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`*`!...explosante-fixe...`!`* (`F33f`_`[French`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=French_language]`_`f: `*...exploding-fixed...`*) is a piece of music composed by `F33f`_`[Pierre Boulez`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Pierre_Boulez]`_`f. Initially conceived in 1971 as a memorial for `F33f`_`[Igor Stravinsky`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Igor_Stravinsky]`_`f, who died in April of that year, several different versions of the work were composed by Boulez between 1972 and 1993, culminating in a piece for solo `F33f`_`[MIDI`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=MIDI]`_`f-`F33f`_`[flute`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Flute]`_`f and chamber orchestra.

>>Contents

• `F0af`_`[Title`#title]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[History`#history]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Further reading`#further-reading]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f

-─

>>Title

The title of the work is taken from the concluding line of the first chapter of `F33f`_`[André Breton`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=André_Breton]`_`f's `*L'amour fou`* (1937): "La beauté convulsive sera érotique-voilée, explosante-fixe, magique-circonstancielle, ou ne sera pas" (Convulsive beauty will be erotic-veiled, exploding-fixed, magical-circumstantial, or it will not be at all).`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f]

>>History

The first version of `*...explosante-fixe...`* (1971–1972) is a one-page `F33f`_`[aleatoric`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Aleatoric]`_`f work in seven parts entitled, according to one report, `*Originel`* and `*Transitoires II–VII`*,`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-0[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] though the manuscript score (published as two pages of music and twelve pages of instructions) bears the title in the composer's hand `*[... Explosante-fixe ...]`*, and the indications "Originel" and "Transitoires II–VII" are the names of the groups into which the work is divided.`:cite-ref-3[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-3]`_`f] The seven parts each represent one member of a seven-note `F33f`_`[row`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Tone_row]`_`f found in the "Originel" section: E♭, G, D, A♭, B♭, A, E, an emblem of the Stravinsky memorial for which it was composed (the note E♭ sustained at the beginning is pronounced `*Es`* in German, cognate with the letter S for "Stravinsky").`:cite-ref-4[`F5bf`_`[4`#cite-note-4]`_`f]`:cite-ref-5[`F5bf`_`[5`#cite-note-5]`_`f] The pitches of this row were later used also in `*`F33f`_`[Rituel`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Rituel]`_`f`*.`:cite-ref-6[`F5bf`_`[6`#cite-note-6]`_`f] In this original form, the instruments were not indicated,`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-1[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] though a possible scoring for two violins, two flutes, two clarinets, and harp is suggested.`:cite-ref-7[`F5bf`_`[7`#cite-note-7]`_`f] Like most of the other pieces in the Stravinsky memorial, this reflects the instrumentation of two brief commemorative works Stravinsky wrote in 1959: the `*`F33f`_`[Epitaphium`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Epitaphium_(Stravinsky)]`_`f`* for flute, clarinet, and harp, and the `*`F33f`_`[Double Canon`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Double_Canon_(Stravinsky)]`_`f`* (in memory of Dufy) for string quartet.`:cite-ref-8[`F5bf`_`[8`#cite-note-8]`_`f]

In the two subsequent years, Boulez developed `*...explosante-fixe...`* into a work for solo flute, accompanied by `F33f`_`[clarinet`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Clarinet]`_`f, `F33f`_`[trumpet`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Trumpet]`_`f, `F33f`_`[harp`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Harp]`_`f, `F33f`_`[vibraphone`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Vibraphone]`_`f, `F33f`_`[violin`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Violin]`_`f, `F33f`_`[viola`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Viola]`_`f, `F33f`_`[cello`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cello]`_`f and electronics.`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] Performances of this version made use of a recently created device known as the Halaphone.`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-3[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] According to inventor `F33f`_`[Hans Peter Haller`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Hans_Peter_Haller]`_`f, the Halaphone is capable of "projecting sounds in various directions and at various speeds at will, projecting sound from point to point, making it move in circles around a hall, or making it move diagonally across a hall."`:cite-ref-9[`F5bf`_`[9`#cite-note-9]`_`f]

