Sadly, my first blog post in English will be an obituary. I always felt more confortable expressing my feelings in that language, and it is best suited to tell you how very sad I feel today.
From my beginnings as a classical music lover, I have admired Pierre Boulez. He was almost a grandfatherly figure to me. I called him "Dieu" as a jest and collected his recordings of XXth century music and his autographs.
Well, he has departed for the Walhalla of musical gods. As a composer, he leaves a great void in the world of contemporary music and, as a conductor, an even bigger void in the world of classical music. Yet his legacy is so great that I am confident he will not be forgotten. Great ones seldom are. What is certain is that I will never forget him.
As I write these few clumsy words, I think back on the last time I met him, about 7 years ago on a train to Antwerp. I was on business trip and had bought some musical magazine I usually don't buy, just because HE, "Dieu", was on the cover. And suddenly, there he was, seated a few seats away from me, discussing a score with three other people. Much to the astonishment of my colleagues (I work in insurance, see...), I got as excited as a teenager and, after waiting for the appropriate moment to make sure I disturbed the Maître as little as possible, I went to him, my magazine in hand, and asked for his autograph. He looked surprised, but he smiled and signed the cover picture. He had an almost malicious twinkle in his eye. I mumbled a "merci Maître" and went back to my seat, clutching my trophy, red in the cheeks and as happy as if Christmas had come early.
I will treasure that memory, as I treasure his recordings of Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky, his Wagner Ring with Chéreau... but also his own works, which appealed to me although I do not claim to understand anything about them.
Goodbye, Maître, and thank you.
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