Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995)
The
father of musique concrète, French composer Pierre Schaeffer was among
the most visionary artists of the postwar era; through the creation of
abstract sound mosaics divorced from conventional musical theory, he
pioneered a sonic revolution which continues to resonate across the
contemporary cultural landscape, most deeply in the grooves of hip-hop
and electronica. Schaeffer was not a trained musician or composer,
but was instead working as a radio engineer when he founded the RTF
electronic studio in 1944 to begin his first experiments in what would
ultimately be dubbed "musique concrète." Working with found fragments
of sound -- both musical and environmental in origin -- he assembled
his first tape-machine pieces, collages of noise manipulated through
changes in pitch, duration and amplitude; the end result heralded a
radical new interpretation of musical form and perception. In October
1948, Schaeffer broadcast his first public piece, Etude aux Chemins de Fer,
over French radio airwaves; although the public reaction ranged from
comic disbelief to genuine outrage, many composers and performers were
intrigued, among them Pierre Henry, who in 1949 joined the RTF staff,
as well as future collaborators Luc Ferrari and Iannis Xenakis.
(Olivier Messiaen was also a guest, bringing with him students
Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez.) Schaeffer forged on, in 1948
completing Etude Pathetique, which in its frenetic mix of sampled
voices anticipated the emergence of hip-hop scratching techniques by
over a generation; by Suite pour 14 Instruments (1949), he had turned
to neo-classical textures, distorted virtually beyond recognition. In
1950, Schaeffer and Henry collaborated on Symphonie pour un homme seul,
a 12-movement work employing the sounds of the human body. Working
with the classically-trained Henry clearly informed
Schaeffer's later projects, as he soon adopted a more accessible
musical approach. Together, the two men also co-founded the Groupe de
Musique Concrète in 1951; later rechristened the Groupe de Recherches
Musicales, or GRM, their studio became the launching pad behind some of
the most crucial electronic music compositions of the era, among them
Edgard Varèse's Deserts. However, by the end of the decade most of the
GRM's members grew increasingly disenchanted with the painstaking
efforts required to construct pieces from vinyl records and magnetic
tape; after later, tightly-constructed works like Etude aux Sons
Animes (1958) and Etudes aux Objets (1959), even Schaeffer himself
announced his retirement from music in 1960. Leaving the GRM
in the hands of Francois Bayle, some months later Schaeffer founded the
research center of the Office of French Television Broadcasting,
serving as its director from 1960 to 1975; in 1967, he also published
an essay titled Musique Concrète: What Do I Know? which largely
dismissed the principles behind his groundbreaking work, concluding
that what music now needed was "searchers," not "auteurs." In later
years, Schaeffer did explore areas of psycho-acoustic research which he
dubbed Traite de Objets Musicaux (TOM).- Jason Ankeny/AllMusic
COMPOSITIONS Schaeffer Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Schaeffer on Schaeffer ~ ~ ~ Notes on Schaeffer
La coquille à planètes (The Shell Filled With Planets), radiophonic opera, in 8 one-hour episodes (1942-1944; rev. 1946) [8:00:00]
- Le Zodiaque
- Dialogue avec les monstres
- Nocturne aux lions
- L'Opéra de minuit
- Ères et aubes
- L'idylle aux machines
- Mon tout est l'amour
- Retour à l'évidence
- Music by Claude Arrieu; writing, studio production, and some acting by Pierre Schaeffer
Cantate à l'Alsace (Cantata to Alsace), pièce radiophonique (radio "essay")(1944) [50:00]
Une heure du monde (An Hour of the World), radio "essay" (1947)
Cinq Études De Bruits (Five Noise Studies), musique concrète (1948; rev. 1971) - see here for more details
- Imposée, ou Étude aux chemins de fer (1948) [2:53]
- Déconcertante, ou Étude aux tourniquets (1948) [1:57]
- Composée, ou Étude au piano (ou Étude violette) (1948) [3:20]
- Concertante, ou Étude pour orchestre (ou Étude noire) (1948) [4:00]
- Pathétique, ou Étude aux casseroles (1948) [4:08]
- note: these five compositions were then broadcast from Paris on October 5, 1948 as a "Concert de bruits/Concert of Noises"
Revised as "Quatre Études De Bruits" (1971?)
- Étude Violette [3:15]
- Étude Aux Tourniquets [1:54]
- Étude Aux Chemins De Fer [3:42]
- Étude Pathétique [3:22]
Concertino-Diapason (Diapason Concertino), musique concrète (1948; rev. 1971) [9:48] [collaboration with J.J. Grünewald]
- Allegro [1:20]
- Andante [2:21]
- Intermezzo [2:47]
- Andantino/Final [3:27]
Revised (1951-52)
- Allegro, Andante Et Intermezzo [2:41]
- Andantino Et Final [1:35]
Suite pour quatorze instruments, musique concrète (1949; rev. 1971)
- Prélude [3:24]
- Courante-Roucante [6:42]
- Rigodon [5:35]
- Vagotte-Gavotte [2:45]
- Sphoradie [7:06]
Revised (1971?)
