Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez
leading the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, 2010
photo: Hiroyuki Ito for NY Times
(source: NY Times)
no copyright infringement intended

Pierre Boulez (1915-2016) belonged to an extraordinary generation of European composers who, while still in their 20s, came to the forefront during the decade or so after World War II. They wanted to change music radically, and Pierre Boulez took a leading role. His Marteau Sans Maître remains a central work of modern music. As a conductor he proved a keen ear and rhythmic incisiveness, and there are countless stories of him detecting faulty intonation from the third oboe in a complex orchestral texture (NYT).

Pierre Boulez, Composer and Conductor Who Pushed Modernism’s Boundaries, Dies at 90

• Le Marteau sans maître

(Musica Nova)