Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

[staxomega]

I was listening to Claude Helffer playing Boulez's Piano Sonata 3 on Youtube, and the remastered version has some strange clicking sounds on it, I can't recall anything like that as it would have stood out to like a sore thumb. I grabbed my CD from the 80s that came out on Astree and it sounds perfect. How bizarre.

https://youtu.be/KZp6BadYzBg

[ritter]

Cross-posted from the "Concerts" thread:

After having been on their waiting list for several weeks (these concerts are free, but you have to sign up on their web, and many people seem to be ready to apply for tickets as soon as they are made available —regardless of the repertoire and performers  ), the BBVA Foundation just awarded me two tickets for the concert tomorrow evening of the PluralEnsemble under Fabián Panisello performing a gorgeous programme: Stravinsky's Three Pieces for Clarinet, Berceuses du chat, and Three Songs from Shakespeare, and (in the second half) Boulez's Le Marteau sans maître  . The alto soloist is Hillary Summers (who performed and recorded Le Marteau under the composer repeatedly).

Fabián Panisello is an Argentinian-Spanish composer-conductor, whose music I find to be a continuation of the "classic" avant-garde (he studied with, among others, Elliott Carter, Peter Eötvös and Luis de Pablo) and I enjoy very much. He founded the PluralEnsemble, which specialises in modern and avant-garde (i.e., more or less from Schoenberg to the present) and is very accomplished. Their concerts in Madrid, though, are rather "select" affairs, as they're sponsored by the aforementioned BBVA Foundation and held in the not too large covered inner courtyard of their HQ, the sumptuous Palacio del Marqués de Salamanca in downtown Madrid.

Well, what can I say, the concert last night was superb.

Fabian Panisello made a short, rather technical but impassioned and enthusiastic introduction of the works that were going to be performed, and then we got clarinettist Antonio Rapaz playing Stravinsky's Three Pieces most engagingly. Then came the Three Songs form William Shakespeare, little gems from the composer's "transitional" (towards serialism, that is) period, followed by the Berceuses du chat from the "Swiss period", with their wonderful accompaniment of three clarinets (despite their brevity, IMHO one of Igor Fedorovich's great achievements of the WW1 years).

And then, Le Marteau san maître! Like all music, I suppose, hearing this live is a far superior experience than on record, familiar as one may be with a work. In this case, the interplay between the six instrumentalists is more "logical" when the visual element is present and the flute and alto duet that is « L'Artisanat furieux » has an almost theatrical element to it. The performance by the PluralEnsemble was very convincing, with some (not necessarily unwelcome) rough edges here and there, and Panisello clearly was delighted to be preforming this landmark composition. Of the Instrumentalists, flautist Lope Morales should be singled out because of his top-notch contribution (I was struck yesterday by how well Boulez wrote for the flute -- he must have loved that instrument). And Hilary Summers' rich but very focused alto voice was wonderful in all three works she participated in.

I love Le Marteau from the first note to the last, but really the last movement, « Bel édifice et les pressentiments » – double, is one of its composer's graatest moments, and a high point of music from any period. The way the vocal line dissolves into humming (here Ms. Summers sang seated, so as to physically "disappear" as well) and then the melodic line is taken over by the flute, with interjections from the percussion and other instruments, is mesmerising (Panisello described it as a "representation of the ultimate dehumanisation of art").

[Papy Oli]

Rafael, Such ecstatic review of Le Marteau could even spur me to try Boulez again... some time...  

[Florestan]

a "representation of the ultimate dehumanisation of art")

Hmmmm...

[ritter]

Rafael, Such ecstatic review of Le Marteau could even spur me to try Boulez again... some time...  

It would be great if you did, Olivier! 

Bien amicalement,

[Mandryka]

Cross-posted from the "Concerts" thread:

Have you seen this rehearsal recording?

https://soundcloud.com/plural-ensemble/sets/pierre-boulez-le-marteau-sans

[ritter]

Have you seen this rehearsal recording?

https://soundcloud.com/plural-ensemble/sets/pierre-boulez-le-marteau-sans

No, I did not know about it. Thanks for the tip!

[Mandryka]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTlo3mMyVQ&ab_channel=RyanPower

Jean-Louis Barrault playing Orestes (Aeschylus) with the young Boulez's music. I think this was a bit of a hit, they toured with it in Canada.

I was put on to it by this rather interesting article about Marteau

https://dokumen.tips/documents/boulez-s-knstlerroman-using-blocs-sonores-to-overcome-references-to-boulezas.html

[Mandryka]

Good comments on Domaines here

https://www.rogerheaton.uk/boulez-domaines

@Karl Henning Did you ever play it?

[Karl Henning]

Good comments on Domaines here

https://www.rogerheaton.uk/boulez-domaines

@Karl Henning Did you ever play it?

No, I haven't. 

[Cato]

Everything is Awesome!   

[steve ridgway]

^ The scientific genius in full control of his beautifully ordered technology. I can see why Boulez wouldn't have been a fan of Tangerine Dream .

[DavidW]

I finally tried Boulez recently by listening to his piano sonatas.  I was surprised by how beautiful they were!  He has a reputation as a challenging composer, but those were charming works.  I'll try out more Boulez.

[vers la flamme]

I finally tried Boulez recently by listening to his piano sonatas.  I was surprised by how beautiful they were!  He has a reputation as a challenging composer, but those were charming works.  I'll try out more Boulez.

The piano sonatas are his most challenging works, in my opinion. If you can handle those you should be well prepared for Pli selon pli, Répons, and Le marteau sans maître which have over the sonatas the benefit of extremely sumptuous orchestration/timbral characteristics.

[Cato]

The piano sonatas are his most challenging works, in my opinion. If you can handle those you should be well prepared for Pli selon pli, Répons, and Le marteau sans maître which have over the sonatas the benefit of extremely sumptuous orchestration/timbral characteristics.

One of my favorites and highly recommended:

[vers la flamme]

One of favorites and highly recommended:

Another great piece, which falls in the "extremely sumptuous" category 

[Uhor]

They did a Mashup with Pierrot and the Debussy Trio Sonata that I think is phenomenal. The original composers would have been either elated or furious or both.

[Mandryka]

They did a Mashup with Pierrot and the Debussy Trio Sonata that I think is phenomenal. The original composers would have been either elated or furious or both.

It would have been better to have done a mash-up with  Domaines for oboe, horn and amplified guitar, since the instrumentation was a sort of homage to Debussy's unfinished sonata for oboe, horn, and harpsichord.

I'm  a bit less enthusiastic about that mash-up than you. 

[Uhor]

It would have been better to have done a mash-up with  Domaines for oboe, horn and amplified guitar, since the instrumentation was a sort of homage to Debussy's unfinished sonata for oboe, horn, and harpsichord.

I'm  a bit less enthusiastic about that mash-up than you. 

Perhaps these are better for you?


There this one of solely Boulez short chamber I'd say complementary works:

And it turns out middle-late Boulez is perfectly compatible with late Messiaen:

[Karl Henning]

some possible tips on where to start listening to Boulez?

Cross-post, esp. for @Brian 
My suggestions for three pieces to start with Boulez in chronological order:

Le Marteau sans maître. It's not everyone's money, and in fact it fell out of and back into my own favor. I fell for it readily the first time I heard it, so maybe you will, too. And now that my own pendulum has re-swung, it's a firm fave again.

Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna. Atypical of the composer, as heretofore noted. Mightily strong piece.

Sur Incises. I don't know how the true Boulez fans feel about various times when the composer fiddled with various scores, and I guess that my writing that indicates that my own fandom is somewhat at arm's length, but I find this an unalloyed success.