The Integrity of Boulez’s Integral Serialism: Polyphonie X and Musical Failure as Compositional Success

Abstract

In the following article, I review Boulez’s sketches for Polyphonie X alongside his initial response to the work and evidence of its early reception. I provide a window into some of the important serial processes (and, significantly, changes to these processes) that help to distinguish Boulez’s compositional priorities from his aesthetic ones. In particular, I trace Boulez’s own planning and response to the work, from his idealization of its conceptual modelling to his reaction to its actual sound, but in ways that challenge Boulez’s own claims regarding its role in his oeuvre. Thus, in contrast to Boulez’s own public descriptions of Polyphonie X, I use his sketches to challenge him in subtle ways, providing insight into the struggles, trials, and tribulations at the heart of his transition to integral serialism.

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