Pierre Boulez Research Paper

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Pierre Boulez, an inspirational composer, conductor, and music theorist of the late 20th century, was born in Montbrison, France, on March 26, 1925. When growing up, he learned that he had greatly excelled in both music and mathematics. Originally student at a technical school, he began studying mathematics. He also studied music and engineering. After deciding to pursue a career in music, he became a student at Paris Conservatoire. While attending Paris Conservatory, Boulez was greatly influenced by his teacher, Oliver Messiaen, who was also a conductor and organist. Although Boulez found his teacher to be a very respectable man, he disagreed with the way he had interpreted music and disliked the way new ideas were not dispersed with his …show more content…

This led to music involving indeterminate or aleatoric techniques. This writing style left the notes, duration, and especially the music, all up to the composer. With these new techniques, writers like Boulez could then decide where in each piece the repetition would happen. Since there were so many different alternatives that the composer could choose, no two pieces sounded the same. For example, Boulez’s third sonata for piano was printed in several different colors of ink, in order to show each performer different “routes” in which they could chose from. This approach was very different from Americans.
As time went on, Boulez decided to write more music for voice accompanying small group. For example, in his piece “Le Marteau sans maître”, Boulez creates a piece for an alto voice accompanying 6 instruments that came from a setting of three different poems written by Rene Char, a surrealist poet. As this piece demonstrates a structural foundation and serial music, it is actually known for it’s luscious sound. Two other pieces that Boulez has graciously used this form include Le Soleil des eaux of 1957 and Improvisations sur Mallarmé of

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