André Boucourechliev

Biography

André Boucourechliev (28 July 1925 – 13 November 1997) was a French composer of Bulgarian origin.
Born in Sofia, Boucourechliev studied piano at the Conservatory there. Subsequently, he studied in Paris at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, where he later taught piano. His first attempts at composition date from 1954, when he was engaged in the famous contemporary music sessions at Darmstadt. He honed his compositional technique by seeking out Berio and Maderna in Milan. Following the success of his Piano Sonata (1959), which was performed at the Domaine musical, and works involving choice and chance, he spent a period in America, during which he met Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Rauschenberg. The summit of his exploration of choice and freedom on the part of the performer was reached in Archipels (1967–1971). Many of his later works have gone on to refine or extend these principles. Boucourechliev died in Paris in 1997 at the age of 72.

Honours

Grand Prix Musical de la Ville de Paris, 1976
Grand Prix National de la Musique, 1984
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur

Writings

Schumann, 1956 (French), 1959 (English), 2010 (Bulgarian)
Chopin: eine Bildbiographie, 1962 (German), 1963 (English)
Beethoven, 1963 (French)
Stravinsky, 1982 (French), 1987 (English)
Essai sur Beethoven, 1991
Le langage musical, 1993
Dire la musique, 1995
Regards sur Chopin, 1996 (French), 2010 (Bulgarian)
Debussy. La révolution subtile, 1998 (French),