Boulez, however, was ultimately unsatisfied with the electronics.`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-4[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] There were actually two main variants, a "preliminary" version based on the bare bones of the outline score and scored for a trio of violin, clarinet, and trumpet, first performed by the London Sinfonietta in St John's, Smith Square in June 1972, and a longer, more sophisticated, and seemingly definitive form for septet, premiered in New York on 5 January 1973 and subsequently revised several times, for performances in Rome on 13 May 1973, at the `F33f`_`[Promenade Concerts`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=The_Proms]`_`f in London in August 1973, at the `F33f`_`[Donaueschinger Musiktage`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Donaueschingen_Festival]`_`f on 21 October 1973 (by which time it had become an octet) and at the `F33f`_`[Théâtre d'Orsay`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Théâtre_d'Orsay]`_`f in Paris as part of the Festival d'Automne 1974, where it created a sensation.`:cite-ref-10[`F5bf`_`[10`#cite-note-10]`_`f] These revisions involved changes in the order of sections and rewriting six of the eight instrumental parts. In all, there are four different versions for the flute, three versions each for the viola and cello, two versions each for the trumpet, violin, and clarinet, but only one version each for the vibraphone and harp, which differ from one version to the next only in the ordering of their constituent parts.`:cite-ref-11[`F5bf`_`[11`#cite-note-11]`_`f] Boulez withdrew the materials for both versions, primarily because of his dissatisfaction with the all-too-audible failure of the electronics, and in particular the computer tape that was intended to direct the conductorless 1973 Proms version, but also as an acknowledgement that the scoring really required a symphony orchestra.`:cite-ref-12[`F5bf`_`[12`#cite-note-12]`_`f]`:cite-ref-13[`F5bf`_`[13`#cite-note-13]`_`f]

The next version of `*...explosante-fixe...`*, for vibraphone and electronics, was not composed until 1986.`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-5[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] In the intervening years, parts of the original material appeared in other works by Boulez, specifically `*`F33f`_`[Rituel`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Rituel]`_`f`* (1975) and `*Mémoriale`* (1985).`:cite-ref-may-14-0[`F5bf`_`[14`#cite-note-may-14]`_`f]

Between 1991 and 1993, while at `F33f`_`[IRCAM`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=IRCAM]`_`f,`:cite-ref-garavaglia-2-6[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-garavaglia-2]`_`f] Boulez composed a new version of `*...explosante-fixe...`*, for solo MIDI-flute with live electronics, two "shadow" flutes and a chamber orchestra.`:cite-ref-may-14-1[`F5bf`_`[14`#cite-note-may-14]`_`f]`:cite-ref-ue-15-0[`F5bf`_`[15`#cite-note-ue-15]`_`f] This version premiered in `F33f`_`[Turin`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Turin]`_`f, `F33f`_`[Italy`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Italy]`_`f at `*Settembre Musica Festival`* on 13 September 1993, in a performance by the `F33f`_`[Ensemble InterContemporain`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Ensemble_InterContemporain]`_`f.`:cite-ref-ue-15-1[`F5bf`_`[15`#cite-note-ue-15]`_`f]

>>References

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f Annie Labussière and Jean-Marc Chouvel, "Pierre Boulez: `*Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... originel)`*", `*Musurgia: Analyse et pratique musicales`* 4, no. 1 (1997): 42–66. Citation on 44, quoting André Breton, "L'Amour fou", `*OEuvres complètes`* (Paris, Gallimard, coll. Pléiade, 1992), 2:687.

`:cite-note-garavaglia-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-garavaglia-2-0]`_`f Javier Alejandro Garavaglia, "Raising Awareness about Complete Automation of Live-electronics: A Historical Perspective", in `*Auditory Display: 6th International Symposium, CMMR/ICAD 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark, May 18–22, 2009`*, edited by Sølvi Ystad, 443–45, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 5954; LNCS Sublibrary SL 3 (Berlin and New York: Springer, 2010).

`:cite-note-3`!3.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-3]`_`f Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Alexander Goehr, Elisabeth Lutyens, Darius Milhaud, and Roger Sessions, [Supplement]: "In Memoriam: Igor Stravinsky. Canons & Epitaphs, Set 2". `*Tempo`*, new series, no. 98 (1972): [13–26 of 27 unnumbered pages (inserted between pages 22 and 23), citation on 13].

`:cite-note-4`!4.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-4]`_`f Susan Bradshaw, "Comparing Notes", `*Musical Times`* 137, no. 1844 (October 1996): 5–12. Citation on 8.

`:cite-note-5`!5.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-5]`_`f Annie Labussière and Jean-Marc Chouvel, "Pierre Boulez: `*Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... originel)`*", `*Musurgia: Analyse et pratique musicales`* 4, no. 1 (1997): 42–66. Citation on 44.

