# André Boucourechliev

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

## Works

| Work | Opus No. | Scoring | Date | Medium | Publisher | Duration |
| Musique à trois | Op. 1 | flute (also piccolo), clarinet and harpsichord | 1957 rev. 1958 | Chamber music | Unpublished | 00:07:00 |
| Texte I | Op. 2 | tape (2 tracks) | 1958 | Electroacoustic music | Unpublished | 00:06:20 |
| Sonate | Op. 3 | piano | 1959 | Solo instrument | Unpublished | 00:10:00 |
| Text II | Op. 4 | two tapes | 1959 | Electroacoustic music | Unpublished | 00:04:30 |
| Grodek | Op. 5 | soprano, flute and three percussions | 1963 | Vocal music | Universal | 00:12:00 |
| Musiques Nocturnes | Op. 6 | clarinet, harp and piano | 1965 | Chamber music | Unpublished | 00:10:00 |
| Archipel 1 | Op. 7 | two pianos and two percussions (or two solo pianos) | 1967 | Chamber music | Universal | variable (approx. 11 mn) |
| Archipel 2 | Op. 8 | string quartet | 1968 | String quartet | Universal | variable (approx. 20 mn) |
| Archipel 3 | Op. 9 | piano and six percussions | 1969 | Percussion ensemble | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 15 mn) |
| Archipel 4 | Op. 10 | Piano | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 10–25 mn) |
| Anarchipel – Archipel 5E | Op. 11 | one or two percussions | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Anarchipel – Archipel 5D | Op. 11 | Piano | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Anarchipel – Archipel 5C | Op. 11 | Organ | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Anarchipel – Archipel 5B | Op. 11 | Harpsichord | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Anarchipel – Archipel 5A | Op. 11 | one or two amplified harps | 1970 | Solo instrument | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Anarchipel | Op. 11 | ensemble of six instruments : amplified harp, amplified harpsichord, organ, piano, 2 percussion | 1970 | Instrumental ensemble | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 7–20 mn) |
| Ombres (Hommage à Beethoven) | Op. 12 | twelve (or twenty-four) strings | 1970 | Orchestra | Alphonse Leduc | 00:19:00 |
| Tombeau | Op. 13 | clarinet in A and percussion or piano | 1971 | Chamber music | Alphonse Leduc | 00:04:00 |
| Faces | Op. 14 | two groupes of orchestra (with two conductors) | 1972 | Orchestra | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 20 mn) |
| Amers | Op. 15 | nineteen instruments | 1973 | Instrumental ensemble | Alphonse Leduc | variable (approx. 15–20 mn) |
| Thrène | Op. 16 | tape | 1974 | Electroacoustic music | | 00:31:00 |
| Concerto | Op. 17 | piano and orchestra | 1975 | Orchestra | Salabert | variable (approx. 21 mn) |
| Six Etudes d’après Piranèse | Op. 18 | Piano | 1975 | Solo instrument | Salabert | variable (approx. 15 mn) |
| Le nom d’Œdipe | Op. 19 | 6 soloists (Jocaste 1 soprano, Jocaste 2 speaker, Œdipe 1 baryton, Œdipe 2 s[...] | 1978 | Opera | Unpublished | 02:00:00 |
| Trois extraits du "Nom d’Œdipe" | Op. 20 | soprano, piano, 2 gongs (played by the pianist) and tape | 1978 | Vocal music | Unpublished | 00:14:00 |
| Orion I | Op. 21 | Organ | 1979 | Solo instrument | Salabert | variable (approx. 17 mn) |
| Ulysse | Op. 22 | flute and percussion (or accompanied flute | 1980 | Chamber music | Transatlantiques | variable (approx. 12 mn) |
| Orion II | Op. 23 | five brasses, piano and two percussions | 1982 | Chamber music | Salabert | variable (approx. 20 mn) |
| Orion III | Op. 24 | Piano | 1982 | Solo instrument | Salabert | 00:10:00 |
| Nocturnes | Op. 25 | clarinet (in A and Bb) and piano | 1984 | Chamber music | Salabert | 00:12:00 |
| Lit de Neige | Op. 26 | soprano and nineteen instruments | 1984 | Vocal music | Salabert | 00:20:00 |
| Le Miroir, Sept répliques pour un opéra possible | Op. 27 | mezzo-soprano and orchestra | 1987 | Vocal music | Salabert | 00:20:00 |
| La chevelure de Bérénice | Op. 28 | instrumental ensemble (20 players) | 1987 | Instrumental ensemble | Salabert | variable (approx. 20 mn) |
| Miroir 2 (Five pieces for string quartet) | Op. 29 | string quartet | 1989 | String quartet | Salabert | 00:18:00 |
| Quatuor III | Op. 30 | string quartet | 1994 | String quartet | Salabert | variable |
| Trois fragments de Michel-Ange | Op. 31 | soprano, flute (and flute in G) and piano | 1995 | Vocal music | Salabert | 00:07:30 |
| Les Possédés | | | 1971 | Incidental music | Unpublished | 00:07:00 |
| Akara | | tape | 1967 | Incidental music | Unpublished | 00:20:00 |
| Le repos du septième jour | | 3 flutes (also fl. in G and picc.) and 2 percussions | 1965 | Incidental music | Unpublished | 00:27:00 |
| Tic Tac | | For tape (1 track) | 1959 | Incidental music | | 00:08:40 |
| Ricercare | | Organ | | Early works | Unpublished | |
| Etude 1 | | tape (2 tracks) | 1956 | Early works | Unpublished | 00:03:00 |
| Escholier de merencolie | | For solo voice | 1956 | Early works | Unpublished | |
| Trois pièces | | Piano | 1955 | Early works | Unpublished | approx. 4 mn 30 |
| Sonate | | Violin | 1953 | Early works | Unpublished | approx. 7 mn |
| Quatre pièces | | For violin and cello | 1952 | Early works | Unpublished | |
| Passacaglia | | Piano | 1952 | Early works | Unpublished | approx. 5 mn |
| Signes | | For flute, piano and two percussions | 1961 | Works withdrawn from the catalogue | Unpublished | approx. 11 mn |
| Les enfants de la nuit | | For tape | 1992 | Incidental music | |

## 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),