Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

[NJ Joe]

I agree with James's recommendations (and it's good to see that Jumppanen's Third sonata gets the credit it's due IMHO).

You may consider, in any case, going for this, NJ Joe:

[asin]B00BLDHPZS[/asin]
It's available in Europe for about half the price AmUS is quoting. You get the Aimard First, the Pollini Second and the Jumpannen Third, plus (almost) all of Boulez's other music in authorative perfromances...

Yes I have been strongly considering this, and didn't realize it contained the piano sonatas.  I'd say now it's a definite purchase.

Thanks!

EDIT:  Well it does say complete works now, doesn't it? For some reason I was thinking complete works for orchestra.

[ritter]

Yes I have been strongly considering this, and didn't realize it contained the piano sonatas.  I'd say now it's a definite purchase.

Thanks!

EDIT:  Well it does say complete works now, doesn't it? For some reason I was thinking complete works for orchestra.

Unless shipping to the US is prohibitively expensive, try here

It is "complete", if you disregard he withdrawn or unpublished works (Polyphonie X, Trois Psalmodies for piano, Oubli Signal Lapidé for choir, the incidental music, etc.). Many of these works can be listened to in France Musique's webpage, as Joaquimhock pointed out a couple of days ago.

For people interested in Boulez's early works, some VERY RARE pieces like 3 psalmodies for piano and a "mystery" sonata movement  have been broadcasted on France Musique radio for the first time since decades...

The program can be podcasted and is called: Le Mitan des musiciens

http://www.francemusique.fr/emission/le-mitan-des-musiciens/2014-2015/pierre-boulez-maurice-jarre-faces-b-03-16-2015-13-00

[snyprrr]

this thread gets more suspenseful with each post,... always wondering "did I miss it?" "is he still with us?"

i Mean can we just not talk about B until... "it" happens, so I don't have to hold my breath every time I click on here, hmm?

Must admit .. I do not care for any of Boulez's other solo (or duo) piano compositions outside of the Piano Sonatas.

what don't you like about the 2 piano piece,... Structures? You like BAZ's 2 piano piece (Kontarsky)?


I still like

Amaird (Erato) = No.1
Pollini = No.2
Jumpy = No.3

[EigenUser]

this thread gets more suspenseful with each post,... always wondering "did I miss it?" "is he still with us?"

Me, too. And it's all because you mentioned it last year!

I wonder if he will publish anything else, but I hear he is not well. Has he conducted recently?

BTW James, thanks for the BBC link. They have some great stuff!

[Karl Henning]

Boulez has only published around 30 works in his lifetime, the last about a decade ago. The first time we spent an evening together, in the mid-1980s, I asked him if he had any advice for me. He said: "No, except for one thing:  write, just make sure you write lots of music."

Now aged 90, looking back, he perhaps feels he would have liked to have written more. But I suspect he has not had the easiest of relationships with his muse. [...]

[...] In the end what he believes is simple: today's music has to be different from the music of the past.

That's a natural thing. Western music continues to evolve and transform.

As always, one smiles at the central irony of this artist's life:  "... what he believes is simple: today's music has to be different from the music of the past."

And — apparently unable to follow his own advice ("just make sure you write lots of music") — he's painted himself intellectually into a corner, with the result that the last music he published was "about a decade ago."

An irony which, of course, casts question on the value of his firm pronouncements. (And again, the difference between their being of interest, and of use.)

[North Star]

 

[Boulez] came to give a composer's workshop at the Conservatoire I studied at. I was pleasantly surprised by him.
The first question to him (asked by me) was: " You have been quoted as saying that the idea of a great English composer is a genetic impossibility, are we wasting our time?"

Hilarity and applause ensued. " The only time you seem to be wasting" he replied " is in reading my old interviews."

[Karl Henning]

Hah!

(Accountability was never Boulez's friend.)

[Karl Henning]

LOL

It's come full circle:  the puffery with which Wagner has been traditionally honored is now an attribute of Boulez:  "there's no such thing as indifference to him!  You hates him if you don't love him!  And, and, that means, yes, by God, that he is ALL IMPORTANT !!!"

The fact is: No one can escape Boulez, whether it is as a follower or rebel.

