Pierre Boulez (26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer and conductor. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. As a composer, he played a leading role in the development of integral serialism in the 1950s, and the electronic transformation of instrumental music in real time from the 1970s. Boulez conducted many of the world's great orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. In the 1970s, he was the music director of the New York Philharmonic and the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was particularly known for his performances of 20th-century music, including Debussy, Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Boulez's work in opera included the Jahrhundertring, a production of Wagner's Ring cycle for the centenary of the Bayreuth Festival. He also established several musical institutions, including the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique / Musique and the Ensemble intercontemporain.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Boulez

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1651:

The Spanish ship San José ran aground onto coasts controlled by the indigenous Cunco people, who subsequently killed the crew. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreckage_of_San_Jos%C3%A9

1697:

The Safavid Empire began a four-year occupation of the Ottoman city of Basra on the Persian Gulf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_occupation_of_Basra

1812:

The Boston Gazette printed a cartoon coining the term "gerrymander", named after Governor Elbridge Gerry, who approved the legislation that created oddly shaped electoral districts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbridge_Gerry

1939:

Nationalist forces began their final offensive of the Spanish Civil War, at the end of which they controlled almost the entire country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_offensive_of_the_Spanish_Civil_War

1999:

A jury began deliberations in the trial of Jack Kevorkian, an American practitioner of physician-assisted suicide who was charged with murder in the death of a terminally ill patient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kevorkian

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

personable: 1. Of a person: having a pleasing appearance; attractive; handsome. 2. Of a person: having a pleasant manner; amiable, friendly. 3. (obsolete) 4. (rare) Synonym of personal (“done in person, without an intermediary”) 5. (law) Being a legal person and thus able to maintain a plea in court, or to hold some property or right. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/personable

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I’d like to get away from earth awhile And then come back to it and begin over. May no fate willfully misunderstand me And half grant what I wish and snatch me away Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.   --Robert Frost https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Frost