ABSTRACT
Pierre Boulez's reference to Hindemith is as puzzling as it is unexpected in the light of his subsequent development, but may well refer to a Toccata for mechanical piano dating from the 1920s. In 1952, the year following Structures 1a, Boulez produced two pieces for twelve-part unaccompanied chorus, Oubli signal lapide, to poems by Armand Gatti, and withdrawn after a single performance in October 1952. When Boulez was invited by President Pompidou to direct musical activities in a planned arts complex at the Beaubourg in Paris, Boulez put forward counter-proposals for a research centre along the lines he had advocated. Indeed its very title, 'Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique' (IRCAM) (Institute for Research and Coordination of Acoustics/Music) is anticipated in an earlier part of the Saint-etienne lecture. IRCAM, a subterranean building with access in Place Igor-Stravinsky, immediately adjacent to the Pompidou Centre, was finally completed in 1978.