- Courante, Roucante Et Rigodon [2:14]
- Vagotte [1:46]
- Spharodie [5:08]
Variation sur une flûte mexicaine, musique concrète (1949) [3:53] [radiophonique version created by Pierre Henry, 1949]
Bidule en ut, musique concrète (1950) [1:51] [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
La course au kilocycle, radio score (1950) [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
L'oiseau R.A.I., musique concrète (1950) [2:55]
Symphonie pour un homme seul, musique concrète (1950; rev. 1951; 1953?/55?/66?) [21:22] [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
- Prosopopée I [2:58]
- Partita [1:12]
- Valse [0:58]
- Erotic [1:21]
- Scherzo [2:33]
- Collectif [0:57]
- Prosopopée II [1:02]
- Eroïca [1:57]
- Apostrophe [2:26]
- Intermezzo [1:57]
- Cadence [1:09]
- Strette [3:09]
- Symphonie pour un homme seul, short film score (1959) [14:00] [film by Louis Cuny]
Orphée 51, ou Toute la lyr, pantominme lyrique, musique concrète, 4 vocal soloists, 2 speakers, mime & tape (1951)[30:00; unpub]
[collaboration with Pierre Henry]
Masquerage, film score, musique concrète (1952; rev. 1971) [3:30] [film by Max de Haas]
Les paroles dégelées, music for a radio production, musique concrète (1952) [4:20] [play: Rabelais] [rev. by François Bayle, 1982]
Scènes de Don Juan, incidental music (1952) [collaboration with Monique Rollin]
Orphée 53 opéra concret, 3 voices, harpsichord, violin and tape (1953) [20:00; unpublished]
Claudel à Brangues (From Claudel to Brangues), radio "essay" (1953)
Sahara d'aujourd'hui, film score (1957) [collaboration with Pierre Henry] [film by Pierre Gout et Pierre Schwah]
Continuo, musique concrète (1958) [2:50] [collaboration with Luc Ferrari]
Étude aux sons animés, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [4:12]
- also version for 2 synthesizers and prepared piano, transcribed by Denis Dufour
Étude aux objets, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [17:00; unpublished]
- Objets Exposés [3:34]
- Objets Étendus [2:54]
- Objets Multipliés [3:02]
- Objets Liés [3:07]
- Objets Rassemblés [4:19]
Étude aux allures, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [3:30]
- Etude aux Allures, film score (1950-54) [5:40] [film by Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé]
- Etude aux Allures, film score (1960) [4:29/4:39/5:26] [film by Raymond Hains]
Exposition française à Londres (1958) [collaboration with Luc Ferrari] - only listed at Wikipedia
Simultané camerounais, musique concrète (1959)
Phèdre, incidental music (1959) [2:09:00] [for play by Jean Racine]
Nocturne aux chemins de fer, incidental music/music for a mime of Jacques Lecoq (1959)
L'aura d'Olga, music for a radio production (1962) [collaboration with Claude Arrieu]
Les Montrealistes, documentary film score (1964) [w/Donald Mackey & Pierre Henry] [film by Denys Arcand]
Garabatos, documentary short film score (1964) [w/Pierre Henry & Edgard Varèse] [film by Angelino Fons]
Les montréalistes, documentary short film score (1965) [film by Denys Arcand]
La recherche image, film score (1965) - listed only at Wikipedia.fr
Essai visuel sur l'objet sonore, film score (1966/1962?) [16:00] [film by Pierre Schaeffer]
Dialogue du son et de l'image, film score (1966) [19:00] [film by diverse film makers]
Solfège de l'objet Sonore (1966) (3 LPs, released 1967) - not a composition by Schaeffer; see here for more details
L'observateur observé, film score (1967) - listed only at Wikipedia.fr
Narcissus Echo, film score (1972) [6:00] [film by Peter Foldes]
Le trièdre fertile, musique électronique (7 mvts) (1975) [34:00; unpublished] [collaboration with Bernard Durr]
- Peu Banal (Impromptu) [3:25]
- Plus Banal (Étude Plutôt Dynamique) [3:25]
- Étude Plutôt Harmonique [4:20]
- Étude Plutôt Mélodique [6:45]
- Toccata Et Fugue [4:45]
- Baroque [3:55]
- Strette [8:00]
- La Trièdre Fertile, film score (1975) [38:00] [film by Pierre Schaeffer]
Bilude, piano and tape (1979) [2:17] [original title: "Eternels regrets ou le clavier mal tempéré"]
WORKS BY GENRE Schaeffer Links ~ ~ ~ Schaeffer on Schaeffer ~ ~ ~ Notes on Schaeffer ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
