Pierre Boulez 3/26/1925 - 1/5/2016

I've only today learned of the passing of one of my gods: Pierre Boulez.

This man helped shape the very way I look at music and, to a large degree, my life. No small feat, that.

So many things he introduced me to changed me forever, several becoming obsessions, not the least of which include Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Stravinsky 's Le Sacre du Printemps & Petrouchka (and more), Messiaen's Et Exspecto
Ressurectionem Mortuorum . . . and these are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Passing just shy of his 91st birthday, his was a long, amazing life and along its road he made some enemies. For many of us, however, he put a remarkable stamp on music, stripped it of its bullshit, demystified it and made it "real" while still keeping the magic.

Merci beaucoup pour tout, Maestro.