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Has Boulez's been a pernicious influence?

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Author Topic: Has Boulez's been a pernicious influence?  (Read 4057 times)
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ahinton
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« on: February 23, 2012, 09:25:54 am »

Boulez as a conductor has never disproportionately favoured the presentation of his own music above that of other composers, he has conducted the music of quite a few composers younger than himself and he has continued to widen his repertoire
Yes, he's always had an eye to the main chance financially  :o
I had thought that the article sought to imply a widely held opinion that Maître Boulez was so heavily funded by the French taxpayer that he'd have had no need to concern himself with such trivial considerations...

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As far as his influence on other composers goes, there is no doubting it but it has too often been grossly over-emphasised.

Surely the overall influence is Messiaen's - relayed somewhat by his pupil Boulez?
I wouldn't have thought that either composer's influence could reasonably be regarded as all-pervasive these days, frankly - and let's not forget that, as in the case of the "dead" Schoenberg morphing into a composer whose work's importance to Boulez came to be illustrated by Boulez's considerable promotion of it through performances, so his one-time tasteless brothel crawling teacher Messiaen came to be well served by Boulez in the same manner; sometimes, however - even in such circumstances - it is hard to forgive the indiscretions of firebranded youth...

What is ultimately frustrating about Boulez is perhaps not his work itself - but the way he has indeed been presented as the 'Great White Light' (and prescribed as Set Works for A-Level exams etc).
Yes, I think that this is true; it would be difficult, for example, to dream up a reasonable and credible explanation as to why Boulez has been lauded to the skies to the extent that he has when his even less prolific but immensely important compatriot Dutilleux has merely garnered respect and admiration for his work as a composer without ever desiring to assume the rôle of French Music's de Gaulle; it's interesting, incidentally, that even now relations between the two composers are now said to be most cordial, Boulez the conductor has still done very little for Dutilleux's music. Disproportionality seems sadly to be the order of the day here.
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