Boulez (Madrid, 1977) • J. Peyser: Boulez: Composer, Conductor, Enigma (London, 1977) • P. Griffiths: Boulez (London, 1978) • M. Stahnke: Struktur und Ästhetik bei Boulez: Untersuchungen zum Formanten 'Trope' der Dritten Klaviersonate (Hamburg, 1979) • D. Jameux: Pierre Boulez (Paris, 1984; Eng. trans., 1991) • M. Andersen and M. Wenzel Andreasen, eds.: Pierre Boulez: komponist - dirigent - utopist (Copenhagen, 1985) • J. Fernández Guerra: Pierre Boulez (Madrid, 1985) • J. Häusler, ed.: Pierre Boulez: eine Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag am 26. März 1985 (Vienna, 1985) • T. Hirsbrunner: Pierre Boulez und sein Werk (Laaber, 1985) • W. Glock, ed.: Pierre Boulez: a Symposium (London, 1986) • J. Häusler, ed.: Über 'Répons': ein Interview - Variation über das Echo eines Schreis: eine Analyse (Kassel, 1986) • C. Samuel, ed.: Eclats/Boulez (Paris, 1986) • P.F. Stacey: Boulez and the Modern Concept (Aldershot, 1987) • D. Jameux and others: Répons/Boulez (Paris, 1988) Boulez at the Barbican, London, 1989 [programme of BBC concert series] • L. Koblyakov: Pierre Boulez: a World of Harmony (Chur, 1990) • J. Häusler: Pierre Boulez in Salzburg (Salzburg, 1992) • J.-J. Nattiez, ed.: 'Boulez au Canada: portrait d'impact', Circuit, iii/1 (1992) [whole issue] • T. Muller, ed.: Jeux de Boulez (Rotterdam, 1994) Pierre Boulez, Musik-Konzepte, nos.89-90 (1995) Pierre Boulez II, Musik-Konzepte, no.96 (1997) general studies • M. Scriabine: 'Pierre Boulez et la musique concrète', ReM, no.215 (1952), 14-15 • J. Barraqué: 'Rythme et développement', Polyphonie, nos.9-10 (1954), 47-73 • R. Craft: 'Boulez and Stockhausen', The Score, no.24 (1958), 54-64 • A. Hodeir: La musique depuis Debussy (Paris, 1961; Eng. trans., 1961) • S. Bradshaw and R.R. Bennett: 'In Search of Boulez', Music and Musicians, xi (1962-3), no.5, pp.10-13; no.12, pp.14-18, 50 • K. Boehmer: Zur Theorie der offenen Form in der neuen Musik (Darmstadt, 1967, 2/1988), 84ff • A. Whittall: 'After Webern, Wagner: Reflections on the Past and Future of Pierre Boulez', MR, xxviii (1967), 135-8 • A.H. Cross: 'The Significance of Aleatoricism in Twentieth-Century Music', MR, xxix (1968), 305-22 • G.W. Hopkins: 'Debussy and Boulez', MT, cix (1968), 710-14 • B. Canino: 'Boulez prima e dopo', NRMI, iii (1969), 672-83 • J.-P. Derrien: 'Dossier Pierre Boulez', Musique en jeu, no.1 (1970), 103-32 • J. Häusler: 'Fruchtland der Synthese: der Komponist Pierre Boulez', Musica, xxiv (1970), 239-41 • M. Fink: 'Pierre Boulez: a Selective Bibliography', CMc, no.13 (1972), 135-50 • D. Hamilton: 'The Prospective Encounters at the Philharmonic: Aims and Achievement', Musical Newsletter, ii/4 (1972), 3-8 • P. Wapnewski: Richard Wagner: die Szene und ihr Meister (Munich, 1978) • S. de Nussac and F. Regnault, eds.: Historie d'un 'ring': 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' (L'anneau de Nibelung) de Richard Wagner - Bayreuth 1976-1980 (Paris, 1980) • F. Bayer: De Schönberg à Cage: essai sur la notion d'espace sonore dans la musique contemporaine (Paris, 1981) • R. Craft: 'Stravinsky Pre-Centenary', PNM, xix (1981), 464-77 • J.