# Top 5 Musical Achievements of Pierre Boulez?



## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

So what do you think, what are his 5 best compositions?


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

That's easy. Le marteau sans maître, Pli selon pli, Rituel, Répons, Sur incises.

Personal favorites: Le soleil des eaux (version recorded by Désormière et al.), ...explosante fixe... (version with MIDI flute)


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2016)

Along with the usual suspects, I would contend that every list should include the five _Notations_ for orchestra.


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

Hmmm... now I realize that I've left out Éclat-Multiples, and I feel bad. Maybe not so easy after all.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

In considering the "Top 5 Musical _Achievements_ of Pierre Boulez" I would suggest that perhaps all of those achievements are not necessarily his own compositions. Boulez, after all, was perhaps our time's primary promoter of contemporary music, an achievement that brought many of our modernistic composers to our attention. I cannot think of a more prominent spokesman for contemporary music, especially of the "new" or avant-garde variety. Those of us who may not necessarily listen to _Le marteau sans maître_, _Pli selon pli_, _Rituel_, _Répons_, _Sur incises_, _Notations_, _Éclat-Multiples_, or _...explosante fixe... _ may instead be fans of one or more of the contemporary composers Boulez championed, whether at Darmstadt or Donaueshingen, or through IRCAM ... or with many of the great orchestras he worked with, or through his recordings of 20th century composers. Indeed, even aside from his compositions, Boulez was a force in modern music. Maybe_ the_ force.


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

SONNET CLV said:


> ...Boulez was a force in modern music. Maybe_ the_ force.


This much I agree with. By his genius and force of will he kept high music partly alive for a while; maybe Nabokov accomplished something comparable in literature; I can't think of any contemporaneous visual artist who quite cut it at the same level.

I would maintain, however, that his compositions _were_ his most important achievements - among many others important in their own right, of course.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

What I'm listening most at the moment:

Éclat/multiples
Messagesquisse
Notations pour Orchestre
Dérive 2
Sur incises

not necessarily any of his top achievements


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2016)

Harold in Columbia said:


> I would maintain, however, that his compositions _were_ his most important achievements - among many others important in their own right, of course.


I dunno.... Darmstadt and IRCAM are pretty f'in big deals. And I love Boulez's music to no end, so I must mean it.


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## Harold in Columbia (Jan 10, 2016)

I think the most important thing about IRCAM may ultimately turn out to be that it gave Boulez a reason to write Répons; likewise with regard to Darmstadt, that it maybe gave Boulez a reason to write Le marteau sans maître (if you find Joan Peyser's interpretation of events convincing, anyway).


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Musical achievements must surely include PB's very capable conducting abilities.


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