`:cite-note-6`!6.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-6]`_`f Edward Campbell, `*Boulez, Music and Philosophy`*, Music in the Twentieth Century 27 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010): p.206. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-0-521-86242-4.

`:cite-note-7`!7.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-7]`_`f Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Alexander Goehr, Elisabeth Lutyens, Darius Milhaud, and Roger Sessions, [Supplement]: "In Memoriam: Igor Stravinsky. Canons & Epitaphs, Set 2". `*Tempo`*, new series, no. 98 (1972): [13–26 of 27 unnumbered pages, citation on 25–26].

`:cite-note-8`!8.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-8]`_`f Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Aaron Copland, Alexander Goehr, Elisabeth Lutyens, Darius Milhaud, and Roger Sessions, [Supplement]: "In Memoriam: Igor Stravinsky. Canons & Epitaphs, Set 2". `*Tempo`*, new series, no. 98 (1972): [27 unnumbered pages, editorial note on 27].

`:cite-note-9`!9.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-9]`_`f New York (January 20, 1973). "New German Invention Alters Sound Direction", `*Billboard`*, p.46. Vol. 85, No. 3. ISSN 0006-2510.

`:cite-note-10`!10.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-10]`_`f Annie Labussière and Jean-Marc Chouvel, "Pierre Boulez: `*Mémoriale (...explosante-fixe... originel)`*", `*Musurgia: Analyse et pratique musicales`* 4, no. 1 (1997): 42–66. Citation on 45.

`:cite-note-11`!11.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-11]`_`f Paolo Dal Molin, "Introduction à la famille d'oeuvres `*...explosante-fixe...`* de Pierre Boulez: Étude philologique", PhD diss. (Nice: Université de Nice—Sophia Antipolis, 2007): 17.

`:cite-note-12`!12.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-12]`_`f Susan Bradshaw, "Boulez at 65", `*Musical Times`* 131, no. 1765 (March 1990): 127–28. Citation on 127.

`:cite-note-13`!13.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-13]`_`f Susan Bradshaw, "Comparing Notes", `*Musical Times`* 137, no. 1844 (October 1996): 5–12. Citations on 8 and 11–12.

`:cite-note-may-14`!14.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-may-14-0]`_`f `:citerefthomas-may`aThomas May. "...explosante-fixe..." `*Los Angeles Philharmonic`*. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

`:cite-note-ue-15`!15.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-ue-15-0]`_`f "Pierre Boulez – ... explosante-fixe ..." `F33f`_`[Universal Edition`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Universal_Edition]`_`f. Retrieved 27 August 2011.

>>Further reading

• Boulez, Pierre, Michel Fano, and Thomas Repensek. 1980. "A Conversation". `*October`* 14 (Autumn): 101–20.

• Bradshaw, Susan. 1973. "First Performances: '...explosante-fixe...'". `*Tempo`*, new series, no. 106 (September): 58–59.

• Dal Molin, Paolo. 2009. "`*Mémoriale`* de Pierre Boulez: Ce que les sources (ne) nous disent (pas)". `*Revue de musicologie`* 95, no. 2:475–523.

• Goldman, Jonathan. 2006. "Exploding/Fixed: Form as Opposition in the Writings and Later Works of Pierre Boulez". PhD diss. Montreal: Université de Montréal. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-0-494-24456-2.

• Goldman, Jonathan. 2008. "Charting `*Mémoriale`*: Paradigmatic Analysis and Harmonic Schemata in Boulez's `*...explosante-fixe...`* ". `*Music Analysis`* 27, nos. 2–3:217–52.

• Kimmig, Rudolf. 1991. "Unterricht beim Meister: Pierre Boulez' Fragment `*explosante-fixe`*". `*Motiv: Musik in Gesellschaft anderer Künste`*, nos. 2–3:73–74.

• Mawhinney, Simon, and Pierre Boulez. 2001. "Composer in Interview: Pierre Boulez". `*Tempo`*, new series, no. 216 (April): 2–5.

>>External links

• May, Thomas. [1996]. About the Piece: '...explosante-fixe...': Pierre Boulez". La Phil website. Accessed 25 August 2011.

• Zurletti, Michelangelo. 1993. Gli spazi sonori di Pierre Boulez, about the Turin premiere `*La Repubblica`* (18 September), from website. Accessed 28 September 2019.

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