Boulez Ensemble and Thomas Guggeis perform Pierre Boulez

In the mid-1950s, Pierre Boulez, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in March 2025, smashed the dogmas of Serialism with Le Marteau sans maître—the “Hammer without a Master”—and simultaneously established himself as a leading voice of the musical avant-garde. To open the Boulez anniversary season, Thomas Guggeis and the Boulez Ensemble perform the enigmatic work, which is based on surrealist poems by René Char. As a counterpoint, Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs, written in 1964, present an entirely different yet equally fascinating approach to blending words and music.