Boulez, Pierre

(1925- )

   composer, conductor

   Pierre Boulez, who was to gain an international reputation for his profound effect on postwar avant-garde music, was born in Montbrison and educated at the Paris Conservatoire (1945). His principal teacher was the composer olivier messi-aen. In 1948, Boulez became music director of the Renauld-Barrault Company at the Théâtre-Marigny in Paris. During the late 1940s and 1950s, he composed many critically acclaimed, highly experimental works, including some for electronic instruments, based on the 12-tone system. He also began to propose going beyond traditional harmony and melody to include other elements such as rhythm, pitch, tone color, and dynamics.

   In 1967, he became guest conductor of the Cleveland (Ohio) Orchestra and, in 1971, was appointed both chief conductor of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) symphony orchestra in London and music director of the New York Philharmonic orchestra. While Boulez always focused on his own compositions and those of his contemporaries, he also became known for his interpretations of the works of such composers as claude debussy and Igor Stravinsky. In 1976, he conducted the centenary production of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. In 1977, Boulez left his position at the New York Philharmonic to direct the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Scientifique/Musique, which he had founded in 1974 at the Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris. He subsequently returned to New York to perform his own works with the Ensemble InterContemporain. Boulez's compositions include Le Visage nuptial, for chorus and orchestra (1946-50); Le Soleil des eaux, for solo, chorus, and orchestra (1948); Polyphonie X, for 18 instruments (1951); Le Marteau san maître, for alto voice and six instruments (1955); Pli selon pli, for soprano and orchestra (1960); Cummings ist der Dichter (1970); Rituel "inmemoriamMaderna" (1975); and Repons (3 versions: 1981, 1982, and 1984). He is also the author of a number of books (Points de repère, 1981; Jalons pour une décennie, 1989).