List of compositions by Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez in 1968.

A list of works by the French composer Pierre Boulez.

Compositions

Published

  • Douze Notations for piano (1945).
  • Sonatine for flute et piano (1946; revised 1949).
  • Piano Sonata No. 1 (1946; revised 1949).
  • Le Visage nuptial for soprano, mezzo-soprano, chorus and orchestra (1946; revised 1951; revised 1988–89)
  • Piano Sonata No. 2 (1948)
  • Livre pour quatuor (1948, revised 2011–12); two movements were reworked for string orchestra as Livre pour cordes (1968; revised 1989)
  • Le Soleil des eaux for soprano, chorus and orchestra (1948; revised 1950; revised 1958; revised 1965); text: 2 poems by René Char
  • Deux Études, musique concrète (1951–52)
  • Structures I for two pianos (1951–52)
  • Le Marteau sans maître for alto voice and six instruments (1953–55; revised 1957)
  • La Symphonie mécanique musique concrète for a film by Jean Mitry (1955)
  • L'Orestie incidental music for Aeschylus' trilogy the Oresteia, for voice and instrumental ensemble (1955)
  • Piano Sonata No. 3 (1955–57/63); unfinished
  • Le Crépuscule de Yang Koueï-Fei musique concrète for the radiophonic play by Louise Fauré (1957)
  • Pli selon pli for soprano and orchestra (1957–58, as Improvisations sur Mallarmé I and II; completed 1959–62; revised 1983; revised 1989)
  • Structures II for two pianos (1961)
  • Figures—Doubles—Prismes for orchestra (1957–58, as Doubles; revised 1964; revised 1968)
  • Éclat for ensemble (1965)
  • Domaines for clarinet (1968)
  • Domaines for clarinet and six instrumental groups (1968)
  • Cummings ist der Dichter for chorus and ensemble (1970; revised 1986)
  • Éclat/Multiples (1970); Éclat followed by a longer piece for a larger ensemble; unfinished
  • Rituel – in memoriam Bruno Maderna for orchestra in eight groups (1974)
  • Ainsi parla Zarathoustra incidental music for voice and ensemble (1974)
  • Messagesquisse for solo cello and six cellos (1976)
  • Répons for two pianos, harp, vibraphone, xylophone, cimbalom, ensemble and live electronics (1980; revised and expanded 1982; revised and expanded 1984)
  • Dérive 1 for six instruments (1984)
  • Dialogue de l'ombre double for clarinet and electronics (1985)
  • Mémoriale (…explosante-fixe… originel) for flute and ensemble (1985); an arrangement of the central section from the withdrawn work ...explosante-fixe...
  • Initiale for brass ensemble (1987)
  • Dérive 2 for eleven instruments (1988; revised 2002; expanded and completed 2006)
  • Anthèmes for violin (1991; revised and expanded 1994)
  • Fanfare for the 80th Birthday of Georg Solti for brass and percussion (1992; originally titled Dérive 3)
  • …explosante-fixe… for solo MIDI flute, two "shadow" flutes, chamber orchestra, and electronics (1991–93); three of nine projected movements
  • Incises for piano (1994; revised and expanded 2001)
  • Anthèmes II for violin and live electronics (1997)
  • sur Incises for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists (1996–98)
  • Une page d’éphéméride for piano (2005)

Unpublished

  • Nocturne for piano (1944–45), unpublished.
  • Prélude, toccata et scherzo for piano (1944–45), unpublished.
  • Trois Psalmodies for piano (1945); unpublished, withdrawn.
  • Thème et variations for piano, left hand (1945); unpublished.
  • Quatuor pour quatre ondes Martenot (Quartet for four ondes Martenot) (1945–46), unpublished.
  • Onze Notations (1946); arrangement for chamber ensemble of eleven of the Douze notations, unpublished.
  • Symphonie concertante for piano and orchestra (1947); lost
  • Sonata for Two Pianos (1948); revision of the quartet for Ondes Martenot; withdrawn
  • Polyphonie X for ensemble (1950–51); withdrawn
  • Oubli signal lapidé for 12 solo voices (1952); withdrawn
  • Poésie pour pouvoir for tape and 3 orchestras (1955/58); withdrawn
  • Strophes for flute (1957); unfinished
  • Improvisé—pour le Dr. Kalmus for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello (1969; revised 2005), unpublished.
  • …explosante-fixe… for flute, clarinet, and trumpet (1971–72); withdrawn
  • …explosante-fixe… new version for flute, clarinet, trumpet, harp, vibraphone, violin, viola, cello, and electronics (1973–74); withdrawn
  • …explosante-fixe… version for vibraphone and electronics (1986); withdrawn

Revisions of previous works

Sources

  • Campbell, Edward, and Peter O'Hagan. 2016. Pierre Boulez Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-06265-8, pp. 25–55.
  • Goldman, Jonathan. 2011. The Musical Language of Pierre Boulez. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-67320-5, pp. 215–217.
  • Griffiths, Paul. 1978. Boulez (Oxford Studies of Composers). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-315442-0, pp. 62–63.
  • Hopkins, G. W., and Paul Griffiths. 2011. "Boulez, Pierre", Grove Music Online, ed. Deane Root (accessed 6 January 2016). (Subscription access)
  • Samuel, Claude (ed.). 2002. Eclats 2002. Paris: Mémoire du Livre. ISBN 2-913867-14-6, p. 421–430.