This thread would be so much more fun if it were less The Mickey Mouse Club.

[San Antone]

LOL

It's come full circle:  the puffery with which Wagner has been traditionally honored is now an attribute of Boulez:  "there's no such thing as indifference to him!  You hates him if you don't love him!  And, and, that means, yes, by God, that he is ALL IMPORTANT !!!"

This thread would be so much more fun if it were less The Mickey Mouse Club.

How can you argue with this statement?

"It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. All art of the past must be destroyed." — Pierre Boulez

Leaving only his music, until that is, he is part of the past.

[Karl Henning]

How can you argue with this statement?

"It is not enough to deface the Mona Lisa because that does not kill the Mona Lisa. All art of the past must be destroyed." — Pierre Boulez

As tireless self-promotion, the statement is inspired 

[San Antone]

Ah yes, right on cue .. the usual gang of idiots has arrived.

I agree, Boulez did make an idiotic statement.  One of many.  But why don't you cut and paste another glowing tribute, in an even larger font.

[Karl Henning]

It's part of his unintended humor.  Those who disagree with him are perforce idiots!  How could it be otherwise?

Say, is James a commentator on Fox News, do you suppose?

[Karl Henning]

And, considering how slight the chances are of Boulez completing another composition anytime soon, face it:  James's self-spoofing keeps the interest in this thread!

[ritter]

Ladies & Gentlemen...

Is it really necessary to vent our little (and at times even petty) disagreements in this thread? For many, Pierre Boulez is anathema, and a destrucuive force in music. For others (including myself), he has been a man that has broadened horizons in music (and even outside music) and has been a constant company in our music-loving lives for many years.

The man turns 90 tomorrow, and this is a reason for many of us to rejoice. Do we need to turn this into a Boulez-bashing thraad just now? There's lots of music I don't care for, but I wouldn't dream of going into, for instance, the Shostakovich thread to write how unbelivebly ugly I think Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is...

Not liking Boulez is perfectly legitimate...But I do think he's being used in some posts as a pawn to settle other scores that have nothing to do with him or his work...

Cheers,

[San Antone]

It's not Boulez I dislike, I treasure his music, while ignoring his many excessive statements.  No, the unfortunate distraction taking up so much space in this thread is his fanboy.

[Karl Henning]

It's not Boulez I dislike, I treasure his music, while ignoring his many excessive statements.

Ditto.

Ladies & Gentlemen...

Is it really necessary to vent our little (and at times even petty) disagreements in this thread? For many, Pierre Boulez is anathema, and a destructuive force in muisc. For others (including myself), he has been a man that has broadened horizons in music (and even outside music) and has been a constant company in our music-loving llives for many years.

The man turns 90 tomorrow, and this is a reason for many of us to rejoice. Do we need to turn this in a Boulez-bashing therad just now? There's lots of music I don't care for, but I wouldn't dream of going into, for instance, the Shostakovish thread to write how unbelivebly ugly I think Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is...

Not liking Boulez is perfectly legitimate...But I do think he's being used in some posts as a pawn to settle other scores that have nothing to do with him or his work...

I am open to being shown how any of my posts today have been "bashing Boulez," neighbor.

There's only one party here bashing, and he is The Pro-Boulez Front.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I agree, Boulez did make an idiotic statement.  One of many.  But why don't you cut and paste another glowing tribute, in an even larger font.

And your point is what? So he made a statement. Lots of composers make statements. Some are pretty idiotic too. What matters in the long run are Boulez's contributions to composition and conducting.

[San Antone]

And your point is what? So he made a statement. Lots of composers make statements. Some are pretty idiotic too. What matters in the long run are Boulez's contributions to composition and conducting.

I agree 100%.  Just tweaking James.   Right; a useless pursuit.

[Karl Henning]

. . . What matters in the long run are Boulez's contributions to composition and conducting.

Agree completely.  I wished simply to point out the 2-D disingenuousness of Mark Swed's "Boulez influences you, even if you do nothing like what he does" gambit.  Well, and yes, I found it funny, because that's just what your pickled-in-the-Kool-Ade Wagnerite says about his idol.

[Karl Henning]

http://www.universaledition.com/boulez-90