Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

[(poco) Sforzando]

Who would have expected this from a youngster who made his reputation in Rachmaninoff and Liszt?
(Look at 28:00.) It appears he has other songs to sing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKRMMWXtYRs&list=PLu0Xym10Vivn8_Bvy8KnZ2zvfKE6aGUdc&index=18

[ritter]

This year marks the centenary of Pierre Boulez's birth (26 March), and the concerts that kicked off the celebrations in Paris last week were of the highest order.

On Monday 6 January, in a packed Grande Salle Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris (what a wonderful concert hall, simultaneously huge and intimate!), the Ensemble Intercontemporain (conducted by Pierre Breuil) "and friends" presented us with a superb programme. The concert opened with the beautiful Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... Originel) for flute and ensemble of strings and horns, with Emmanuelle Ophèle as soloist. A short work of very seductive beauty, which I've always held in high esteem. Next, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras returned to what had been "his home" for many years to give a bravura performance of Messagesquisse (together with six EIC cellists). It was well-deservedly applauded.


Jean-Guihen Queyras, the six cellists, and conductor Pierre Bleuse.

The programme included two works not by Boulez. The first, Debussy's En blanc et noir, was performed by another historic ex-EIC member, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, together with one of the ensemble's current pianists, Hideki Nagano. These two pianists convinced me that this work is among the best of the composer's output (not only as regards the piano works). Next, the flutist Sophie Cherrier and Aimard (who had recorded the same work under Boulez's supervision almost 35 years ago) gave a very solid version of the early Sonatine (Boulez in "angry young man" mode, but brimming with musical inventiveness and ideas).

This was followed by the world premiere of Charlotte Bray's Nothing Ever Truly Ends, a work commissioned by the EIC for the occasion. Beautiful sounds, with a "homage-ritual" atmosphere reminiscent of some of Boulez's works. Perhaps a bit lacking in development, but engaging in any case.

The pièce de resistance, of course, was what was offered after the intermission: Répons, for six soloists, ensemble and electronics in real time. The soloists were scattered throughout the room (one of the two percussionists --playing glockenspiel and marimba-- was barely 5 meters from my seat). It was a privilege to see this work live again after more than 32 years (I had seen it conducted by the composer in Madrid in 1992). The entrance of the soloists, with the arpeggios that repeat themselves and are distributed among the soloists and with the electronic transformation, is pure magic. As is the coda, in which the ensemble no longer plays (and is in darkness) and only the six soloists exchange phrases, until their music too begins to "evaporate". Of overwhelming beauty!


The ensemble, with the cymbalom soloist Auréien Gignoux among the audience in the balcony.

The interpretation was of extraordinary precision and expressiveness, and the virtuoso nature of Boulez's writing was very visible. Huge acclaim at the end, with the audience going wild when conductor Bleuse lifted the huge score of Répons in appreciation of the composer (cf. my picture at the end of this post). This is 20th century music at its apex, IMHO, and it also gains significantly from the theatrical aspects (spatialisation and lighting) of a live performance.


The coda, with only the soloists and conductor lit.

The next evening, I visited the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for the first time. This attractive, early art-deco hall is so full of history (not least, the riotous première of Le Sacre du printemps in 1913 --the year the theatre was opened--), that being there was in itself an occasion. Les Siècles, conducted by the hitherto unknown to me Franck Ollu, performend Boulez's longest composition, Pli selon pli. This work has fascinated me since I first discovered it, more than 40 years ago in the composer's recording on CBS, but this was the first time I could hear it in concert complete (I had seen Peter Eötvös conduct the Improvisations I and II some 10 years ago). This is a more "difficult" work (the concert was well attended, but not sold out), being from a stage in Boulez's career where he still had not fully attained the "sensuous freedom" one can perceive in Répons. Still, Pli selon pli is a work of rarefied beauty, and one of the high points of Darmstadt high modernism. The way the composer treats the voice, and the setting of the texts, is masterful. Coloratura soprano Sarah Aristidou was a strong interpreter, aided by a very atractive stage presence (she walked barefoot onstage). In live performance, some aspects come to the forefront which are perhaps not so apparent on record: passages where the voice is almost exclusively supported by four flutes, the guitar and mandolin playing in tandem most of the time, the richness of the writing for percussion.


