ECU Libraries Catalog

Conversations with Boulez : thoughts on conducting / by Jean Vermeil ; translated from the French by Camille Naish.

Author/creator Boulez, Pierre, 1925-2016
Other author/creatorVermeil, Jean.
Format Book and Print
Publication InfoPortland, OR : Amadeus Press, ©1996.
Description255 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Subject(s)
Uniform titleConversations de Pierre Boulez sur la direction d'orchestre avec Jean Vermeil. English
Contents Preface for Jean Batigne: "To the Czar!" -- A journey -- Conducting to compose -- Choosing the works -- On gestures -- Pleasure and authority -- Rehearsing -- Recording -- Settings -- Audiences -- France and its orchestras -- The future -- Education of conductors and the changing of the guard -- Colleagues -- Body language / Paul Griffiths -- Selection of programs conducted by Boulez.
Abstract A giant of postwar music and the most powerful figure in the contemporary French music scene, Pierre Boulez is widely known to American and English audiences as both an important composer and as star conductor of the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. These candid interviews give us vintage Boulez--his bold views, enigmatic wit, practical wisdom, and uncompromising beliefs. Here the eminent composer, who has been called both "a wild man of the avant-garde" and "the last true maestro" (New York Times), talks about being one of the world's most controversial conductors and daring programmers of musical taste. Boulez sometimes locks horns with French author Jean Vermeil, who confronts him with his past and prods him to discuss the future of music and orchestras. Boulez tells how and why he chose his battles and lays out his vision of the conductor's mission. He tells what he learned--and didn't learn--from other conductors, and how he feels about the composers who comprise his repertoire, including Webern, Berg, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Messiaen (with whom he studied), and, of course, Boulez himself.
General noteTranslation of: Conversations de Pierre Boulez sur la direction d'orchestre avec Jean Vermeil.
General note"Selection of concerts conducted by Boulez": pages 179-244.
Bibliography noteIncludes discography (pages 245-249) and index.
LCCN 95020952
ISBN1574670077

Available Items

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML458 .B6813 1996 ✔ Available Place Hold