Stravinsky Letters to Pierre Boulez

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Stravinsky: Letters to Pierre BoulezAuthor(s): Robert Craft and StravinskySource: The Musical Times, Vol. 123, No. 1672 (Jun., 1982), pp. 396-402Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/964114

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Stravinsky: L e t t e r s to P i e r r e B o u l e z

Robert Craft

According to Peter Heyworth's New Yorkerprofile ofPierreBoulez (24 and 31 March 1974), 'of all the com-

poserswho haveemergedsince the war,Boulez,both as aman and a musician,was for yearsthe closest to Stravin-

sky'. (In fact Elliott Carterwascloser,and for farlonger.)Mr Heyworth goes on: 'Stravinskyand Boulez had firstmet at a party in Virgil Thomson's apartment n NewYork in 1952 ... It is inconceivable that [Stravinsky]could have been unaware of Boulez's assaults on hisneoclassic music'. What really is inconceivable is that

Stravinskywould have attended had he been aware ofBoulez's role in these assaults. Stravinskywas fully in-formed of the controversysurroundinga festival of hismusic in Paris afterthe Liberation,but his dossieron the

affair, with cuttings and letters from Nadia Boulanger,Manuel Rosenthal, Marcelle de Manziarly and others,does not mention Boulez.' Stravinsky's wn letters of thetime show his understanding f Parisianmusicalpolitics,as when he writes of the 'sincere and spontaneousmanifestationsagainstthe Rite in 1913, comprehensiblebecause of the violent character f this score',but 'doubtsthe spontaneity of a howling manifestationagainst the

Norwegian Moods, the elements that could provokeboisterous protestations being totally absent2 . . . Unless Iam mistaken,it seems that once the violent has been ac-

cepted, the amiable n turn is no longertolerable'.3Not until March 1966did Stravinsky earnthat Boulez

had beenringleader

of theclaque against

theMoods;

hiswas when PierreSuvchinskysent him a copy of Boulez'sbookRelevesd'apprenti.Afterreading t, Stravinskywrote

1 Stravinskywas familiarwith only one name, Rene Leibowitz,thanks to a letterabout him fromAndreSchaeffner 1 Sept 1946).In spiteof Schaeffner'sdisparage-ment, StravinskygrantedLeibowitz an interview n Hollywoodin Dec 1947.Thisseems to have revivedStravinsky'snterest n Schoenberg: oonafter,he ordereda

copy of Schoenberg's Models for Beginners in Composition.2 Writing o Stravinsky23June 1949), IgorMarkevichdescribes he Osloorches-

tra's reaction to the Four NorwegianMoods: At the first rehearsal, he players'smiles came as a surprise.Most of the elements . . . were familiar,but the musi-cians were astonished o find these elements in a context so remote from the sen-timental one in whichthey aregenerallyexpressed.Someperformerswerefuriousand refusedto play, imagining hatyou weremockingNorway!I had quitea time

persuading hem that you had no such intention ... At the sametime, I becamesomewhat anxiousabout what the public reactionwouldbe. Nevertheless ... the

musiciansentered nto the spiritof the music more and more anddevelopedsuch ataste for it that they playedthe concertsuperbly'.3 letter to Rosenthal, 12 Jan 1946, in French; letters in French in this article

translatedby KristinCrawford

Thisarticle s a versionof a chaptero appear n a later volumeofRobertCraft's 'Stravinsky: electedCorrespondence'f whichvol.iispublishedhissummerbyAlfredA. Knopf New York) nd Faber

(London).

396

on its title-page: Les rares mots de sa dialectique m'epa-tent de moins en moins. Pourvu qu'il n'arrivepas a lameme chose avec sa musique'. Stravinskyattacheda cut-

ting from Le monde 29 March 1966) to the cover of thebook, a blurbdescribing he contents as 'les ecrits du plusgrandmusicien et penseurde'la musique d'aujourd'hui',underscored he.words 'plus grand'and 'penseur'in red

pencil and placed interrogationmarksnext to them.That Boulez'swritingsantedatedhis acquaintancewith