Sarah Aristidou, Les Siècles, and conductor Franck Ollu perform Pli selon pli.

In the second half, we had two works by Debussy (perhaps better-known territory for Les Siècles). I've always regarded Debussy's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé as a sort of poor cousin to Ravel's magical work of the same title (two of the three poems are the same in the works of both composers). Well, Heinz Holliger's instrumentation made the work more appealing to me, giving it a sort of mysterious backdrop that to my ears is absent from the original piano version. Then, we got La Mer; this is by no means my favourite work by Debussy, but hearing it played on original (i.e. early 20th century) instruments, was interesting -- the orchestral textures were certainly different from those of a modern symphony orchestra, even if (apart from the typical French reedy woodwinds) it is not east to describe why exactly.

All in all, two wonderful evenings dedicated to the music of this titan of modernism.

[Mandryka]

This year marks the centenary of Pierre Boulez's birth (26 March), and the concerts that kicked off the celebrations in Paris last week were of the highest order.

On Monday 6 January, in a packed Grande Salle Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris (what a wonderful concert hall, simultaneously huge and intimate!), the Ensemble Intercontemporain (conducted by Pierre Breuil) "and friends" presented us with a superb programme. The concert opened with the beautiful Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... Originel) for flute and ensemble of strings and horns, with Emmanuelle Ophèle as soloist. A short work of very seductive beauty, which I've always held in high esteem. Next, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras returned to what had been "his home" for many years to give a bravura performance of Messagesquisse (together with six EIC cellists). It was well-deservedly applauded.


Jean-Guihen Queyras, the six cellists, and conductor Pierre Bleuse.

The programme included two works not by Boulez. The first, Debussy's En blanc et noir, was performed by another historic ex-EIC member, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, together with one of the ensemble's current pianists, Hideki Nagano. These two pianists convinced me that this work is among the best of the composer's output (not only as regards the piano works). Next, the flutist Sophie Cherrier and Aimard (who had recorded the same work under Boulez's supervision almost 35 years ago) gave a very solid version of the early Sonatine (Boulez in "angry young man" mode, but brimming with musical inventiveness and ideas).

This was followed by the world premiere of Charlotte Bray's Nothing Ever Truly Ends, a work commissioned by the EIC for the occasion. Beautiful sounds, with a "homage-ritual" atmosphere reminiscent of some of Boulez's works. Perhaps a bit lacking in development, but engaging in any case.

The pièce de resistance, of course, was what was offered after the intermission: Répons, for six soloists, ensemble and electronics in real time. The soloists were scattered throughout the room (one of the two percussionists --playing glockenspiel and marimba-- was barely 5 meters from my seat). It was a privilege to see this work live again after more than 32 years (I had seen it conducted by the composer in Madrid in 1992). The entrance of the soloists, with the arpeggios that repeat themselves and are distributed among the soloists and with the electronic transformation, is pure magic. As is the coda, in which the ensemble no longer plays (and is in darkness) and only the six soloists exchange phrases, until their music too begins to "evaporate". Of overwhelming beauty!


The ensemble, with the cymbalom soloist Auréien Gignoux among the audience in the balcony.

The interpretation was of extraordinary precision and expressiveness, and the virtuoso nature of Boulez's writing was very visible. Huge acclaim at the end, with the audience going wild when conductor Bleuse lifted the huge score of Répons in appreciation of the composer (cf. my picture at the end of this post). This is 20th century music at its apex, IMHO, and it also gains significantly from the theatrical aspects (spatialisation and lighting) of a live performance.


The coda, with only the soloists and conductor lit.

