Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez was a French composer, conductor, writer, and organizer of institutions. Born on March 26, 1925 in Montbrison, France, he studied with Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire from 1942 to 1945. Boulez inherited Messiaen's concern with rhythm, non-developing forms, and extra-European music along with the Schönberg tradition of Leibowitz. His early works were intense and disruptive, reflecting the clash of these influences. Boulez became a leader of the European avant-garde and created key postwar works such as "Le marteau sans maître" (1954). In addition to his creative output, he also had a successful career as a conductor.

In the mid-1960s, Boulez began appearing widely as a conductor and held positions as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1971-1974) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1971-1978). However, his creative output declined during this time. He focused on conducting while working on three big aleatory works inspired by Mallarmé but only completed one definitively finished work - "Rituel" for orchestra (1975).

Since the mid-1970s, Boulez has concentrated on his work as director of the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique in Paris where he oversees a computer studio. One of his main works