La coquille à planètes (The Shell Filled With Planets), radiophonic opera, in 8 one-hour episodes (1942-1944; rev. 1946) [8:00:00]
Orphée 51, ou Toute la lyr, pantominme lyrique, musique concrète, 4 vocal soloists, 2 speakers, mime & tape (1951)[30:00; unpub]
[collaboration with Pierre Henry]
Orphée 53 opéra concret, 3 voices, harpsichord, violin and tape (1953) [20:00; unpublished]
Piano
Bilude, piano and tape (1979) [2:17] [original title: "Eternels regrets ou le clavier mal tempéré"]
Film
Masquerage, film score, musique concrète (1952; rev. 1971) [3:30] [film by Max de Haas]
Étude aux allures, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [3:30]
- Etude aux Allures, film score (1950-54) [5:40] [film by Raymond Hains and Jacques Villeglé]
- Etude aux Allures, film score (1960) [4:29/4:39/5:26] [film by Raymond Hains]
Sahara d'aujourd'hui, film score (1957) [collaboration with Pierre Henry] [film by Pierre Gout et Pierre Schwah]
Symphonie pour un homme seul, short film score (1959) [14:00] [film by Louis Cuny]
Les Montrealistes, documentary film score (1964) [w/Donald Mackey & Pierre Henry] [film by Denys Arcand]
Garabatos, documentary short film score (1964) [w/Pierre Henry & Edgard Varèse] [film by Angelino Fons]
Les montréalistes, documentary short film score (1965) [film by Denys Arcand]
La recherche image, film score (1965) - listed only at Wikipedia.fr
Essai visuel sur l'objet sonore, film score (1966/1962?) [16:00] [film by Pierre Schaeffer]
Dialogue du son et de l'image, film score (1966) [19:00] [film by diverse film makers]
L'observateur observé, film score (1967) - listed only at Wikipedia.fr
Narcissus Echo, film score (1972) [6:00] [film by Peter Foldes]
La Trièdre Fertile, film score (1975) [38:00] [film by Pierre Schaeffer]
Radio
Variation sur une flûte mexicaine, musique concrète (1949) [3:53] [radiophonique version created by Pierre Henry, 1949]
La course au kilocycle, radio score (1950) [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
Les paroles dégelées, music for a radio production, musique concrète (1952) [4:20] [play: Rabelais] [rev. by François Bayle, 1982]
L'aura d'Olga, music for a radio production (1962) [collaboration with Claude Arrieu]
Radio Essays
La coquille à planètes (The Shell Filled With Planets), radiophonic opera, in 8 one-hour episodes (1942-1944; rev. 1946) [8:00:00]
Cantate à l'Alsace (Cantata to Alsace), pièce radiophonique (radio "essay")(1944) [50:00]
Une heure du monde (An Hour of the World), radio "essay" (1947)
Claudel à Brangues (From Claudel to Brangues), radio "essay" (1953)
Dix ans d’essais radiophoniques (Ten Years of Radio Essays) by the Studio at Club Essay: 1942-1952, radio "essay" (2 LPs -
released 1953) - see here for more details
Apart from his published and publicized music, Schaeffer conducted several musical (and specifically musique concrète-related) presentations via French radio. Although these broadcasts contained musical pieces by Schaeffer they cannot be adequately described as part of his main line of musical output. This is because the radio "essay", as they were appropriately named, were mainly narration on Schaeffer's musical theories philosophies rather than compositions in and of themselves. (Wikipedia)
Incidental Music
Scènes de Don Juan, incidental music (1952) [collaboration with Monique Rollin]
Phèdre, incidental music (1959) [2:09:00] [for play by Jean Racine]
Nocturne aux chemins de fer, incidental music/music for a mime of Jacques Lecoq (1959)
Electronic
Cinq Études De Bruits (Five Noise Studies), musique concrète (1948; rev. 1971) - see here for more details
- Imposée, ou Étude aux chemins de fer (1948) [2:53]
- Déconcertante, ou Étude aux tourniquets (1948) [1:57]
- Composée, ou Étude au piano (ou Étude violette) (1948) [3:20]
- Concertante, ou Étude pour orchestre (ou Étude noire) (1948) [4:00]
- Pathétique, ou Étude aux casseroles (1948) [4:08]
- note: these five compositions were broadcast from Paris on October 5, 1948 as a "Concert de bruits/Concert of Noises"
Revised as "Quatre Études De Bruits" (1971?)
