Abstract
Pierre Boulez has a unique relationship with archives and libraries. The composer, who wanted to "burn libraries" and made them the site of the tension between memory and creation, was himself interested in the archives of others, and took care to preserve his own manuscripts, which he donated to the Paul Sacher Foundation during his lifetime. However, at the time of his death, his house in Baden-Baden and his Parisian apartments still housed a varied set of archives and documents, which, in library terms, amounted to over 200 linear meters: correspondence, diaries, photographs, documentation, institutional archives, accounting archives, but also scores, books, recordings, prizes and objects. In 2017, Pierre Boulez's estate donated this important collection to BnF, which also holds several of the composer's musical manuscripts.
This talk will present two parts of the Boulez collection at the BnF: his archives from the 1970s onwards, and his conducting scores, annotated for the analysis, direction and correction of music. We'll look at the avenues of research opened up by these documents, particularly in terms of Boulez's activities as an institution-builder and conductor, and what they say about his relationship with the archive and the score.