Stravinskymade no difference to the older man, whonever forgavecriticismof his music from any quarterat

any time: had.he seen Boulez's attackswhen they were

published, no meeting would have taken place. Releves

d'apprenti, ven more than the disastrouspresentationof

Threni n Paris in 1958, was the underlyingprovocationfor Stravinsky's ubsequentcomments on Boulez and forthe 1970 'public withdrawal'(as Mr Heyworth charac-terizesit) of what Stravinsky ermed his 'earlier"extrava-

gant advocacy" .4

The oldercomposer irst heardBoulez's name andmethismusic in Baden-Baden n October 1951, when HeinrichStrobelplayeda tapeof Hans Rosbaud'sDonaueschingenperformanceof PolyphonieX. The next encounter took

place the following yearat a concertin the Petit Theatredes Champs-Elysees, 7 May 1952, when Boulez andOlivierMessiaen5playedan instalmentof Boulez's Struc-

tures;and 23 May, in the Salle de l'Ancien Conservatoirewhen Stravinsky,with Nadia Boulangerand the presentwriter,attendedan eveningof musique oncretehat inclu-ded Boulez's Etude a un son.6

In September1952 Stravinskyattendedseveralrehear-sals anda performance f PolyphonieX in Hollywood.Butbetween Virgil Thomson's party, in December of that

4 Letter in the Los Angeles Times (23 June 1970)5 Stravinskyhad been familiarwith Messiaen'smusic since the end of World War

II but had not seen the composerbefore. At Suvchinsky's request, Stravinskycabled a 50th-birthdaygreeting to Messaien from London, 11 Dec 1958: 'Mywarmest greetings to the great French musician for a new half-century'.For

Stravinsky's80th birthday, Messiaen sent a 'Strophe of the grive musicienn

[thrush],collected for Igor Stravinsky,25 May 1962, at the edge of the forest,

Olivier Messiaen'. The music, in one voice only, consistsof about a dozen shortfigures,most of them repeated hree, four and five times. The range s threeocta-ves and a 5th; no instrument s indicated.6 Stravinsky ater noted: 'Musique oncrete.A seance that took place in Paris in

May 1952 in the Hall of the Old Conservatory.Long quarter-hoursemonstratingpieceswhose substancewas a melangeof sounds and of noises ... The participantswere professionalcomposers, very antipathetic,and amateurs,"revolutionaries"rather ympathetic.A ladynext to me raged n the intermission,declaring hat this"music"was horrible.I had ... a greatdesire to ask her: "But how do you know,Madame?"Was she acquaintedwith otherexamples[of musiqueoncrete]hatwerenot so bad?'



Stravinsky in his library, March 1962

year, and November 1956 - when Boulez, Stockhausenand Nono called on the composerof the Rite in the RoteKreuz hospital in Munich - the two men were not incommunication. A few weeks after the hospital visit

Stravinsky, stopping for 12 hours at the Ritz Hotel inParis between trains from Rome to London, attendedrecordings of two of his works for Boulez's Domaine

Musical. The two musicians met again in London a fewdays later.

On 4January1957 Boulez wrote to Stravinsky7 f an in-vitation from the Monday Evening Concerts of Los

Angeles to conduct Le marteau sans maitre there in

March. Stravinskyurged Boulez to accept and arrangedforhim to stayin the TropicanaMotel, a few blocks fromthe Stravinskyhome. In Hollywood, Boulez spent con-siderabletime with the older composer,and on 8 March

Stravinskyattended a symposium at UCLA, in which

Boulez, Lukas Foss, Paul Des Marais and the presentwriter discussed contemporarymusic. At the concert, on11 March, Boulez delayedhis performanceuntil Stravin-

sky's mislaid score had been found; many in attendancesurmised that he was the only member of the audiencewho mattered.

Back in Paris, Boulez wroteto Stravinskyon 23 March

asking him to conduct Agon there under the auspices ofthe Domaine Musical. (Boulezsent a farlongerand moredetailed etterto the presentwriter on 8 April.)Stravinskyansweredby cable on 11 April: 'Agreeconduct for 1500dollars European premiere Agon Paris October 12SudwestfunkOrchestrapreparedby Hans Rosbaud.Noti-

fying Roth. Details Craft's etter. Greetings'.Boulez cabl-ed his agreementon 15 April, but since the DomaineMusical had no concertbureau,Stravinskywasobligedto

write, two and a half months later,regarding he currency

in which he was to be paid, and thanking him andStockhausen for remembering his birthday. He wrote

againon 15 July, from SantaFe, New Mexico:

