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Thread: RIP Pierre Boulez

  1. #26
    Member Oreb's Avatar
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    By far the best tribute I've read:
    http://boulezian.blogspot.co.uk/

    Does it matter that this waste of time is what makes a life for you?

  2. #27
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oreb View Post
    By far the best tribute I've read:
    http://boulezian.blogspot.co.uk/
    Thanks - will read this later.

    Aside from loving his own music for years, as well as many other 20th century composers he championed, two very important composers that are absolute favorites of mine these days that PB opened my ears (and mind) to are Mahler and Ravel. During my snooty punk-ass period where I was basically dismissing all "tonal" classical music in favor of dissonant avant garde works (which I love BTW), Boulez's recordings of Mahler and Ravel were my gateway. His Mahler is still quite controversial, but I will never forget when I heard the Andante Moderato movement of Mahler 6 with headphones one summer night - I was about halfway through it when I basically said to myself "OK, I *GET* Mahler now - this is quite possibly one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever written EVER.....", and basically became a Mahler fanatic for the remainder of my life due to that one listen. Boulez's extreme attention to dynamics, tonal colors, shape, intonation, etc is just unsurpassed in some ways. He never went the Lenny route of taking everything to 11, rather let the scores speak for themselves in the manner that the composer intended, NOT the conductor. He is to be commended for this approach, and it is one of the reasons he is my favorite conductor. My old boss (who coincidentally is the father of the bass player who played in the band Gutbucket) once told me of a story of where he played trumpet in the Cleveland Orchestra under Boulez - and during a Debussy piece (can't recall which right now) Msr Boulez spent the better part of 20 minutes tuning one single CHORD played by the orchestra! Yes, one chord! Its that attention to detail that made this man so great. Also, google IRCAM sometime if you want to learn more about his importance to modern music.

  3. #28

  4. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post

    His Mahler is still quite controversial, but I will never forget when I heard the Andante Moderato movement of Mahler 6 with headphones one summer night - I was about halfway through it when I basically said to myself "OK, I *GET* Mahler now - this is quite possibly one of the most gorgeous pieces of music ever written EVER.....", and basically became a Mahler fanatic for the remainder of my life due to that one listen. Boulez's extreme attention to dynamics, tonal colors, shape, intonation, etc is just unsurpassed in some ways.
    Mahler no. 6 is the only one I don't own on CD. And thanks to Frank's enthusiasm and encouragement, I now really love Mahler's music. A couple of years ago I couldn't get into any of it. The Boulez disc of vocal works with Anne Sophie Von Otter is the one that got me hooked. The writing for winds on those pieces really knocks me out!




    I'd love to snatch up the Boulez 20th Century box on the DG label. I'd be duplicating several discs, but I'll be gaining so much more.



    CD 1 – 8 Bartók

    CD 9 – 12 Berg

    CD 13 – 14 Birtwistle

    CD 15 – 19 Boulez

    CD 20 – 21 Debussy

    CD 22 – 23 Ligeti

    CD 24 – 25 Messiaen

    CD 26 – 29 Ravel

    CD 30 – 33 Schoenberg

    CD 34 – 39 Stravinsky

    CD 40 Szymanowski

    CD 41 Varèse

    CD 42 – 44 Webern

  5. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    Mahler no. 6 is the only one I don't own on CD. And thanks to Frank's enthusiasm and encouragement, I now really love Mahler's music. A couple of years ago I couldn't get into any of it. The Boulez disc of vocal works with Anne Sophie Von Otter is the one that got me hooked. The writing for winds on those pieces really knocks me out!
    His treatment of Mahler depends on what characteristics you value in Mahler. I would highly recommend the one you don't have (6th). Though I like all of them, his 6th and 7th are the only Mahler symphonies in which I think the Boulez version is the definitive one (the ones from the '90s, not the 2000s).

  6. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    Though I like all of them, his 6th and 7th are the only Mahler symphonies in which I think the Boulez version is the definitive one (the ones from the '90s, not the 2000s).
    What label are those on. I'm assuming the DG box set, Boulez Conducts Mahler contains the later recordings?

  7. #32
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    This box should have a better sound (and more CD's) than the DGbox http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pierre-Boule...ct_top?ie=UTF8

  8. #33
    I don't know about better sound? Maybe the latter recordings? But Columbia's 60s recordings contain a pretty high noise to signal ratio. I've already got so many of the Sony Boulez CDs, so I won't be picking up that box.

  9. #34
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Boulez is probably the major post WW2 composer i've checked out the least.I've heard some of his works over the years on WKCR but i've never been blown away.I've pondered buying the DG box over the last couple of years but didn't pull the trigger.

    Methinks i'll take the plunge.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  10. #35
    This is probably the most affordable and under the radar set. 14 CDs total.
    Under 25 dollars from Amazon vendors.


    http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...bum_id=1735523

  11. #36
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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  12. #37
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    Methinks i'll take the plunge
    Before spending the money, here's what I consider are his major scores. I've posted a YouTube video of what I consider his masterpiece, Repons, on the first page. If they don't interest you, probably best to leave it be unless, of course, you're wealthy and can afford to buy 14 CD boxsets.

