大象传媒

Boulez鈥檚 shattering Second Piano Sonata, and two extraordinary works for solo clarinet - one with electronics - performed by the hugely talented musicians of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and introduced by 大象传媒 Radio 3鈥檚 Kate Molleson.

Pierre Boulez made art without compromise. 鈥淗istory as it is made by great composers is not a history of conservation, but of destruction - even while cherishing what is destroyed鈥�, he wrote, and in his explosive Second Piano Sonata of 1947-8 he set out to blast a path forward through the ruins of the western tradition. Few experiences in 20th century piano music are more visceral 鈥� or more bracing. And we鈥檒l hear Boulez explore the clarinet and the amazing things it can do in Domaines (1961) and Dialogue de l鈥檕mbre double for clarinet and tape (1985) 鈥� written 24 years later.

Don鈥檛 be misled: this is music that鈥檚 small only in the physical sense; a thrilling reminder that as well as being a radical chief conductor of the 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra, Boulez was a creator who split the musical atom - and revelled in the energy it released.