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His works include a number of instrumental and vocal works including Le marteau sans maître for ensemble and voice, Pli selon pli for orchestra and voice and Rituel: In Memoriam Bruno Maderna for orchestra divided into eight groups. Following the lead of figures such as Pierre SchaefferPierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (born August 14, 1910, died August 19, 1995) was a French composer, noted as the inventor of musique concrete. He is generally acknowledged as being the first composer to make music using magnetic tape. Schaeffer was born in N and Edgar Varese, he also made pioneering advances in classical electronic musicElectronic music is a loose term for music created using electronic equipment. Any sound produced by the means of an electrical signal may reasonably be called electronic, and the term is sometimes used that way in music where acoustic performance is the and computer musicComputer music is music generated with, or composed with the aid of, computers. Much of the work on computer music has drawn on the relationship between music theory and mathematics. See also: Max Mathews Electronic music Computer music programming langua. One of his major electronic works is Répons, for orchestra and electronics. From the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. he experimented with aleatoric musicAleatoric (or aleatory music or composition is music where some element of the composition is left to chance. The term was devised by the French composer Pierre Boulez to describe works where the performer was given certain liberties with regard to the or (the use of chance), and struck up a correspondence with John CageJohn Milton Cage ( September 5, 1912 August 12, 1992) was an experimental music composer and writer, possibly best known (some might say notorious) for his piece 4 33 often described (somewhat erroneously) as "four and a half minutes of silence. He was an, who was also interested in chance - the two fell out, however, over differing views of what the function of using chance was.

Boulez often returns to works for revision: the last of his three piano sonatas, for instance, is an "open" work that has been in continuous revision since its premiere in 1957 (only two of its five movements have ever been published), and ...explosante-fixe..., effectively a flute concerto with electronics, was first written in the 1970s and completely revised in the 1990s.

In 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January president Georges Pompidou asked Boulez to create and direct an institution for the exploration and development of modern music. This became IRCAM. He remained director of the IRCAM until 1992. As of 2004 he still has an office in the IRCAM.

From 1976- 1995, Boulez held the Chair in "Invention, technique et langage en musique" at the prestigious Collège de France.

Boulez is also a noted conductor, especially in ground breaking works from the first half of the 20th century, for example the works of Claude Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern and Edgar Varèse. He served as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic from 1971- 1977.

He continues to conduct and compose as of 2004.