WHY?

Why bach to boulez? There are more Bach to Brahms concerts happening today and an extreme lack of Berg to Boulez. In each of the periods of Western Music, there were changes that defined each period. Often the changes were painful and conservative elements tried their best to hold on to the old ways. In most cases the changes upset the ears and senses of the concert goers. If Bach, in 1749, had heard Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique or even Mozart's Jupiter symphony, he would mostly likely have called them the works of the devil. But the Western mind did adapt. The best case in that argument is the struggle between the "Wagner" school and the conservative "Brahms/Hanslick" school. As a composer in that period, you would have to choose which school to follow at least in the world of Vienna. In France and Russia changes were coming in reaction to both schools of thought. Impressionism in France and the nationalism of the Mighty Five in Russia. BUT the audiences adapted! In the first half of the 20th century everything changed as schools of composition popped up everywhere, usually with the audiences either raving or kicking and screaming. What an exciting time that was as Stravinsky, Hindemith, Bartok and Schoenberg(just to name a "few") unleashed upon the world their masterpieces! WE ADAPTED, or did we. Tonality was pushed to its limit and in many cases ripped asunder.

It is my belief that Pierre Boulez is the greatest living composer. His works are tough to listen to but given some education, anybody could understand and appreciate his works. His is a formidable voice! His masterpiece "Pli Selon Pli" must be heard as it is a great work. The composer spent 32 years creating this work, the least we can do is listen to it and not just through speakers in our living rooms. Why not in the concert halls of North America? The attitude today is to schedule what pleases the ear and NOT the brain. As a young man of eighteen years old, I first heard Webern's Five Pieces, opus 5 and loved it.....still do! Webern's Opus 6 pieces for large orchestra(totally serial) are beautiful and serene! George Rochberg's Symphony No.2, the first American serial symphony to be written, is a glorious and easily accessible work! All these works should be known BUT sadly are absent in the concert halls. SHAME!!

Enough with back to Bach.....it is time to look back to Boulez!