DearBoulez,Thankyouforyour etterof July9, althoughtscontents avedisappointed e alittle,sinceyouwillnot come oDartington. oobad,wewerecounting n it somuch.Thisnotetoreply o twothings:1)DrE.RothofBoosey&Hawkesust n-formedmethat heorchestracoreofAgonwillbeat thedisposalof the Sudwestfunkt theverybeginning f September;ndaletter romStrobel ellsmethe same.2)M Worms8tillhasnot

7 This is the first of Boulez's 50 letters to Stravinsky,all in French and including

a few on postcards: he only yearsnot representedare 1964 and 1965(Boulez'slet-ters to the presentwriterare not drawnon).8 GerardWorms, proprietorof Editions du Rocher, Monaco, which published

AvecStravinsky 1958).On 18May Stravinskyhadwrittento 'CherBoulez',enclos-

ing 'the definitiveversion(whichI succeeded in finding)forthe last phraseof "36

questions".I believethat it is good now. Pleaseaddit to the others. I hope to havethe French proofssoon. When you send them, do not forgetto tell us when and

how the little honorarium,concerningwhich DeborahIshlon was to have spokento you, will be sent ... I believe it wasone hundred dollars.And a few lines about

yourself.Agon s finished,full of erasures .. It is cold, the skyis dull, andwe haveno spring,though it is already13 May, parbleu! . Stravinsky'.

paid anything,neither he $100for the '36 questions', orthe$80forthephotos, n spiteof the contracthatI signedandsent

by air mail a goodmonthago. My bestwishesgo out to you.Goodwork.

Boulez wrote to Stravinsky n Dartington,7 August 1957,and in Venice, 20 September 1957. According to plan,Stravinskyarrived in Baden-Badenon 8 Octoberby carfrom Munich - where he had conducted a concert the

night before - and rehearsedAgon on the 9th and 10thwith the orchestraof the South-westGerman Radio (bet-ween rehearsalshe heard Boulez recordhis Third Sonata).On 11 OctoberStravinsky eft for Paris on the night train,

the next morning leading an acousticalrehearsalof Agonin the Salle Pleyel. The concert that evening was a greatsuccessand, in commemoration,Boulezgave Stravinskya

copy of Jacques Scherer's Le 'Livre' de Mallarme, inscrib-

ing it 'En souvenird'Agon et du concertdue Octobre 11.Avec mon amitie.' In the days thereafter,many hourswere spent discussing both the 'Livre' and Paul Klee'stheoretical writings with the participation of Alberto

Giacometti,who made his first drawingsof Stravinskyatthis time. Accordingto Mr Heyworth, however, Boulezachieved his greatestcoup when he persuadedStravinskyhimself to conduct the first Europeanperformanceof hismost recent work,Agon, at the Domaine Musical.

The ParisAgon was a German import: an established

and well-subsidized German orchestraplayed the piece,after being thoroughly rehearsed by Rosbaud. WhenBoulez invited Stravinsky o Parisagainthe followingyearto conduct Threni,the performerswere to be recruited

locally,ashakyarrangementvenif Boulez hadfulfilled his

promiseto prepare he workhimself. That he did not findtime to do so is explained,if hardlyexcused,by his effortsto finish a compositionof his own, Poesiepourpouvoir, or

397



the 1958 Donaueschingen Festival. Well aware that Paris

did not have a chorus capable of singing Threni and that

employing a pick-up orchestra for this music would in-

volve myriad hazards, Stravinsky had urged Boulez tomake an agreement with Cologne Radio, as he had in Oc-tober 1957 with that of Baden-Baden. On 6 NovemberBoulez wrote to Stravinsky in New York, on 1 Decemberfrom Cologne, during rehearsals of his Visage nuptial, and

on 9 January 1958 (to California). Shortly thereafter, thescore arrived; Stravinsky acknowledged it on 25 January1958:

Boulez,whata beautifulpresentyou havegivenme!So happytohave this giganticand verybeautiful orchestra core,that I longto hear, and concerningwhich Suvchinsky,after hearing it in

Cologne, wrote to me with much enthusiasm.On that subject,what has happenedin the negotiationswith Cologne?I wouldlikeso much foryou to succeedthere,and to do Threniwith theirchoir and ensemblein Paris. A word from you on this matter

(especiallypositive)will be verywelcome.My verysincere affec-tions take to the night air.

