This Week in Classical Music: March 31, 2025.Pierre Boulez.Last week we were preoccupied with Naples and missed a very important date: March 26th was the 100th anniversary of Pierre Boulez’s birth.It is hard to overestimate Boulez’s importance in the development of moder music in the second half of the 20th century (we can only think of Karlheinz Stockhausen and maybe Bruno Maderna being on the same level).Grove Music writes: “Resolute imagination, force of will, and ruthless combativeness secured him, as a young man, a position at the head of the Parisian musical avant garde.”But it was not just the Parisian avant-garde that he conquered, it was the whole musical word that he reigned for at least 30 years, from the early 1950s to the early 1980s.
Also this year is the 70th anniversary of the premier of one of Boulez’s most important works, Le Marteau sans maître (The Hammer without a Master).It premiered in June of 1955 in Baden-Baden and the work was met with interest by the listeners and praised by the critics and fellow composers.Even Stravinsky, who wrote very little in the serail mode, was enthusiastic.The piece, despite its difficulty, was then played around the world; Boulez brought it to the US in 1957. Le Marteau sans maître epitomized Boulez’s experimentation with the serialism, which he expanded to include not just the series of pitches, but also the duration, tone color and intensity of each sound.Seventy years later, and you cannot hear this seminal composition being played live.Something happened to classical music.Seventy years is a long period, it’s the time, for example, between the completions of Beethoven’s Ninth and Mahler’s Second symphonies (1824-1894), with the whole Romantic period in between.Both composers were celebrated in 1894, while Boulez almost disappeared from the musical scene.And who are the composers of his stature working today?
Boulez was born in a small town of Montbrison, about 100 km west of Lyon. In his youth his interests were split between the piano and mathematics.Upon leaving Catholic school in 1941 he spent a year in Lyon studying higher math.In 1942 he moved to Paris.Pierre’s father wanted him to attend the Ecole Polytechnique, but instead he went to theParis Conservatory where he studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen.The Paris Conservatory was a very conservative place in those days.Even Messiaen, himself a modern composer of huge talent, didn’t teach Mahler and Bruckner.Later on, Boulez would mention in an interview that at that time in his mind “there were two twins: Mahler, Bruckner.”In the same interview he said that “German music stopped at Wagner,” so the Second Viennese School wasn’t taught at all.Boulez learned about atonal music from René Leibowitz, a student of Arnold Schoenberg.He had already felt the need to expand his music language and immediately adopted the new techniques.A year later, in 1945, the young Boulez wrote his first atonal piece of music, a set of twelve Notations for piano.He also wrote two piano sonatas, the second one, large in scale, published in 1950.His music was performed by the pianists Yvette Grimaud and Yvonne Loriod (at that time, Messiaen’s wife), but it was the circulation of the scores among musicians that brought Boulez fame among avant-garde musicians.In 1952 Loriod performed the sonata in Darmstadt to great acclaim.Thus started Boulez’s association with a group of tremendously talented and adventuresome composers and theoreticians that became known as the Darmstadt School.Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music were held from the early 1950s to 1970.Every other year young musicians gathered in the city to present and discuss their music.Formal courses were taught both in composition and interpretation.Even the abridged list of the attendees looks very impressive: in addition to Boulez, there was Bruno Maderna, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, John Cage – composers who shaped the music of the second half of the 20th century.Philosophers and critics such as Theodor Adorno, presented their ideas.It was around that time that Boulez came up with his famous aphorism: “Any musician who has not felt … the necessity of the dodecaphonic language is OF NO USE.”In 1952 he wrote a seminal piece, “Le Marteau sans maître” (The hammer without a master) for voice and six instruments.Still difficult, even after half a century of music development, it could be heard here.Pierre Boulez conducts a small ensemble consisting of the flute, the guitar and several percussion instruments.Jeanne Deroubaix is the contralto.The period between 1950s and 1970s was the most productive for Boulez as a composer.In the following years he continued to write but dedicated much time to reworking some of the compositions of the earlier period.
In 1970 President Georges Pompidou, bound to create a cultural legacy, asked Boulez, who was spending most of his time outside of France, to create an institute dedicated to research in music.The result was the IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, or Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music).It was set in a building next to the Center Pompidou.With the addition two years later of the Ensemble InterContemporain, IRCAM became a major research and performing center for avant-garde music.
Boulez started conducting in 1957.First it was mostly his own music and that of his young colleagues, but eventually he expanded his repertoire to Stravinsky, Debussy, Webern and Messiaen. In the late 50’s he became the guest conductor of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra and took residence in Baden-Baden, to a large extent in protest to the conservativism of the French musical culture (that was before the IRCAM).A big break came in 1971 when he was, rather unexpectedly, hired by the New York Philharmonic.During the following years he conducted every major orchestra, expanding his repertoire to include most of the classics (though he never conducted either Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich).Boulez became one of the greatest interpreters of Debussy; we also love his Mahler.Here’s a tremendous interpretation of the 4th movement (Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend) of Mahler’s Symphony no. 9 with the Chicago Symphony at its best.
