André Boucourechliev (28 July 1925 – 13 November 1997) was a French

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of Bulgarian origin. Born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, 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 Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. He honed his compositional technique by seeking out Berio and Maderna in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

Works

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),

External links

*: Official site of the contemporary music composer, the André Boucourechliev Foundation, and the Association "Les Amis d'André Boucourechliev".

Orange Factory psychoacoustic arts – the Bulgarian publisher of André Boucourechliev's books. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boucourechliev, Andre 1925 births 1997 deaths 20th-century French classical composers French male classical composers École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Musicians from Sofia Bulgarian emigrants to France Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Knights of the Legion of Honour Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century French male musicians