Music is a labyrinth with no beginning and no end, Pierre Boulez More Quotes by Pierre Boulez More Quotes From Pierre Boulez All the people with whom I was very close at one point in my life - Stockhausen, Berio, Ligeti, Nono, Bernd Alois Zimmermann - they are all gone. Pierre Boulez my-lifegonelifepeople My parents were so far from the music world that they couldn't conceive how you could make a living. But for me, it was the only solution for the rest of my life. Pierre Boulez meyoumusiclife I always think the relationship between a teacher and a student should be short and maybe violent. You don't need to spend years together. All you need is an explosion: you are the material to explode; the teacher is the detonator. Pierre Boulez youtogetherteacherrelationship Certainly I was a bully. I'm not ashamed of it at all. The hostility of the establishment to what you were able to do in the Forties and Fifties was very strong. Sometimes you have to fight against your society. Pierre Boulez fightyousocietysometimes I almost chose the career of an ethnomusicologist because I was so fascinated by that music. It gives a different feeling of time. Pierre Boulez careerfeelingmusictime People see me as a theoretician, but my music is also seductive, even spiritual. Pierre Boulez memusicspiritualpeople The first time I came to New York in 1952, I was busy with music. I made the acquaintance at this period with John Cage, and also the acquaintance of Varese for the first time. We were very good friends. He gave me some scores, and we recorded them a little later. Pierre Boulez goodmemusictime I discovered 'Rite of Spring' when I was 21. As a matter of fact, not with orchestra first, because it was still a work which was not often performed. Don't forget that I was 19 in 1944, still the Occupation time. So it was performed slightly after the end of the war, in 1945. Pierre Boulez endworktimewar Webern was a kind of 'Kamchatka of music,' an unknown country of music. That's true; for me and people of my generation, he was a radical - you couldn't be more radical than he was. Pierre Boulez meyoumusicpeople Acting and performing music is exactly the same. Therefore, an actor, for instance, who is very impressive, he's not simply imitating or trying to imitate, but he must dominate this kind of feeling, and then he transmits it in a much stronger way. Pierre Boulez feelingstrongermusicway I always admired very much the virtuosity in Strauss because, really, he's a master of using the orchestra. And I like virtuosity, I must say, even if the taste of the music is not always mine. Pierre Boulez saylikealwaysmusic Some members of the Vienna Philharmonic convinced me to try Bruckner, which I have never done before. And that was interesting to me to have this experience with this orchestra, which knows the repertoire very well, and to be confronted with this knowledge, and to learn from them. Pierre Boulez nevermeexperienceknowledge I am not nostalgic about things. When you have a kind of improvement, I am not nostalgic about the past. Pierre Boulez i-amyouimprovementpast In business, in the music world, people know that I can be very friendly and warm but that, after a certain moment, the business is closed. I like to be alone: in order to concentrate on my work, the social life does not exist. It has never existed for me, really. I have chosen instead the working life because I prefer that. Pierre Boulez alonemusicworklife
