Table of Contents

1. Introduction; Part I. Form as Opposition in the Writings of Pierre Boulez: 2. Writings from the first period: serialist doctrine, the open work, and strategies of rhetorical displacement; 3. A portrait of Webern, a self-portrait of Boulez; 4. Form, thematicism and perceptual categories in the writings from the 1970s to the present; Part II. Form as Opposition in Selected Works by Pierre Boulez: 5. Introduction to Part II: analysis by, of, in and according to Boulez; 6. Rituel and the architecture of antiphony; 7. Dérive 1 and harmonic control; 8. Mémoriale and polar mechanics; 9. Anthèmes and virtual thematics; 10. Incises and the play of recognition and surprise; 11. Boulezian form in theory and practice; Writings by Boulez; Chronological list of works and bibliography of writings classified by work; Selected recordings of works studied.

Promotional Information

A fresh look at the musical universe of arguably one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century.

About the Author

Jonathan Goldman is Associate Professor of Musicology at the Université de Montréal, and specializes in twentieth-century music history. Editor-in-Chief of the journal Circuit, musiques contemporaines, he wrote the preface to Leçons de musique (2005), a collection of Boulez's writings published in France.

Reviews

'The Musical Language of Pierre Boulez … is chock-full of examples … There are also necessarily ample quotations from Boulez'[s] writings. It's produced to Cambridge University Press's usual high standards and can be recommended for anyone even vaguely interested in modern music … The job Goldman sets out to do he succeeds at credibly and impressively.' Mark Sealey, Classical Net (classical.net)