IRCAM and the Ensemble Intercontemporain—two sister institutions, deeply connected and complementary—come together to celebrate the centenary of their founder. For this occasion, they are joined by the Ensemble NEXT from the Conservatoire de Paris. Pierre Boulez’s lifelong commitment to musical transmission is reflected in three major works of mixed music, placed in the hands of young musicians. Dialogue de l’ombre double, borrowing its title from Paul Claudel, shapes its dramaturgy through space. ...explosante-fixe... takes its name from André Breton’s famous declaration—‘Convulsive beauty will be erotic-veiled, explosante-fixe, magical-circumstantial, or it will not be’—unleashing the power of proliferating musical writing. A similar principle guides Anthèmes 2, an expansion of a solo violin piece. Its final page, marked ‘with a deliberate but not ostentatious gesture,’ leaves an indelible, open-ended impression.

Coproduced by IRCAM-Centre Pompidou, Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, Ensemble intercontemporain, associate ensemble of the Academy. With the support of the Maison de la Musique Contemporaine.