In 1949, Pierre Boulez completed several movements of the Livre pour quatuor (1949-1959), the first strictly serial music for string quartet. If cerebral music exists, its essence is captured in this quartet music.
In those same years, Greek-French composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) believed that Boulez’s serialism was child’s play for a mathematician. Just as an architect develops his designs on the drawing board—and Xenakis was initially an architect!—he composed his sounding objects, often with the help of computers for the calculations, such as string quartet ST/4-1,080262 (1962).
Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) – Livre pour quatuor (1949/59)
- Livre Ia, 2. Livre Ib, 3. Livre II, 4. Livre IIIa, 5. Livre IIIb, 6. Livre IIIc, 7. Livre V, 8. Livre VI
Performed by: Quatuor Parisii
CD: Decca
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) – ST/4-1,080262, op.5 (1962)
Performed by: Arditti Quartet
CD: naïve classique
