Boulez: the power of invention? The years 1975-1995

Colloquium organized for the centenary of Pierre Boulez's birth by Pr Pierre-Michel Menger, Sociology of Creative Work Chair, and Nicolas Donin, Professor of Musicology at the University of Geneva.

With the support of the Collège de France Foundation and its major sponsor LVMH.

The colloquium will be enhanced by two concerts given by the Ensemble intercontemporain, partner of the event:

• A workshop-concert on May 22 at 6:30 pm, following on from the various presentations on the first day of the symposium, and bringing it to a close.
• A concert on May 23 at 8 pm, by invitation or pre-registration. Registration is compulsory: attending the symposium on the 23rd does not guarantee a place.

Presentation

Pierre Boulez's lectures at the Collège de France from 1977 onwards, in a chair entitled "Invention, technique and language in music", accompanied a period of intense creative and institutional activity. As a composer, Boulez confronted electronics and thematism(Répons, Dialogue de l'ombre double) and revisited in depth works from his first period(Notations, Le Visage nuptial). Boulez, conductor, applies his exacting interpretive standards both to 20^th century classics and to a new generation of composers, whom he promotes in concert and on disc. Boulez is a founder of institutions, directing the Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) and the Institut de recherche et de coordination acoustique/musique (Ircam), as well as being involved in the major musical projects of French cultural policy (Opéra Bastille, Cité de la musique). Following his retirement as director of Ircam in 1992 and of the Collège de France in 1995, Boulez embarked on a new phase in his career, focusing primarily on orchestral conducting.

These two decades coincided with a strong public exposure of Boulez's figure, particularly in France, between admiration and contestation. However, research has yet to come to grips with the complex dynamics of his multifaceted work, as it did with the Boulez of the 1950s and 1960s. The young musician who criticized institutions became the founder of an institution. What intellectual, aesthetic and logistical organization enabled Boulez to explore such varied issues, repertoires and modes of action in parallel? What role does musical invention now play in his multiple roles? What sources and reading keys could shed new light on the positions formulated in Boulez's many sayings and writings of this period?

2025 Année Boulez is supported by the French Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Philharmonie de Paris.

Session plan

Session 1 - Thinking about music at the Collège de France (May 22 - 9:30 am to 12:45 pm)
After an eclipse in the years 1970, dominated by conducting the BBC and New York orchestras, Boulez resumed his activity as an intellectual and pedagogue committed to the community, exploring new styles and formats of expression, from lectures to television broadcasts. How did the musician approach teaching at the Collège de France? Did his actions change the place given to musical knowledge at the Collège and in the French academic and media arena?

Session 2 - Boulez through the prism of the archive (May 22 - 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm)
During the composer's lifetime, Boulez research was able to draw on the collection of manuscript documents he entrusted to the Paul Sacher Foundation in 1986. Building on pioneering work prior to this bequest, several generations of researchers have revealed the diversity and complexity of the compositional operations at play in key works such as the Structures, Le Marteau sans maître and Pli selon Pli. Have the subsequent enrichment of this collection and the creation of a complementary collection at the Bibliothèque de France altered our understanding of Boulézian production? What avenues of research remain to be explored, particularly with regard to the composer's last decades of activity?

Session 3 - Spirals, drifts, fragments: the compositional style of the 1980s (May 22 - 4:15 pm to 7:30 pm)
At the same time as composing Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974-75) and Messagesquisse (1976), Boulez was turning his attention to the construction of large-scale forms and the elaboration, including theoretical, of what he called "l'enjeu thématique" in his 1983 lectures at the Collège de France. In rewriting his Notations de jeunesse for pianofor large orchestra (1980-1998 ), he made manifest a working method that has long been an integral part of his compositional practice: the revival and derivation of early works. What can we learn from analyses of works from this period? What was the relationship forged between the musician's private craft and his public discourse?

Session 4 - Music in question (May 23 - 9:30 am to 12:45 pm)
"So we question", announced Boulez in a programmatic text for Ircam in 1974. What did he actually question, and how did he do it? What forms of collective work enabled Boulez's program to take shape in scientific, technological, artistic, social and institutional achievements?Did the projects led by Boulez in the years 1970-1980 give rise to new aesthetic and theoretical categories? To answer these questions, we need to revisit the traces of his work, but also to situate it in relation to other contemporary projects, whether similar or contradictory, thus paving the way for a reassessment of the narrative constructions that accompanied it.