The next evening, I visited the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for the first time. This attractive, early art-deco hall is so full of history (not least, the riotous première of Le Sacre du printemps in 1913 --the year the theatre was opened--), that being there was in itself an occasion. Les Siècles, conducted by the hitherto unknown to me Franck Ollu, performend Boulez's longest composition, Pli selon pli. This work has fascinated me since I first discovered it, more than 40 years ago in the composer's recording on CBS, but this was the first time I could hear it in concert complete (I had seen Peter Eötvös conduct the Improvisations I and II some 10 years ago). This is a more "difficult" work (the concert was well attended, but not sold out), being from a stage in Boulez's career where he still had not fully attained the "sensuous freedom" one can perceive in Répons. Still, Pli selon pli is a work of rarefied beauty, and one of the high points of Darmstadt high modernism. The way the composer treats the voice, and the setting of the texts, is masterful. Coloratura soprano Sarah Aristidou was a strong interpreter, aided by a very atractive stage presence (she walked barefoot onstage). In live performance, some aspects come to the forefront which are perhaps not so apparent on record: passages where the voice is almost exclusively supported by four flutes, the guitar and mandolin playing in tandem most of the time, the richness of the writing for percussion.


Sarah Aristidou, Les Siècles, and conductor Franck Ollu perform Pli selon pli.

In the second half, we had two works by Debussy (perhaps better-known territory for Les Siècles). I've always regarded Debussy's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé as a sort of poor cousin to Ravel's magical work of the same title (two of the three poems are the same in the works of both composers). Well, Heinz Holliger's instrumentation made the work more appealing to me, giving it a sort of mysterious backdrop that to my ears is absent from the original piano version. Then, we got La Mer; this is by no means my favourite work by Debussy, but hearing it played on original (i.e. early 20th century) instruments, was interesting -- the orchestral textures were certainly different from those of a modern symphony orchestra, even if (apart from the typical French reedy woodwinds) it is not east to describe why exactly.

All in all, two wonderful evenings dedicated to the music of this titan of modernism.

In fact I've always found Pli selon Pli appealing, especially the improvisations. Repons, maybe because the space is so important, is something I've always had a bit of difficulty enjoying at home. Pintscher conducted  what was the most revealing Pli selon pli I've ever heard.

It's ages since I was last in Paris -- Eurostar has got so expensive now that I feel less inclined to pop over.

[CRCulver]

I'm looking forward to some celebratory Boulez concerts in Helsinki in a few weeks, including a Piano Sonata No. 2 by Pavaali Jumppanen whose Deutsche Grammophon recording was my way into the piece.

With regard to Pli selon pli, my hope after Boulez's death was that earlier versions of the work would be performed, because it is a common opinion that the revisions to which it was subjected weakened the piece. I wonder if that has happened or will happen, or if Boulez left firm instructions with his estate that forbid anything but the latest versions of scores.

[ritter]

...

With regard to Pli selon pli, my hope after Boulez's death was that earlier versions of the work would be performed, because it is a common opinion that the revisions to which it was subjected weakened the piece. I wonder if that has happened or will happen, or if Boulez left firm instructions with his estate that forbid anything but the latest versions of scores.

Well, this may indeed happen. The Boulez estate allegedly is being flexible and will reinstate disavowed or withdrawn pieces to the catalogue. Thus, newspapers report that the early Psalmodie 0 (don't know what that is --perhaps they mean the Trois psalmodies?--), Nocturnes, and Thème et variations pour la main gauche will be published, and Polyphonie X and Poésie pour pouvoir will be made available again.

Also, Philippe Manoury's completion of the orchestral Notations VIII should be ready in 2027.

I would want to listen at least to the original version of Don (with piano accompaniment).

[Iota]

This year marks the centenary of Pierre Boulez's birth (26 March), and the concerts that kicked off the celebrations in Paris last week were of the highest order.

