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Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

Jan. 06, 2016

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016)

It is with deep sadness that we note that passing of Pierre Boulez, one of the most groundbreaking and revered musicians of our time. Boulez’s contributions as composer, conductor, writer and thinker continue to expand the limits of contemporary music and leave an enduring mark on the world. He was 90. 

Born in 1925, Pierre Boulez studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Olivier Messiaen and privately with René Leibowitz. He first came to prominence in the 1940s with his two piano sonatas and his Livre pour quatuor for string quartet, followed by his monumental Le Marteau sans maître, for alto and six instruments, in 1955 (a work which began his lifelong relationship with publisher Universal Edition).

He began to conduct in the 1950s, firstly to achieve authoritative performances of his own music, but soon established himself as a conductor in his own right, with an ability to read, hear, analyze and assemble performances of a standard hitherto unrealized, notably of music of the second Viennese school and beyond. His relationships with orchestras, ensembles and musicians around the globe are countless, having left an unprecedented legacy of exacting and exquisite performances on record and in the memories of listeners the world over. 

Read more about Pierre Boulez through tributes at Universal Edition and from Paul Griffiths for The New York Times, as well as a recent birthday tribute by composer George Benjamin in The Guardian.

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