The 2009 Laureates / Arts and Philosophy / Music

"A Musician Who Has Consistently Set Trends through His Composition, Conducting, Writing, and Organizational Operation"
Mr. Boulez, as a composer, has greatly contributed to the contemporary music with his innovative works by advancing the musical style of serialism and then by utilizing electroacoustic technique. In addition, he has acted in a broader filed of music as a conductor, a writer and an organizer. He has demonstrated a high degree of stimulating creativity and influence in each aspect and led the world of Western music after World War II.

Labyrinth of Ideals

The poet Stéphane Mallarmé, in response to a question put to him towards the end of his life about the ideals of youth, wrote: "Whether happy or in vain, the will I had in my youth has remained intact."

I have begun with what I should probably have finished with, since if it is already difficult to sum up a life, it is impossible to foresee it or direct it as one wishes. However, it is possible to say that self-discovery takes place at the same time as self-formation. Ideals, strictly speaking, emerge from the more or less hazardous encounters, to which you react intentionally while repeating the process of accepting one thing and rejecting another.

Having instinctively grasped modernity, I wished to make it accessible to myself, to master it and understand it. At the same time, I was fully aware that I was not equipped with the tools to do so; that is, I had no mastery of language, grammar or style. So I definitely had to begin at this learning stage.

This necessity for learning has resulted in a line of action for me which was initially rigid but has gradually become flexible.

All this has, of course, happened through an indispensable given material: sound, and at a time of confrontation between traditional materials and resources expanded by electronics.

Questions continue to emerge, and to find autonomous answers to them, it is necessary to embrace a strong ideal. Can this ideal be expressed in exact words? Impossible. It is really impossible to answer. If you knew the answer, how could you then write or produce anything? Anyway, my motivation is the unknown that is inside of me and that cannot be known exactly until it is given shape. The path of ideals is thus constructed by successive provisional steps.

I would like to close by citing once again Mallarmé's response to the question about ideals of youth: "I was faithful enough to myself to ensure that my humble life has maintained a meaning." I would like to add that "humble" is not just a word, but it is a very realistic observation, considering the difficulty and scale of the project undertaken.