BOULEZ PIERRE: (1925-2016) French composer and conductor. A.L.S., with his initials P ...

BOULEZ PIERRE: (1925-2016) French composer and conductor. A.L.S., with his initials P B, to the verso of a picture postcard depicting the Mulheim Bridge in Cologne lit up at night, n.p., n.d. (1952), to Andre Dubois, in French. Boulez writes a charming letter in which he makes reference to Victor Hugo and the writer´s travels, in full, ´Que vous dirai-je sur les voyages dans cette divine vallée, que Victor Hugo n’ait déjà dit ? Je vous prierai donc de vous en reporter sur ce sujet, à ce brillant et prolixe auteur. Ajoutons-y la pluie qui ne fait qu’embrouiller les lignes de ce paysage jusqu’à ce qu’on y voie goutte ou goutte, à volonté. Mais enfin, à Berlin, nous nous consolons en pensant que nous logeons à Kurfûrstenddamm, perfection brillante s’il en est. Nous avons toujours le ferme propos, d’arriver à Metz samedi, où nous confirmerons l’heure dans une carte prochaine, soit même par télégramme, si besoin s’en faisait sentir par d’une paresse épistolaire´ (Translation: ´What can I tell you about travelling in this divine valley that Victor Hugo has not already said? I would therefore ask you to refer on this subject to that brilliant and prolix author. Add to this the rain, which only blurs the lines of this landscape until you can see drop after drop, as you please. But finally, in Berlin, we console ourselves by thinking that we are staying in Kurfûrstenddamm, a brilliant perfection if there ever was one. We still have the firm intention of arriving in Metz on Saturday, where we will confirm the time in a forthcoming card, or even by telegram, if the need should arise from a lazy letter-writer´). VG

André Dubois (1903-1998) French senior civil servant, police prefect and later chairman of the Fédération nationale de la presse française.

In July 1952 Boulez had attended the International Summer Course for New Music (Darmstädter Ferienkurse) in Darmstadt for the first time.