In 2025, Pierre Boulez's centenary will be celebrated with a series of events, including rediscoveries of his unpublished works and new commissions from contemporary composers. This global tribute will honor his lasting impact on music and pedagogy.
2025 will be marked by the celebration of the centenary of Pierre Boulez, a major composer of 20th-century contemporary music. Through concerts, unpublished editions, and commissions to current composers, the music scene will pay tribute to this genius of the avant-garde, an essential figure in music and pedagogy, as well as a builder of cultural institutions. The event aims to “reflect and bring to life his personality,” according to Laurent Bayle, former General Director of the Philharmonie de Paris and curator of this celebration.
A “giant” of music
Culture Minister Rachida Dati praised Boulez's legacy, emphasizing that he was a “giant” whose work “honors France and shines throughout the world.” This recognition extends well beyond French borders, as tributes to this master of contemporary music will be spread across the globe.
One of the cornerstones of this celebration will be the rediscovery of unpublished or previously marginalized works. Boulez had, in fact, conceived several of his compositions as "work in progress," pieces open to evolution, sometimes modifiable over time. Laurent Bayle, who maintained a close relationship with the composer, highlights that Boulez had even created a catalog in which some works were not included. “Researchers, academics, musicians asked to be able to perform them,” he explains. This year will thus allow these works to be reintegrated into the official catalog.
Unfinished work
Among these unpublished pieces, five youthful piano works from 1943 to 1945, such as Psalmodie 0, Nocturnes, and Thème et variations for the left hand, will be published and made available for pianists. Other compositions, such as Polyphonie X (1951), a work for 18 instruments, or Poésie pour pouvoir (1958), a piece for tape and orchestra, which Boulez himself had removed from the catalog, will also be rediscovered and performed. Finally, the unfinished work Notation VIII for orchestra, left incomplete after Boulez's death in 2016, will be completed by composer Philippe Manoury. It will have its world premiere in 2027 with the Orchestre de Paris.
The concerts dedicated to Boulez will begin this Monday at the Philharmonie de Paris, an institution he helped shape. The program will include emblematic works such as Répons, which explores real-time sound transformation through electronics, with the collaboration of artists from IRCAM. Other events will take place throughout the year, notably at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Maison de la Radio, and in several international cities, including Berlin, London, and Tokyo. In March, Benjamin Millepied's company will perform a Boulez work combining music and dance.
Musical commissions
The transmission of his legacy continues through the commissioning of 19 new works from contemporary composers, funded by the Pierre Boulez Foundation, IRCAM, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and the Lucerne Festival Academy, all institutions created by Boulez himself. To centralize these initiatives, a dedicated website, pierreboulez.org, has been launched by the Philharmonie de Paris, providing complete access to the event program, the catalog of works, as well as audiovisual archives.
Thus, the year 2025 promises to be a true festival of Pierre Boulez's legacy, which continues to guide and inspire current generations of musicians and creators.
With AFP
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