Pierre Boulez 100, 2025
This Week in Classical Music: March 31, 2025. Pierre Boulez. Last week we were preoccupied with Naples and missed a very important date: March 26th was the 100th anniversary
of Pierre Boulez’s birth. It is hard to overestimate Boulez’s importance in the development of moder music in the second half of the 20th century (we can only think of Karlheinz Stockhausen and maybe Bruno Maderna being on the same level). Grove Music writes: “Resolute imagination, force of will, and ruthless combativeness secured him, as a young man, a position at the head of the Parisian musical avant garde.” But it was not just the Parisian avant-garde that he conquered, it was the whole musical word that he reigned for at least 30 years, from the early 1950s to the early 1980s.
Also this year is the 70th anniversary of the premier of one of Boulez’s most important works, Le Marteau sans maître (The Hammer without a Master). It premiered in June of 1955 in Baden-Baden and the work was met with interest by the listeners and praised by the critics and fellow composers. Even Stravinsky, who wrote very little in the serail mode, was enthusiastic. The piece, despite its difficulty, was then played around the world; Boulez brought it to the US in 1957. Le Marteau sans maître epitomized Boulez’s experimentation with the serialism, which he expanded to include not just the series of pitches, but also the duration, tone color and intensity of each sound. Seventy years later, and you cannot hear this seminal composition being played live. Something happened to classical music. Seventy years is a long period, it’s the time, for example, between the completions of Beethoven’s Ninth and Mahler’s Second symphonies (1824-1894), with the whole Romantic period in between. Both composers were celebrated in 1894, while Boulez almost disappeared from the musical scene. And who are the composers of his stature working today?
Boulez was born in a small town of Montbrison, about 100 km west of Lyon. In his youth his interests were split between the piano and mathematics. Upon leaving Catholic school in 1941 he spent a year in Lyon studying higher math. In 1942 he moved to Paris. Pierre’s father wanted him to attend the Ecole Polytechnique, but instead he went to theParis Conservatory where he studied harmony with Olivier Messiaen. The Paris Conservatory was a very conservative place in those days. Even Messiaen, himself a modern composer of huge talent, didn’t teach Mahler and Bruckner. Later on, Boulez would mention in an interview that at that time in his mind “there were two twins: Mahler, Bruckner.” In the same interview he said that “German music stopped at Wagner,” so the Second Viennese School wasn’t taught at all. Boulez learned about atonal music from René Leibowitz, a student of Arnold Schoenberg. He had already felt the need to expand his music language and immediately adopted the new techniques. A year later, in 1945, the young Boulez wrote his first atonal piece of music, a set of twelve Notations for piano. He also wrote two piano sonatas, the second one, large in scale, published in 1950. His music was performed by the pianists Yvette Grimaud and Yvonne Loriod (at that time, Messiaen’s wife), but it was the circulation of the scores among musicians that brought Boulez fame among avant-garde musicians. In 1952 Loriod performed the sonata in Darmstadt to great acclaim. Thus started Boulez’s association with a group of tremendously talented and adventuresome composers and theoreticians that became known as the Darmstadt School. Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music were held from the early 1950s to 1970. Every other year young musicians gathered in the city to present and discuss their music. Formal courses were taught both in composition and interpretation. Even the abridged list of the attendees looks very impressive: in addition to Boulez, there was Bruno Maderna, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, John Cage – composers who shaped the music of the second half of the 20th century. Philosophers and critics such as Theodor Adorno, presented their ideas. It was around that time that Boulez came up with his famous aphorism: “Any musician who has not felt … the necessity of the dodecaphonic language is OF NO USE.” In 1952 he wrote a seminal piece, “Le Marteau sans maître” (The hammer without a master) for voice and six instruments. Still difficult, even after half a century of music development, it could be heard here. Pierre Boulez conducts a small ensemble consisting of the flute, the guitar and several percussion instruments. Jeanne Deroubaix is the contralto. The period between 1950s and 1970s was the most productive for Boulez as a composer. In the following years he continued to write but dedicated much time to reworking some of the compositions of the earlier period.
In 1970 President Georges Pompidou, bound to create a cultural legacy, asked Boulez, who was spending most of his time outside of France, to create an institute dedicated to research in music. The result was the IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, or Institute for Research and Coordination Acoustic/Music). It was set in a building next to the Center Pompidou. With the addition two years later of the Ensemble InterContemporain, IRCAM became a major research and performing center for avant-garde music.
Boulez started conducting in 1957. First it was mostly his own music and that of his young colleagues, but eventually he expanded his repertoire to Stravinsky, Debussy, Webern and Messiaen. In the late 50’s he became the guest conductor of the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra and took residence in Baden-Baden, to a large extent in protest to the conservativism of the French musical culture (that was before the IRCAM). A big break came in 1971 when he was, rather unexpectedly, hired by the New York Philharmonic. During the following years he conducted every major orchestra, expanding his repertoire to include most of the classics (though he never conducted either Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich). Boulez became one of the greatest interpreters of Debussy; we also love his Mahler. Here’s a tremendous interpretation of the 4th movement (Adagio. Sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend) of Mahler’s Symphony no. 9 with the Chicago Symphony at its best.