Remembering Pierre Boulez

On his first encounter with Boulez.

‘The first time I had the honour and great pleasure of working with Boulez was as a teenager in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, when we were hugely lucky that he came to conduct The Rite of Spring. It was immediately obvious that he could hear things in a way that was very hard to understand.

In this huge orchestra that you have for The Rite of Spring, Boulez was picking out the 3rd oboe or the 4th percussion, saying ‘Excuse me, I think you’re a little slow, sharp or flat’, and doing it in the most gentle, calm and polite way. Throughout my career, when I had the honour to play for Boulez, it was unvarying, always gentle, calm and with no sense of panic.’

He taught us very quickly and very easily what was important.

On performing under his guidance.

‘Although we were often playing pieces of terrifying complexity it didn’t really seem to matter, because with Boulez in charge he taught us very quickly and very easily what was important. He was a complete rock and he never displayed any worries at all. And for all his reputation for having a ferocious intellect, he had the most gentle flowing hand movements, always the hand, never with the baton. Nothing to beat us with.

If anyone was confused, he would carry on conducting with that wonderful fluid hand, and then the other hand would come up like the most polite traffic policeman, saying your time will come. And then when the time did come, he’d have a wonderful gesture inviting you to play. I almost looked forward to the times when those little mistakes happened (although preferably not by me).’

On what Boulez’s music means to composers and audiences today.

‘Boulez showed us that whatever ingenuity and complexity might go into the composition of the piece, when you play or listen to it, you should be no more worried about how he organised the material than you would with any other composer. For instance, when we listen to Debussy, we hear the wonderful colours and the passion of the harmonies, but even Debussy has a very elusive way of structuring pieces so you can never quite remember how you got to where you are. It just seemed quite natural and inevitable at the time. And that has a valuable lesson when listening to someone like Boulez.

There was this idea that unless you’ve got a higher degree in mathematics, you won’t stand a chance of understanding the music. Instead, you should listen to it as wonderful groups of sounds. Of characters, voices who interact. I don’t think he would ever use these words, but he had a wonderful way of putting ornaments and trills into his music which make them sparkle, but also give them an internal life.’

On Boulez’s relationship with the LSO.

‘I first played with the LSO in 1983, and I would say that Boulez had a very warm relationship with the Orchestra. It was clear if Boulez came that there might be some new music in the offing but that it was going to be done with such expertise.

It was always a pleasure. Challenging, but such was his expertise, his ears, his courtesy and patience that I always remember looking forward to his visits. He was one of the most pleasant conductors to work with without question.’