-E. Marie: 'Inverse Function: Differentiation and Integration in Messiaen and Boulez', Sonus, ii/1 (1981), 26-33; v/1 (1984), 36-60 'Dossier Pierre Boulez', L'avant-scène opéra, no.36 (1981), 162-97 • J. Ardoin: 'A Ring Diary', OQ, i (1983), no.2, pp.4-10; no.3, pp.25-32 • J.-J. Nattiez: Tétralogies: Wagner, Boulez, Chéreau (Paris, 1983) • R. Craft: Stravinsky: Selected Correspondence, ii (London and New York, 1984) • H. Dufourt: 'De Schönberg à Boulez: logique et dialectique de la création musicale', Esprit, no.99 (1985), 21-36 • M. Foucault: 'Pierre Boulez: l'écran traversé', Silences, no.1 (1985), 11-15; repr. as preface to P. Boulez: Jalons (pour une décennie) (Paris, 1989), 19-22 • I. Founberg: '"Serialisten" Pierre Boulez', DMt, lix (1984-5), 120-37, 231-46, 351-62 • G. Schubert: 'Werkidee und Kompositionstechnik zur seriellen Musik von Boulez, Stockhausen und Ligeti', Die Musik der fünfziger Jahre, ed. C. Dahlhaus (Mainz, 1985), 48-71 • C. Deliège: Invention musicale et idéologies (Paris, 1986) • H. Dufourt: 'Pierre Boulez: musicien de l'ère industrielle', Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Paul Sacher Stiftung, ed. F. Meyer, J.M. Jans and I. Westen (Basle, 1986), 371-80 • J. Häusler: "'Boulez selon Boulez": fragmentarische Bemerkungen zu den theoretischen Schriften', Komponisten des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Paul Sacher Stiftung, ed. F. Meyer, J.M. Jans and I. Westen (Basle, 1986), 359-70 • D. Jameux: 'Gustav Mahler et Pierre Boulez: Parallèlisme/Divergences', Gustav Mahler: Paris 1985, 73-82 • J.-F. Pioud: 'Pierre Boulez: l'énergie créatrice', Etudes, no.364 (1986), 497-508 • D. Jameux: 'Mallarmé, Debussy, Boulez', Silences, no.4 (1987), 191-202 • F. Leclère: Premières pierres (Paris, 1987) • J.-J. Nattiez: 'Chanter le Ring', Canadian University Music Review, viii (1987), 78-133 • R. Kapp: 'Die Schatten des Urbilds des Doubles: vorsichtige Annäherung an eine Figur - René Leibowitz', Musiktheorie, ii (1987), 15-31; Eng. trans. as 'Shades of the Double's Original: René Leibowitz's Dispute with Boulez', Tempo, no.165 (1988), 2-16 • R. Cogan: 'Science, Music Values and the Study of Music: Mozart, Tibetan Chant, Boulez II', Sonus, viii/2 (1987-8), 16-35 • E. Costère: 'Dialectique des hauteurs chez Schönberg et Boulez', Revue internationale de musique française, no.27 (1988), 83-100 • K.-K. Hübler: 'Errungenschaften des Serialismus: Pierre Boulez und die zahmen Wilden der Neuen Musik', MusikTexte, no.23 (1988), 3-5 • A. Padilla: 'Partir hacia lo desconocido, con pasión: el pensamiento estético-musical de Pierre Boulez', Araucaria de Chile, no.42 (1988), 139-55 • A. Edwards: 'Unpublished Bouleziana at the Paul Sacher Foundation', Tempo, no.169 (1989), 4-15 • D. Gable: 'Boulez's Two Cultures: the Post-War European Synthesis and Tradition', JAMS, xliii (1990), 426-56 • S. Galaise: 'Pierre Boulez: les cours de Bâle', Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, iii (1990), 9-10 • E. Humbertclaude, ed.: (Re)lire Souvtchinski (La Bresse, 1990) • H. Dufourt: Musique, pouvoir, écriture (Paris, 1991) • J. Aguila: Le Domaine Musical: Pierre Boulez et vingt ans de création contemporaine (Paris, 1992) 'Sammlungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung', Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, v (1992), 1-12 • G. Born: Rationalizing Culture: IRCAM, Boulez and the Institutionalization of the Musical Avant-Garde (Berkeley, 1995) • M. Breatnach: Boulez and Mallarmé: a Study in Poetic Influence (Aldershot, 1996) • A. Williams: New Music and the Claims of Modernity (Aldershot, 1997) • S. Heinemann: 'Pitch-Class Set Multiplication in Theory and Practice', Music Theory Spectrum, xx/1 (1998), 72-96 • R. Nemecek: Untersuchungen zum frühen Klavierschaffen von Pierre Boulez (Kassel, 1998) studies relating to particular works • G. Ligeti: 'Pierre Boulez: Entscheidung und Automatik in der Structure Ia', Die Reihe, iv (1958), 38-63; Eng. trans. in Die Reihe, iv (1960), 36-62 • H. Michaux: 'Genèse des trois "Poésies pour pouvoir"', Melos, xxv (1958), 308-10 • M. Wilkinson: 'Some Thoughts on Twelve-Tone Method (Boulez: Structure Ia)', Gravesaner Blätter, no.10 (1958), 23-9 • G. Ligeti: 'Zur III. Klaviersonate von Boulez', Die Reihe, v (1959), 38-40; Eng. trans. in Die Reihe, v (1961), 5-8 • K. Stockhausen: 'Musik und Sprache', Die Reihe, vi (1960), 36-58; Eng. trans. in Die Reihe, vi (1964), 40-64 [on Le marteau sans maître] • M. Butor: 'Mallarmé selon Boulez', Melos, xxviii (1961), 356-9 • G.W. Hopkins: 'Le soleil des eaux', Tempo, no.68 (1964), 35-7 • H.U. Lehmann: 'Figures-Doubles-Prismes', Tempo, no.68 (1964), 34-5 • R. Henderson: 'Le soleil des eaux', MT, cvi (1965), 673-4 • M. Chanan: 'Boulez's Eclat/Multiples', Tempo, no.95 (1970-71), 30-33 • J. Grimm: 'Formaspekte der 2. Klaviersonate von Boulez', SMz, cxii (1972), 201-5 • I. Stoïanowa: 'Pli selon pli: portrait de Mallarmé', Musique en jeu, no.11 (1973), 75-98 • R. Gehrlach: 'Pierre Boulez und Stéphane Mallarmé: ein Fragment über das Artfizielle', Über Musik und Sprache, ed. R. Stephan (Mainz, 1974), 70-92 • R. Stephan: 'Bemerkungen zu Pierre Boulez's Komposition von René Chars Klage der verliebten Eidechse', Zur musikalische Analyse, ed. G. Schuhmacher (Darmstadt, 1974), 441-51 • I. Stoïanowa: 'La Troisième sonate de Boulez et le projet mallarméen du Livre', Musique en jeu, no.16 (1974), 9-28 • I. Stoïanowa: 'Verbe et son "centre et absence"', Musique en jeu, no.16 (1974), 79-102 • A. Cross: 'Form and Expression in Boulez' Don', MR, xxxvi (1975), 215-30 • A. Trenkamp: 'The Concept of "Aléa" in Boulez's "Constellation-Miroir"', ML, lvii (1976), 1-10 • L. DeYoung: 'Pitch Order and Duration Order in Boulez Structure Ia', PNM, xvi/2 (1977-8), 27-34 • R. Febel: Musik für zwei Klaviere seit 1950 als Spiegel der Kompositionstechnik (Herrenberg, 1978) • U. Siegele: Zwei Kommentare zum 'Marteau sans maître' von Pierre Boulez (Tübingen, 1979) • R.T. Piencikowski: 'René Char et Pierre Boulez: esquisse analytique du Marteau sans maître', Schweizer Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft, iv, ed. J. Stenzl (Stuttgart, 1980), 193-264 • M. Beiche: 'Serielles Denken in Rituel von Pierre Boulez', AMw, xxxviii (1981), 24-56 • C. Deliège: 'Deux aspects de l'univers boulezien: Structures pour deux pianos à quatre mains', Critique, no.408 (1981), 478-84 • M.J. Worton: 'Archipel et labyrinthe: l'importance de la poésie de René Char pour la musique de Pierre Boulez', Interférences, no.13 (1981), 55-69 • R. Black: 'Boulez's