Four Centuries of Great Music March 30, 2025 Celebration of the Centennial of Pierre Boulez

Four Centuries of Great Music March 30, 2025

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music, I am celebrating the centennial of the birth of composer Pierre Boulez which was 4 days ago on March 26th

Born in Montbrison, a small town in the Loire department of east-central France, Boulez studied piano from a young age, played chamber music with local amateurs and sang in the school choir. Completing his basic education a year early, he went to Lyon initially to study mathematics as his father wanted him to pursue a career in engineering.   However he wanted to study music.  After and initial rejection by the Conservatoire de Lyon in 1942 and with his sister’s support in the face of opposition from his father, he studied piano and harmony privately in Lyon.  Life in Lyon was very harsh during the war since it was a center of the French resistance to the Nazis.  He moved to Paris in the autumn of 1943, hoping to enroll at the Conservatoire de Paris, his father accompanied him, helped him to find a room (in the 7th arrondissement) and subsidized him until he could earn a living.  In October 1943, Boulez auditioned unsuccessfully for the advanced piano class at the Conservatoire, but he was admitted in January 1944 to courses in a harmony and in 1945 began study composition with Oliver Messiaen.  

He was very active composing between 1947 and 1950 working with his ensemble Compagnie Renaud-Barrault, composing incidental music for  plays, chamber music and cantatas.  He joined together with several young composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luciano Berio and Luigi Nono all of whom rejected the music of the past and became leaders of a new generation of composers.  He had significant works composed in the next five decades.  And in 1959 he began his conducting career and he traveled around the world conducting.  

In 1970 Boulez was asked by President Pompidou to return to France and set up an institute specializing in musical research and creation at the arts complex—now known as the Centre Georges Pompidou. The Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique / Musique (IRCAM) opened in 1977 as a meeting place for artists and scientists of all disciplines to explore new music.   IRCAM’s aims included research into acoustics, instrumental design and the use of computers in music.  At the same time he founded the Ensemble intercontemporain, a virtuoso ensemble dedicated to contemporary music.

Today we will be listening to Boulez’s music through the decades beginning with his Piano Sonata No. 2 written in 1948    (29:36)
It is in 4 movements:
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  I. Extrèmement rapide
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  II. Lent
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  III. Modéré, presque vif
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  IV. Vif.
Maurizio Pollini
20th Century
Deutsche Grammophon

Next from 1975 his  Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna    (24:39)
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra  conducted by Pierre Boulez
Boulez Performs Boulez and Stockhausen
X5 Music Group

Back to the 1950s with his 1954 composition
Le marteau sans maître – 1954        36:15

It is in 9 movements:
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: I. Avant “L’Artisanat furieux” (Before The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître:  II. Commentaire I de bourreaux de solitude (First commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: III. L’Artisanat furieux (The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: IV. Commentaire II de Bourreaux de solitude (Second commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: V. Bel Édifice et les pressentiments, version première (Stately Building and Presentiments, first version)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VI. Bourreaux de solitude  (Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VII. Après L’Artisanat furieux (After The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VIII. Commentaire III de Bourreaux de solitude (Third commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: IX. Bel Édifice et les pressentiments, double (Stately Building and Presentiments, again)

Pierre Boulez, Yvonne Minton, Ensemble Musique Vivante, Michel Debost, Michel Lorin, Gérard Perotin, Sylvio Gualda, Anton Stingl & Serge Collot
Masterworks of the 20th Century
Sony Music

Piano Sonata No. 2 – 1948        29:36
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  I. Extrèmement rapide
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  II. Lent
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  III. Modéré, presque vif
Pierre Boulez:  Piano Sonata No. 2:  IV. Vif.
Maurizio Pollini
20th Century
Deutsche Grammophon

Pierre Boulez finest works

Le marteau sans maître – 1954        36:15
Pierre Boulez, Yvonne Minton, Ensemble Musique Vivante, Michel Debost, Michel Lorin, Gérard Perotin, Sylvio Gualda, Anton Stingl & Serge Collot
Masterworks of the 20th Century
Sony Music

Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: I. Avant “L’Artisanat furieux” (Before The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître:  II. Commentaire I de bourreaux de solitude (First commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: III. L’Artisanat furieux (The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: IV. Commentaire II de Bourreaux de solitude (Second commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: V. Bel Édifice et les pressentiments, version première (Stately Building and Presentiments, first version)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VI. Bourreaux de solitude  (Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VII. Après L’Artisanat furieux (After The Furious Craftsmanship)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: VIII. Commentaire III de Bourreaux de solitude (Third commentary on Hangmen of Solitude)
Pierre Boulez:  Le marteau sans maître: IX. Bel Édifice et les pressentiments, double (Stately Building and Presentiments, again)

Dérive No. 1 – 1984            7:36
Pierre Boulez: Derive I(1984) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and vibraphone
Ensemble De Musica Contemporanea En Residencia Del Conservatorio Superior De Musica Manuel De Falla
Tropi
unknown

Mémoriale 1985
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain & Daniel Kawka
Boulez: Dérives 1 & 2 – Mémorial
Naive Records