    Rituel (In Memoriam Bruno Maderno):



    Notations I-IV & VII for orchestra (expanded and orchestrated versions of selections from an earlier piano piece):



    Pli Selon Pli, which I was lucky enough to hear at the Concertgebouw in 2007:

    Last edited by Jeremy Bender; 01-07-2016 at 06:23 PM.
    ...or you could love

  13. #38
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    ^ Dude, I ****LOVE**** both "Repons" and "Pli Selon Pli"!!!!!! I sometimes feel as though if I am alone in my adoration of those pieces - so glad you appreciate those

  14. #39
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    Mahler no. 6 is the only one I don't own on CD. And thanks to Frank's enthusiasm and encouragement, I now really love Mahler's music. A couple of years ago I couldn't get into any of it. The Boulez disc of vocal works with Anne Sophie Von Otter is the one that got me hooked. The writing for winds on those pieces really knocks me out!
    SO glad the Mahler bug bit you brother! I had Mahler recordings for years before that special night (actually a few special nights) when he finally spoke to me. Yes, he was an orchestration master/genius, and his woodwind writing is just scrumptious. How unbelievable is "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"?

    Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,
    Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben,
    Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen,
    Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!

    Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,
    Ob sie mich für gestorben hält,
    Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,
    Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.

    Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel,
    Und ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet!
    Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel,
    In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!

    I am lost to the world
    with which I used to waste so much time,
    It has heard nothing from me for so long
    that it may very well believe that I am dead!

    It is of no consequence to me
    Whether it thinks me dead;
    I cannot deny it,
    for I really am dead to the world.

    I am dead to the world’s tumult,
    And I rest in a quiet realm!
    I live alone in my heaven,
    In my love and in my song!

  15. #40
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    This is probably the most affordable and under the radar set. 14 CDs total.
    Under 25 dollars from Amazon vendors.


    http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/...bum_id=1735523
    Wow! Gonna pick this up.

  16. #41
    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    The DG box is $60 at some Amazon marketplace sellers.13 cds for 60 clams.Not bad.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  17. #42
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    ^ Dude, I ****LOVE**** both "Repons" and "Pli Selon Pli"!!!!!! I sometimes feel as though if I am alone in my adoration of those pieces - so glad you appreciate those
    Thanks! What I find interesting about them is they show how Boulez progressed a composer. Pli Selon Pli is very much hardcore serialism but by Repons his style had become a lot more flexible, with even hints of *gasp* minimalism *gasp* in it.
    ...or you could love

  18. #43
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    "For me, curiosity is life. If you are not curious, you are in your coffin."

    "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."

    "The aim of music is not to express feelings but to express music."

    “I believe a civilization that conserves is one that will decay because it is afraid of going forward and attributes more importance to memory than the future. The strongest civilizations are those without memory - those capable of complete forgetfulness. They are strong enough to destroy because they know they can replace what is destroyed. Today our musical civilization is not strong; it shows clear signs of withering… […] Conducting has forced me to absorb a great deal of history, so much so, in fact, that history seems more than ever to me a great burden. In my opinion we must get rid of it once and for all.”

  19. #44
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    I have a lot of Boulez recordings. Pli Selon Pli LP I first heard in 1979...I love Boulez numerous records as a conductor - his Bartok, Ligeti and Berg I consider top notch interpretations. Pierre Boulez was one of the XXth century Greats. His passing is a big loss in musical world. He will be missed..RIP

  20. #45
    Member Socrates's Avatar
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    Maybe scared by his rather forbidding reputation I got into Boulez much later than other 20th Century greats like Ligeti, Berio and Varese. But once I did start to listen, I was astonished how great it was. Rituel, Messagequisse and even some of the early hardcore serialist piano pieces rock like very little other music. So, to quote the leader of the chorus at the end of the 3rd movement of the Erato recording of Berio's Sinfonia: "Thank you, Mr. Boulez."

  21. #46


    Beautiful tribute from Cleveland Orchestra members.
    Last edited by Reid; 01-09-2016 at 01:45 PM.

  22. #47
    Member Oreb's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting that - it's very well done.

    Does it matter that this waste of time is what makes a life for you?

  23. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    How unbelievable is "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"?

    Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,
    Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben,
    Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen,
    Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!

    Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,
    Ob sie mich für gestorben hält,
    Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,
    Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.

    Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel,
    Und ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet!
    Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel,
    In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!

    I am lost to the world
    with which I used to waste so much time,
    It has heard nothing from me for so long
    that it may very well believe that I am dead!

    It is of no consequence to me
    Whether it thinks me dead;
    I cannot deny it,
    for I really am dead to the world.

    I am dead to the world’s tumult,
    And I rest in a quiet realm!
    I live alone in my heaven,
    In my love and in my song!
    Just finished listening to this by Janet Baker w/ Sir John Barbirolli. It's sublime! I took a few breaths, and hit the repeat button.

  24. #49
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    "Repons" and "Pli Selon Pli"!!!!!! I sometimes feel as though if I am alone in my adoration of those pieces
    Not so. There's pretty much a consensus around these two, particularly the latter.
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  25. #50
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reid View Post
    Just finished listening to this by Janet Baker w/ Sir John Barbirolli. It's sublime! I took a few breaths, and hit the repeat button.
    Never heard that version but will listen. Here is Boulez and Violeta Urmana (Vienna Phil). Glad you dig man.


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