On 26 February, Stravinsky wrote to Suvchinsky, say-

ing'I am

beginningto understand D. H.

Lawrence,who

fled from Paris', and asking him to inform Boulez of thedeath of Alessandro Piovesan: 'Not having received anyanswer from Piovesan, the director of the Biennale di

Venezia, [Boulez] got angry and refused to take part in

September'.9 In another note to Suvchinsky (29 March),

Stravinsky reveals that he has finished Threniand inquiresabout Boulez's Doubles, just performed in Paris.

Boulez's next letter, 10 April 1958, was forwarded to

Stravinsky in the Clift Hotel, San Francisco, and the oneafter that came on Stravinsky's birthday. He answered on20 June 1958:

Upon receivingyour letter, I sent the following note to Dr E.Roth in London: 'PierreBoulez beseechingme to ask you to

sendhim IMMEDIATELYfull scoreandchoruspartsof THRENI. Iamdoingthatwithoutdelay.Boulezis aseriousman,andif he is

askingsomething n this manner,he means t. I hope you candoit without delay, and (let me add)for a graciousrental fee ... I

gavehimyouraddress.Be assured,dear riend,thatI understand

yourdifficultiesverywell andthatI sympathizewith you entire-

ly. I send you and MadameTezenas?0my most sincerefriend-

ship.The following day Stravinsky wrote to Suvchinsky:

Along with this letter, I am sendingmy sketchof the orchestrascore of Threni o you and to Boulez so that you may become

acquaintedwith it. In accordancewith Boulez'srequest,I askedLondon to send the choruspartsand scoreto him immediately... But if he has already eft for Baden-Baden, do not know

how all of this will workout.On 26 July and 5 September Boulez wrote to Stravinsky

assuring him about the preparations for the concert. Butwhat did work out was that Threni was so badly sung and

9 The originalsof Stravinsky'setters to Suvchinskyare in Russian; ranslationsareby MalcolmMacdonald.10 patronessof the DomaineMusical

398

played - in the Salle Pleyel, 14 November 1958 - that

the audience received it with jeers: the composer curtlyrefused to take a bow and swore he would never again con-duct in Paris, a vow that he kept."I

A coup of a different kind awaited Stravinsky that same

night when he learnt that a new book, Rencontres avecPierre Boulez by Antoine Gol6a, had been sold in the foyerduring the Threni performance. Luckily, Mrs Stravinskyspirited these Rencontres away before her husband couldread the first page of the text, which described a Boulez-led demonstration against Stravinsky's 'neoclassic' music

during a concert of it in Paris at the end of World War II.On 25 November Stravinsky wrote to Boulez from theHotel Hassler in Rome, asking for his fee to be ac-

celerated, without showing any reservation towards himor even directly referring to the concert. Back in Califor-

nia, after a successful performance of Threni in New York,

Stravinsky wrote to Suvchinsky on 25 January 1959:

... even afterhearingsuch a performance, do not thinkthat theattitude of Paris towards Threniand towards me would be anydifferent rom the one shown me on 14November... I shallnot

recall what I went throughin Pariswith any feelingof gratitudeto Boulez . . . He did not haveenoughcourage o admit his own

negligenceand to say 'meaculpa'.

This is the first documented indication of Stravinsky'strue response to the experience. Others were to follow amonth later when the periodical Das Musikleben publish-ed a poisonous review of the concert by, of all people,Boulez's biographer Golea. Stravinsky drafted a letter tothe editor, part of which follows:

Your reviewer of the Paris concert in which I conducted myThreni n November 1958 (your February ssue, pages 79-80)... is guilty of a vicious injustice. The responsibilityfor thefailureof the concert [rests with] the Domaine Musical. As theauthor of a book that is in parta historyof that organization,1

your reviewer s close enough to it to know the truth, which isthat the DomaineMusical did not prepare he concertas promis-ed ...