On Monday 6 January, in a packed Grande Salle Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonie de Paris (what a wonderful concert hall, simultaneously huge and intimate!), the Ensemble Intercontemporain (conducted by Pierre Breuil) "and friends" presented us with a superb programme. The concert opened with the beautiful Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... Originel) for flute and ensemble of strings and horns, with Emmanuelle Ophèle as soloist. A short work of very seductive beauty, which I've always held in high esteem. Next, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras returned to what had been "his home" for many years to give a bravura performance of Messagesquisse (together with six EIC cellists). It was well-deservedly applauded.


Jean-Guihen Queyras, the six cellists, and conductor Pierre Bleuse.

The programme included two works not by Boulez. The first, Debussy's En blanc et noir, was performed by another historic ex-EIC member, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, together with one of the ensemble's current pianists, Hideki Nagano. These two pianists convinced me that this work is among the best of the composer's output (not only as regards the piano works). Next, the flutist Sophie Cherrier and Aimard (who had recorded the same work under Boulez's supervision almost 35 years ago) gave a very solid version of the early Sonatine (Boulez in "angry young man" mode, but brimming with musical inventiveness and ideas).

This was followed by the world premiere of Charlotte Bray's Nothing Ever Truly Ends, a work commissioned by the EIC for the occasion. Beautiful sounds, with a "homage-ritual" atmosphere reminiscent of some of Boulez's works. Perhaps a bit lacking in development, but engaging in any case.

The pièce de resistance, of course, was what was offered after the intermission: Répons, for six soloists, ensemble and electronics in real time. The soloists were scattered throughout the room (one of the two percussionists --playing glockenspiel and marimba-- was barely 5 meters from my seat). It was a privilege to see this work live again after more than 32 years (I had seen it conducted by the composer in Madrid in 1992). The entrance of the soloists, with the arpeggios that repeat themselves and are distributed among the soloists and with the electronic transformation, is pure magic. As is the coda, in which the ensemble no longer plays (and is in darkness) and only the six soloists exchange phrases, until their music too begins to "evaporate". Of overwhelming beauty!


The ensemble, with the cymbalom soloist Auréien Gignoux among the audience in the balcony.

The interpretation was of extraordinary precision and expressiveness, and the virtuoso nature of Boulez's writing was very visible. Huge acclaim at the end, with the audience going wild when conductor Bleuse lifted the huge score of Répons in appreciation of the composer (cf. my picture at the end of this post). This is 20th century music at its apex, IMHO, and it also gains significantly from the theatrical aspects (spatialisation and lighting) of a live performance.


The coda, with only the soloists and conductor lit.

The next evening, I visited the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for the first time. This attractive, early art-deco hall is so full of history (not least, the riotous première of Le Sacre du printemps in 1913 --the year the theatre was opened--), that being there was in itself an occasion. Les Siècles, conducted by the hitherto unknown to me Franck Ollu, performend Boulez's longest composition, Pli selon pli. This work has fascinated me since I first discovered it, more than 40 years ago in the composer's recording on CBS, but this was the first time I could hear it in concert complete (I had seen Peter Eötvös conduct the Improvisations I and II some 10 years ago). This is a more "difficult" work (the concert was well attended, but not sold out), being from a stage in Boulez's career where he still had not fully attained the "sensuous freedom" one can perceive in Répons. Still, Pli selon pli is a work of rarefied beauty, and one of the high points of Darmstadt high modernism. The way the composer treats the voice, and the setting of the texts, is masterful. Coloratura soprano Sarah Aristidou was a strong interpreter, aided by a very atractive stage presence (she walked barefoot onstage). In live performance, some aspects come to the forefront which are perhaps not so apparent on record: passages where the voice is almost exclusively supported by four flutes, the guitar and mandolin playing in tandem most of the time, the richness of the writing for percussion.


Sarah Aristidou, Les Siècles, and conductor Franck Ollu perform Pli selon pli.