Third Piano Sonata: Surface and Sensibility', PNM, xx (1982), 182-98 • M. Denhoff: 'Rituel von Pierre Boulez: Anmerkungen zur Raum- und Zeit-Konzeption', Festschrift Emil Platen zum sechzigsten Geburtstag, ed. M. Gutiérrez-Denhoff (Bonn, 1986), 208-19 • S. Goldet: Quatuors du 20ème siècle (Paris, 1986) • S.D. Winick: 'Symmetry and Pitch-Duration Association in Boulez' Le marteau sans maître', PNM, xxiv (1986), 280-321 • A. Bonnet: 'Ecriture and Perception: on Messagesquisse by Pierre Boulez', CMR, ii/1 (1987), 173-209 • F. Jedrjzewski: 'La mise en oeuvre du principe dodécaphonique dans la 1e sonate de Pierre Boulez', Analyse musicale, no.7 (1987), 69-76 • J.-J. Nattiez: 'Repons et la crise de la "communication" musicale contemporaine', InHarmoniques, no.2 (1987), 193-210 • C. Deliège: 'Moment de Pierre Boulez: sur l'introduction orchestrale de Répons', InHarmoniques, no.4 (1988), 181-202 • J. McCalla: 'Sea-Changes: Boulez's Improvisations sur Mallarmé', JM, vi (1988), 83-106 • W.G. Harbinson: 'Performer Indeterminacy and Boulez's Third Sonata', Tempo, no.169 (1989), 16-20 • A. Baltensperger: 'Marginalien zu einem Manuskript von Pierre Boulez', Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, iii (1990), 15-22 • U. Mosch: 'Disziplin und Indisziplin: zum seriellen Komponieren im 2. Satz des Marteau sans maître von Pierre Boulez', Musiktheorie, v (1990), 39-66; responses by T. Bösche, ibid., 253-70, and G.F. Haas, ibid., 271-3 • W. Wentzel: 'Dynamic and Attack Associations in Boulez's Le marteau sans maître', PNM, xxix (1991), 142-70 • P. McCallum: 'Deuxième Sonate - Que me veux-tu? Sonata Form in the First Movement of Boulez's Second Piano Sonata', SMA, xxvi (1992), 62-84 • A. Piret: 'Pierre Boulez: Troisième sonate pour piano', Analyse musicale, no.29 (1992), 61-74 • B. Ramaut: 'Dialogue de l'ombre double de Pierre Boulez: analyse d'un processus citationel', Analyse musicale, no.28 (1992), 69-75 • H. Sandroff: 'Realizing the Spatialization Processing of Dialogue de l'ombre double by Pierre Boulez', International Computer Music Conference: San Jose, CA 1992, 202-5 • A. Edwards: 'Boulez's Doubles and Figures-Doubles-Prismes: a Preliminary Study', Tempo, no.185 (1993), 6-18 • J.S. Lee: 'Mimesis and Beyond: Mallarmé, Boulez, and Cage', Writings about John Cage, ed. R. Kostelanetz (Ann Arbor, 1993), 180-217 • R. Nemecek: 'Tendenz und Kontinuität im frühen Klavierschaffen von Pierre Boulez', Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, vi (1993), 18-22 • R. Pereira: 'La Troisième sonate de Pierre Boulez', Dissonanz, no.36 (1993), 4-7 • R.T. Piencikowski: '"Assez lent, suspendu, comme imprévisible": quelques aperçus sur les travaux d'approche d'Eclat', Genesis, no.4 (1993), 51-67 • A. Williams: 'Répons: Phantasmagoria or the Articulation of Space', Theory, Analysis and Meaning in Music, ed. A. Pople (Cambridge, 1994), 195-210 • P. O'Hagan: Pierre Boulez: Sonate "que me veux-tu": an Investigation of the Manuscript Sources in Relation to the Third Sonata and the Issue of Performer Choice (diss., U. of Surrey, 1997) • S. Chang: Boulez's "Sonatine" and the Genesis of his Twelve-Tone Practice (Ann Arbor, 1998)  |
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