Stravinsky delayed sending this until he could discuss thematter with Suvchinsky, to whom the composer wrote on9 March, referring to Golea as 'Boulez's lackey', and add-

ing:

I received two lettersfromBoulez.l3In one ... he does not ex-cuse himselffor the absenceof anykindof preparation f Threni... but does complainabout [Golea's]phrase.This, however,does not concernme in the least,but only Boulez himselfand his

coupdepublicite.When he finallyrefers o Threni,t is only to ex-

11 Stravinskywrotein his diarythat night: 'My concert(Threni) t Pleyel (unhap-piestconcert of my life!)'.Back n California,Stravinsky ttacheda noteto a packetof Boulez's letters: 'All this correspondence esulted in the scandalousconcertinParis on 14Nov 1958'.Stravinskymade known his resolvenever to appear n Paris

again, as for example, on a letter from the InternationalMusic Council, 7 Dec

1959, invitinghim to conductin Paris n Oct 1960,he wrote,in red ink: 'Repondule 13Dec/59:Decisionde ne plus jamaisapparaitre Parisapres 'acceuilde Threnil'anneederniere'.12 Stravinskyguessedat this, not havingread the book;the pagesof his copy areuncut.13 actuallyfour letters since the beginningof the year



Stravinskywith RobertCraft in Athens

press regretabout the lack of resources n Paris for performingsuch pieces. But what is new about that?As you yourselfcansee,the possibility that he will admit his own guilt is slight ... and I

thereforehold no hope of receivinga satisfactoryanswer. If Isend the letter that you suggested(threatening o pass my letteron to the press,if he refusesto acceptthe blame), t would simplymake him bitter and complicate my position further . . . All of

this has put me on edge. How unpleasant t is.Boulez's second letterconcernsonly himself,the orchestra, he

chorusandthe soloists in the Munich Threni 6 March].Loaded

with useless details, the letter ... is designed to give me the im-pressionthat he was very busy with the music, which, in itself... probably interests him very little.

Meanwhile, on 10 March, Stravinsky had written to

Boulez:

In one of your lettersyou express regretat not havingnoticed,intime to have it omitted, a phrase employed by [Golea] inreference o his book aboutyou. He attributed o you certain n-tentions. Obviously such an interpretationof your actions (thatpublicity was your only motive in inviting me into the youngorganization)could only come from someone fundamentallyhostile to my musicalactivity.I canimaginehow muchthat musthave offended you, and I thank you for reassuringme of yourtrue intentions,which I never doubted.

Since this is the case, it is your place, in my estimation, toanswer the journalist's insolent article about our unfortunateconcert ... in Das Musikleben .. . Were it left to me to answer

him, I would haveto blamethe Domaine Musical forbeingpoor-ly prepared, for the complete incompetence of the group of

singers,for the lack of rehearsals .. This journalistwould hard-

ly dareto claimignoranceof all these circumstances.The articleis so vicious, so vile, so unfair,thatyou, not only as organizerofthe concertandthe one responsible or [my]appearance, ut also

as the subjectof his book, should feel morallyobligedto reply. I

go further:I feel that it is your duty to contest him. I awaitthat

gesture from you.

Stravinsky wrote to Suvchinsky on 19 March:

YesterdayI receivedyour letter of the 15th and was glad aboutthe reconciliation hatI sensed with Boulez. I hope thatyour in-

terpretationof his repentances not mistaken.I amnow awaitinga letter fromhim about Golea'sarticle,and fromyou, aboutmydemand that Boulez refute it ... I only fear that Boulez will

delay in giving me an answer ... I would like to erase this entire

affair.

In May Boulez went to Copenhagen to meet Stravinsky

(who was there for concerts and to receive the Sonning

Prize), armed with his answer to Golea. Stravinsky made a

copy of it and sent another, with his comments, to Suv-

chinsky from Hollywood on 29 May.In Copenhagen, Boulez asked Stravinsky for the Euro-

pean premiereof his Movements.

Stravinskyanswered on

6 June:

My dear Boulez, the two premiereperformancesof Movementhave been set by RolfLiebermann for 17June 1960, in Cologne,and 27 June, in Hamburg.'4Sinceyou have intendedto give theDomaine Musical concertwith myMovements efore 28 June(as

you told me in Copenhagen),and since MargritWeber is the

only possible pianist(shehas a one-yearexclusivityfor the workin Europe), you would be obliged to squeeze the concert andrehearsalsnto the tight spaceof aweek,between 18and25 June.This would permitMrs Weberto rejoinme in Hamburgon 26

Junefor the dressrehearsal f the concert on 27 June.I hopeyouwill be able to managethis; if not, you will probablypostponethis concert until autumn 1960. You would be very kind to in-form me of your decision ... How did it go in Vienna? I was

happy to see you, and how nice it was of you to have come toCopenhagen!