In the second half, we had two works by Debussy (perhaps better-known territory for Les Siècles). I've always regarded Debussy's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé as a sort of poor cousin to Ravel's magical work of the same title (two of the three poems are the same in the works of both composers). Well, Heinz Holliger's instrumentation made the work more appealing to me, giving it a sort of mysterious backdrop that to my ears is absent from the original piano version. Then, we got La Mer; this is by no means my favourite work by Debussy, but hearing it played on original (i.e. early 20th century) instruments, was interesting -- the orchestral textures were certainly different from those of a modern symphony orchestra, even if (apart from the typical French reedy woodwinds) it is not east to describe why exactly.

All in all, two wonderful evenings dedicated to the music of this titan of modernism.

Great write-up, @ritter! It sounds an amazing experience!

Like Mandryka, Repons has never quite grabbed me the way some Boulez works have (I love Pli selon pli), and reading your report it seems more than ever that a live performance might make a big difference. But clearly a rich pair of evenings, thanks very much for the detailed account which I enjoyed a lot.

(.. coincidentally, also like Mandryka, I haven't been to Paris in a long while, having used to be there reasonably frequently, but was chatting with someone only the other day about possibly meeting them there, so maybe a return is on the cards this year.  ) 

[brewski]

All in all, two wonderful evenings dedicated to the music of this titan of modernism.

Wow. What a fantastic, sprawling account of these two concerts. Répons does, indeed, benefit from a live experience. I have been lucky to hear it three times, all in NYC: 1986 in the gymnasium (!) at Columbia University, then in 2003 at Carnegie Hall, where I was fortunate to shake hands with the composer, and then most recently in 2017 at the Park Avenue Armory — a space the size of a city block. For the latter, also with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, led by Matthias Pintscher, the audience surrounded the musicians, who did it twice; after intermission, we all changed seats, for a different perspective.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to write up these events in such detail. They sound like once-in-a-lifetime experiences. This might be my favorite post you've contributed here, among many.

[ritter]

It's ages since I was last in Paris -- Eurostar has got so expensive now that I feel less inclined to pop over.

(.. coincidentally, also like Mandryka, I haven't been to Paris in a long while, having used to be there reasonably frequently, but was chatting with someone only the other day about possibly meeting them there, so maybe a return is on the cards this year.  ) 

Hint: You might consider these dates 

January 17 at the Philharmonie:


January 23 at the Maison de la Rado et de la Musique:


And March 26 through March 28 at the Philahrmonie: https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/calendar?startDate=2025-03-26&weekend_i=880. You'll get Rituel (cond. Salonen), Polyphonie X, Cummings is der Dichter, and sur Incises. Tempteng, no? 

[(poco) Sforzando]

I have been lucky to hear it three times, all in NYC: 1986 in the gymnasium (!) at Columbia University, then in 2003 at Carnegie Hall, where I was fortunate to shake hands with the composer, and then most recently in 2017 at the Park Avenue Armory — a space the size of a city block. For the latter, also with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, led by Matthias Pintscher, the audience surrounded the musicians, who did it twice; after intermission, we all changed seats, for a different perspective.

I was at two of these, Carnegie and the Armory. (I met the composer once briefly, after a performance of Marteau at Carnegie's Weill Hall, where Elliott Carter was also at attendance.) I have never heard, and would love to hear, a performance of the complete Pli Selon Pli live.

[brewski]

Great piece in The Guardian, with comments from eight composers, performers, and conductors who were influenced by him.

[brewski]

There doesn't appear to be a similar surge of Boulez here over the next few months, but the New York Philharmonic is doing something interesting: David Robertson is duplicating a program that Boulez conducted in 1974 with the orchestra. Quite an eye-opening lineup! I would love to be able to turn back the clock, and hear some of those Boulez/NY Phil concerts.

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Schubert: Symphony No. 2
Webern: Symphony, Op. 21
Boulez: Pli selon pli: Improvisations sur Mallarmé, I and II
Stravinsky: L'Histoire du soldat Suite

[Mandryka]

Complete Pli selon pli in London, March 25

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/pierre-boulez-pli-selon-pli

And parts of Livre pour quatuor - I didn't realised it was "mobile"

https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202503221930