Session 5 - The musician on all fronts (May 23 - 2:30 to 6:15 pm)
Pierre Boulez's career has followed a dual evolutionary principle: that of compositional choices, which gradually led him to seek to renew the language and material of his creation; and that of the progressive multiplication of professional roles he exercised and juxtaposed - composer, pianist, conductor and musical director, founder of institutions, teacher, organizer. The period of his resettlement in Paris from the mid-1970s was also that of his search for greater efficiency in the exercise of these multiple roles within, notably, the Ensemble intercontemporain, Ircam and the Collège de France. How did Boulez organize his teeming work system, and what place did composition occupy in it? What were the effects of this accumulation, not only on each of these activities, but also on Boulez's reputation within the various professional worlds to which he contributed?

Plan des sessions

Session 1 – Penser la musique au Collège de France (22 mai – 09 h 30 à 12 h 45)
Après une éclipse au cours des années 1970 dominées par la direction des orchestres de la BBC et de New York, Boulez renoue avec une activité d’intellectuel et de pédagogue engagé dans la Cité, explorant de nouveaux styles et formats d’expression, du cours magistral à l’émission télévisée. Comment le musicien a-t-il abordé l’enseignement au Collège de France ? Son action a-t-elle modifié la place donnée aux savoirs musicaux au Collège et dans l’espace académique et médiatique français ?

Session 2 – Boulez au prisme de l’archive (22 mai – 14 h 30 à 16 00)
La recherche boulézienne a pu s’appuyer, du vivant du compositeur, sur le fonds de documents manuscrits qu’il a confié à la Fondation Paul Sacher en 1986. Prolongeant des travaux pionniers antérieurs à ce legs, plusieurs générations de chercheur(e)s ont révélé la diversité et la complexité des opérations compositionnelles en jeu dans des œuvres-clés telles que les livres de Structures, Le Marteau sans maître ou Pli selon Pli. L’enrichissement ultérieur de ce fonds et la constitution d’un fonds complémentaire à la Bibliothèque de France ont-ils modifié notre compréhension de la production boulézienne ? Quelles pistes de recherche reste-t-il encore à explorer, en particulier à propos des dernières décennies d’activité du compositeur ?

Session 3 – Spirales, dérives, fragments : le style compositionnel des années 1980 (22 mai – 16 h 15 à 19 h 30)
À l’époque où il compose Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974-75) et Messagesquisse (1976), Boulez se tourne vers la construction de grandes formes et l’élaboration, y compris théorique, de ce qu’il appelle « l’enjeu thématique » dans ses cours de 1983 au Collège de France. En réécrivant pour grand orchestre (1980-1998) ses Notations de jeunesse pour piano, il rend manifeste un mode de travail qui innerve sa pratique compositionnelle depuis longtemps : la reprise et la dérivation d’œuvres anciennes. Que nous apprennent les analyses des œuvres de cette période ? Quelle relation s’est tissée entre l’artisanat privé du musicien et son discours public ?

Session 4 – La musique en question (23 mai – 09 h 30 à 12 h 45)
« Donc on remet en question », annonçait Boulez dans un texte programmatique pour l’Ircam en 1974. Qu’a-t-il effectivement mis en question et comment l’a-t-il fait ? Quelles formes de travail collectif ont permis au programme boulézien de se concrétiser dans des réalisations scientifiques, technologiques, artistiques, mais aussi sociales et institutionnelles ? Les chantiers animés par Boulez au cours des années 1970-1980 ont-ils suscité de nouvelles catégories esthétiques et théoriques ? Répondre à ces questions suppose de revisiter les traces de son action, mais aussi de situer cette dernière par rapport à d’autres projets contemporains, proches ou contradictoires, ce qui ouvre la voie à une réévaluation des constructions narratives qui l’ont accompagnée.

Session 5 – Le musicien sur tous les fronts (23 mai – 14 h 30 à 18 h 15)
La carrière de Pierre Boulez connaît un double principe d’évolution : celui des choix compositionnels qui le conduisent progressivement à vouloir renouveler le langage et le matériau de sa création ; celui de la multiplication progressive des rôles professionnels qu’il exerce et qu’il juxtapose – compositeur, pianiste, chef d’orchestre et directeur musical, fondateur d’institutions, enseignant, organisateur. La période de sa réinstallation à Paris à partir du milieu des années 1970 est aussi celle de la recherche d’une efficacité supérieure dans l’exercice de ces multiples rôles au sein, notamment, de l’Ensemble intercontemporain, de l’Ircam et du Collège de France. Comment Boulez organise-t-il son foisonnant système de travail et quelle place la composition y occupe-t-elle ? Quels sont les effets du cumul, non seulement sur chacune de ces activités, mais aussi sur la réputation de Boulez au sein des différents mondes professionnels auxquels il contribue ?