Boulez wrote on 4 and 20 July, but Stravinsky persisted in

the matter of the reply to Golea, writing again to Boulez

on 23 July: 'I see that the June issue of Musikleben has ap-

peared and that your answer to Antoine Golea still is not

published. Is this bad faith on the part of the journal? Do

you intend to respond?' By 15 August, Stravinsky was

once again doubtful of Boulez's sincerity and motives:

I receivedyour letterof 11 Augustwith the typewritten etterinGerman. You know German well enough to realizethat this isnot a translationof the articleyou gave me in Copenhagen,butan abridgedGermanversion(one-third he lengthof the French)smoothedand sweetened

beyond recognitionfrom the

original,

14 Stravinskywrote to Suvchinskyon 24 Aug: 'I have finished my Movements or

piano and orchestraearlier than anticipatedand will therefore not wait until next

June but conduct the premiere n New York at Christmasor immediatelyafter theNew Year. The pieceturned out to be quitedifficult,not so much for the pianistasfor the conductorbecause of the rhythmic,and even metriccomplexity.I am wor-ried about this work . . . but perhapsshould not be after the success of Thren

everywhereexcept in Paris!'

399



which you sent to the NeueZeitschrifttr Musik n Mainz. [Yourintentions have been distorted in the process] because, as youyourselfstatein the article,youraim was 'aboveall to set straighta flagrant njustice'.This importantphrase, ike so manyothers,was not translated,and the result is that,contrary o yourwishes,the injusticehas not been 'set straight'.

I am surprisedby all this, becauseI expecteda very differentattitudefromyou, given your friendly,cordialrelations.For thisreasonI sign this letter with much grief and disappointment.

On 16 August Stravinsky sent a copy of this letter, with

the 'abridged' and 'sweetened' version of Boulez's article,to Suvchinsky, and on 29 August Boulez wrote, promising

Stravinsky that the Copenhagen version would be printed.

Stravinsky acknowledged this new pledge on 24 August:

'Just a note before our departure for Europe (in two days)to let you know that your letter of 20 August reassured

me, and I thank you for it sincerely. Thus we have only to

await the appearance of your article in German in the next

Musikleben'. In the same letter he wrote:

The compositionof Movementss finished,andbecause this wasnot anticipatedI have had to redistributemy time (springandsummer 1960) completely. I wrote to Liebermann,but he had

alreadyset the world premiere or 17June in Cologne. In Ham-burg, Movements was to be done .. . on 27 June. Now I shall

change these dates and give the premiere in New York ...without waitingthe additional10 months. I await Liebermann's

replyto findout whether he will keepthe CologneandHamburgdates, in spite of the New Yorkpremiere.If so, I do not thinkthat it will be possible for you to count on 24 June, since Mrs

Weber, who possesses the exclusive performancerights, will

probablybe busywith rehearsals orthe 27 Juneconcert n Ham-

burg. That is all fortoday.I hopeto have news fromyou in Lon-don or Venice.

On the same day he wrote to Suvchinsky: 'Boulez writes

that my letter grieved him very much and that he sent a

letter to Strobel with a request for permission to translate

the text as it is into German,and to send it to Das

Musikleben. We will see what happens, and whether or not

[Boulez] is conniving'. Another letter to Boulez, of 13

January 1960, refers to Movements again:

My dear friend, We will not give the 23 Januaryconcert (tooexpensive).We havefinished ourthreeconcerts,withMovements

(theothertwowereLes Nocesand the Rite).All threewere a greatsuccess (even in the press),but they cost me a fortune!So it is

with choirsand orchestra! maginethat even [when]Bernstein's

Philharmonic[is] entirelysold out, [the] cost [to] the sponsors[is] 250 thousanddollarsa year.

Mrs Weberhada greattriumphbeforethe New Yorkaudience

(and the press), and I now wish to make the recording of

Movementswith her in Hollywood this June (Columbia).This

will satisfyme in a way that a concertcannot, thanks to all the

tension of a premiere and a pianist who, although havingmemorizedthe piece, is wholly unfamiliarwith the style of the

music. I haveheardthatshe will play it in Colognein JunewithSchmidt-Isserstedt.

