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{boo-lez'}
The French conductor and experimental composer Pierre Boulez,
b. Mar. 26, 1925, is known for his carefully crafted, complex
compositions, including Pli selon pli, a portrait of the poet
Stephane Mallarme for voice and orchestra. Boulez studied
with Olivier Messiaen and Rene Leibowitz, who introduced him
to Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone system, which disregards
traditional concepts of tonality, harmony, counterpoint, and
thematic development. Boulez expanded this method to include
not only pitch, as had been the case with Schoenberg, but
also rhythm, dynamics, and timbre. This method is known as
SERIAL MUSIC. Among his famous serial works are Le Marteau
sans maitre (The Hammer without a Master, 1953-54) and Doubles,
Rituel, Eclat/Multiples. Poesies pour pouvoir (Poems for Power)
makes use of electronic sounds. Mallarme's poetry also stimulated
Boulez's Improvisations on Mallarme (1959), a piece for voice
and orchestra.
In 1970-71, Boulez served as principal guest conductor of
the Cleveland Orchestra and from 1971 to 1975 as musical director
of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. He has also conducted
opera at the Bayreuth and Salzburg summer festivals. In 1971
he became musical director of the New York Philharmonic, succeeding
Leonard Bernstein. His tenure there was marked by respect,
if not always wild enthusiasm, partly because of his unflagging
championship of avant-garde music, which disturbed subscription
audiences. In 1976, Boulez left the Philharmonic to become
director of the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique
in Paris, which explores new possibilities of electronic and
computer-made music.
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