Boulez at Almost 85
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71426c23-e34d-479f-a92f-a9eea3a6cd63_241x320.jpeg)
Last Sunday I drove to Chicago to attend the "A Tribute to Boulez @85" concert. I purchased my tickets in December and had been waiting for this concert for weeks. (Sorry I didn't post about this sooner - I've actually been...composing...go figure.)
Admittedly, I haven't been a huge fan of Boulez. I was first introduced to recordings of his music in high school (more than 10 years ago) and I wasn't sold, and I heard some other pieces while I was in college, and I knew it was over my head. I think my problem was that I never listened to his works live.
During intermission of this particular concert I realized that my experience of appreciating Boulez is roughly the same as my experience for appreciating baseball. As a kid, I hated baseball: I thought it was pointless and ridiculously slow. Watching the game on TV obviously didn't help me appreciate the game, and the only thing I liked about listening to the ballgame on the radio was hearing Vin Scully advertise Farmer John's Hot Dogs. (Y…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Why Compose When You Can Blog? to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.