But on 23 January 1960, Stravinsky was still writing about

the Golea matter to Suvchinsky: 'I received the December

issue of Das Musikleben . . . Boulez's answer to that govno

Golea was conspicuously absent. I wrote to Boulez about

this. You might stress the point to him also,but I fearthatthe affair s hopeless'. In fact the Copenhagenversion wasnever published, but eventually a letter did appear-Stravinskyhad written to Boulez five times in the interim.He described it in a letter to Suvchinsky(23 February1960):[The etterwas]printedntheusual ypeand nthesame,never-

changing lace.Boulezdidnot remove he phrase ontre-coeu

whichhe couldhavedone f, asyou say,he hasbegun o treatthatgovnoGoleawithcontempt,houghnobody ouldeverdothis strongly nough .. exceptperhapshe Sovietdogswhothrew hemselvesn poorPasternak,15nd heywoulddo it forthewrong eason:Golea'sdevotiono progressive usic'.Well,explainhat o theAmericanptimistswhoapplaudKhrushchev

Strangely,Mr Heyworth'sNew Yorker rticle does notmention the Threni pisodeandits aftermath,notingonlythat 'in the middle sixties, relationsgrewless cordial,andafter 1967 there was no furthercontactbetween the twomen'. In fact relationsgrew more cordial,not less, whenthe efforts towardsa professionalassociationended. For

Stravinsky's80th birthday, n June 1962, Boulez sent his

manuscriptscore of Domaine.

The Paris performanceof Movements hat Boulez hadplannedfor June 1960 did not materialize.Afterthe first

performanceof A Sermon,A NarrativeandA Prayer,inBasle in February1962, Stravinsky eceiveda programmesignedby severalmusicians,includingBoulez. Stravinskywrote to Suvchinsky: 'It would be interesting to knowwhat Boulez'sreactionreallywas, since it is impossibletotell from his "mersi bokou voo noo mankie bokoo espervoo voir bentoe" style'.

The two musicians met only four times after that, inParis in May 1962, in Los Angeles in March 196516-

when Stravinskyheard Boulez rehearsehis Eclat - in

Paris,6 June 1965,17 nd in Stravinsky'sHollywoodhome

in May 1967. The last communications were twopostcards o Stravinsky,29 May and 18 August 1967;two

cables, a birthdaygreeting ('O saisons O chateauxvotre

plus hautetour')and an appeal (5 October) o protestthe

kidnappingof the KoreancomposerYsangYun (Stravin-skyhad alreadyresponded o the samerequestfromLuigiDallapiccola);and a note on a programme or a concertof

Zvezdoliki,RequiemCanticles ndthe Rite that Boulezhad

15 On 28 Jan 1960Stravinskywrote to Suvchinsky: I read Dr Zhivagon Russian,and, with sadness, I confess my disappointment. Of course, it is real peredvizhnichestvo.How

strangeto read such a novel in the

ageof

JamesJoyce'.16 Duringthis visit Stravinskywasbeingfilmed in his home, andBoulez had beeninvited for lunch. Afterthe meal, he openedthe score of Lesnoces o the last pageand tried to convince the composer hat the two bars of rest between 134 and 135were a mistake; one, accordingto Boulez's calculations,was correct. Stravinskyslightly inebriated,agreed.All of this can be seen in the Liebermann ilm. In Dec

1965, at a recording,Stravinsky estored he second bar.17 Boulez'srecordedperformances f Renard,Lesnoces,and the Rite had so upsetStravinsky n the early 1960s that he did not attend a programmeof these threeworks ed by Boulezat the ParisOpera,5June 1965;yet the two dinedtogether he

followingday.

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Stravinsky'sdrawingof Picasso

concuctec in Lonaon on i august 1'o0: -szen cner ami,How we are missing you these evenings! We think of youvery affectionately. I greatly hope to see you in Los

Angeles next January. Amities a Vera et a Bob'.

Stravinsky did not receive Boulez in January, but Mrs

Stravinsky and the present writer did see him, at the homeof his intimate friend Lawrence Morton, who had been on

holiday with him in Yosemite and Mexico and had beenhis house guest in Baden-Baden and in France. Severalweeks after Boulez's May 1967 visit, Stravinsky had read aBoulez interview with Jaroslav Buzga in Prague, publish-ed in Melos, in which Boulez stated: 'Stravinsky's Varia-tions contain nothing new, or nothing that Webern hadnot done

already'.The following letters from Stravinsky to Boulez datefrom the comparatively untroubled period after Threniand before the Melos interview:

[New York],14 September1960

Thanks, dear Boulez, for your lines. We fly 17 Septemberto

Italy. I conduct at the Biennaleon the 17th and will be at theB[auer]-Gr[unwald] ll of October. The exclusiverightsof MrsWeber for Movements nd 10 January1961. Will be happy tohear from you soon. Cordially.

