Boulez, Pierre (1925- ), French composer, conductor, and pianist, born in Montbrison. He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire in 1945. His principal teacher was the French composer Olivier Messiaen. Boulez became music director of the Renaud-Barrault Company at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris in 1948. During the late 1940s and '50s he composed a great deal of critically acclaimed, highly experimental music, based on the twelve-tone system, including works scored for electronic instruments. His compositions include three piano sonatas, an orchestral work Pli selon pli (Fold on Fold, 1957-62), and Domaines (1968) for solo clarinet and other instruments. Boulez also wrote music criticism. In the 1960s he gained recognition as staff conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and the British Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra. From 1971 to 1978 he was music director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He subsequently returned to Paris to do musical-acoustical research, then came back to New York in 1986 to perform his own music with the Ensemble InterContemporain.
"Boulez, Pierre," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