Kapuzinerstrasse , Baden-Baden Hollywood, 11May 1961

Dear friend, Would you give me a presentfor my birthday: he

tape of Pli selonpli? I am determined to have that and the or-

chestra scores as soon as they can be purchased.Say yes.Will we see you in Europe this summer? Perhaps your

Brussels Wozzeckwill coincide with our datesthere for a concertat the Radio(6-11 October)?Will be happyto have news from

you, and in the meantime,I embraceyou affectionately.

23 August 1961

My dear Boulez, I have just receivedyour letterof 17 August.Thank you. The programmeyou have described s good. I only

402

regretthe absenceof Movements,which you hadpreviouslyplan-ned to give despitethe 'retrospective' haracterof the concert.18

As for my dates,herethey are:tomorrowwe fly to New York.1 Septemberwe sail on the Kungsholm o Scandinavia.On the

12th, I conduct in Helsinki, and from the 15th to the 25th wewill be in Stockholm with a radio concertof the Rite. From the27th to the 30th, God willing, in Berlin.From 1to 18October n

Zurich, at the H6tel Baur-au-Lac, nd from the 19th to the 31stat the Savoyin London, whereI conduct for the BBC. We fly to

Cairo on the 31st for five days, then to Bangkok or three days,then continuethe flight to Australiaand New Zealand.After allthese concerts,we rest in Tahiti for five days and arrive n Los

Angeles in the first weeks of December.What a pity that I will alreadybe in London duringthe three

daysthatyou will be in Basle,andthat we will not see each otherthis year! I should like to have news from you in Stockholm

(GrandHotel),or in Zurich,whereI conduct Soldier'sTaleat the

Opera,following TheNightingale onductedby someone else.

Kapuzinerstrasse , Baden-Baden Hollywood, 8 January1963

My dear Boulez, Thanks for your letter of 17 December.Justthis note in great haste to tell you that the second programmyou suggest seemsto me the betterone, because, 1)you will usethe choir in two compositions, and 2) you would conduct the

Parispremiereof A Sermon,A Narrative andA Prayer,and bet-ter that it be done by you than by some incompetent.

Your lettergaveme realpleasure,andnow we will haveonly tobe assuredthatyour negotiationswith the Theatre des ChampsElysees end in a definite agreement.

We will stayhereuntil spring,probably he end of March,forwhich reasonI unfortunatelyhave very little hope of seeingyousoon. Your good lines reached me at the same time as the an-nouncement(from Zurich)of the deathof Hans Rosbaud.19 amovercome.Affectionatelyyours.

Stravinsky's next news of Boulez came from Suvchinsky,who wrote on 16 December 1963:

Wozzeckills the house and is a real triumph. Boulez conducts

magnificentlybut the sets and production(J.-L. Barrault)are

very poor. And Boulez is to blamefor this, for as alwayshe wasvery slow to understand.He gavea veryshocking explanation ohis colleagues of the intent, the essence, and-most unfortu-

nately of the conceptof this amazingwork. Now he admitsallof the inadequaciesof the production.Whata strange personheis ... If you could only see what happens on stage.

Three days later Suvchinsky wrote again to say that, on 18

December, Boulez was invited to 'luncheon with De

Gaulle, and returned 'awkward but pleased'.

After Stravinsky's death, Boulez told an interviewer, M

Deliege, that his view of the composer of the Rite had not

changed since 1949.

18 'Retrospective'meant, in effect, Stravinsky'spopularRussianpieces, whereahe wantedBoulez to playthe lateworks.Stravinskywrote to AdrianaPanni(13Jan1965): 'Do not believe that I disapproveyour choice of Boulez to conduct myAbrahamand Isaac.On the contrary,I am delightedthat you invitedhim to do it'

19 Stravinskywrote to Suvchinsky(19 Jan): Hans Rosbauddied ... I cannotrid

myself of the idea that contemporarymusic has been orphaned.His death had a

profoundeffect on me'.

Documents

Stravinsky Letters to Pierre Boulez