- Étude Violette [3:15]
- Étude Aux Tourniquets [1:54]
- Étude Aux Chemins De Fer [3:42]
- Étude Pathétique [3:22]
Concertino-Diapason (Diapason Concertino), musique concrète (1948; rev. 1971) [9:48] [collaboration with J.J. Grünewald]
- Allegro [1:20]
- Andante [2:21]
- Intermezzo [2:47]
- Andantino/Final [3:27]
Revised (1951-52)
- Allegro, Andante Et Intermezzo [2:41]
- Andantino Et Final [1:35]
Suite pour quatorze instruments, musique concrète (1949; rev. 1971)
- Prélude [3:24]
- Courante-Roucante [6:42]
- Rigodon [5:35]
- Vagotte-Gavotte [2:45]
- Sphoradie [7:06]
Revised (1971?)
- Courante, Roucante Et Rigodon [2:14]
- Vagotte [1:46]
- Spharodie [5:08]
Variation sur une flûte mexicaine, musique concrète (1949) [3:53] [radiophonique version created by Pierre Henry, 1949]
Bidule en ut, musique concrète (1950) [1:51] [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
L'oiseau R.A.I., musique concrète (1950) [2:55]
Symphonie pour un homme seul, musique concrète (1950; rev. 1951; 1953?/55?/66?) [21:22] [collaboration with Pierre Henry]
- Prosopopée I [2:58]
- Partita [1:12]
- Valse [0:58]
- Erotic [1:21]
- Scherzo [2:33]
- Collectif [0:57]
- Prosopopée II [1:02]
- Eroïca [1:57]
- Apostrophe [2:26]
- Intermezzo [1:57]
- Cadence [1:09]
- Strette [3:09]
- Symphonie pour un homme seul, short film score (1959) [14:00] [film by Louis Cuny]
Continuo, musique concrète (1958) [2:50] [collaboration with Luc Ferrari]
Étude aux sons animés, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [4:12]
- also version for 2 synthesizers and prepared piano, transcribed by Denis Dufour
Étude aux objets, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [17:00; unpublished]
- Objets Exposés [3:34]
- Objets Étendus [2:54]
- Objets Multipliés [3:02]
- Objets Liés [3:07]
- Objets Rassemblés [4:19]
Étude aux allures, musique concrète (1958; rev. 1971) [3:30] [also used in Raymond Hains film "Etude aux Allures"]
Exposition française à Londres (1958) [collaboration with Luc Ferrari] - only listed at Wikipedia
Simultané camerounais, musique concrète (1959)
Solfège de l'objet Sonore (1966) (3 LPs, released 1967) - not a composition by Schaeffer; see here for more details
Le trièdre fertile, musique électronique (7 mvts) (1975) [34:00; unpublished] [collaboration with Bernard Durr]
- Peu Banal (Impromptu) [3:25]
- Plus Banal (Étude Plutôt Dynamique) [3:25]
- Étude Plutôt Harmonique [4:20]
- Étude Plutôt Mélodique [6:45]
- Toccata Et Fugue [4:45]
- Baroque [3:55]
- Strette [8:00]
- La Trièdre Fertile, film score (1975) [38:00] [film by Pierre Schaeffer]
Bilude, piano and tape (1979) [2:17] [original title: "Eternels regrets ou le clavier mal tempéré"]
SCHAEFFER LINKS Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Schaeffer on Schaeffer ~ ~ ~ Notes on Schaeffer ~ top of page ~
Archives GRM; INA 30 Years (Sonoloco Record Reviews)
Cinq études de bruits, 1948 (Zauberhafte Klangmaschinen, Institute of Media Archaeology)
Early Electronic Music (Marie Burns)
The GRM: Landmarks on a Historic Route (Évelyne Gayou, Cambridge Journals Online)
Guide to Sound Objects: Pierre Schaeffer and Musical Research (Michel Chion)
INA-GRM/Institut National Audiovisuel, Groupe de Recherches Musicales (Perfect Sound Forever/furious.com)
An Interview with Pierre Schaeffer - Pioneer of Musique Concrète (Tim Hodgkinson)
Musique Concrète (museSpace.com)
Musique Concrète (Pierre-Arnaud Dablemont)
Musique Concrète Revisited (Carlos Palombini, Electronic Musicological Review)
My Concrete Life - Pierre Schaeffer (Goran Vejvoda, scribd.com)
L’Objet Sonore Maintenant: Pierre Schaeffer, Sound Objects and the Phenomenological Reduction (Brian Kane)
The Night France Tuned in to Clank and Clatter (Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph)
Original Creator: Pierre Schaeffer (Morgan Poyau March, The Creators Project)
Pierre Schaeffer, 1953 - Towards an Experimental Music (scribd.com)
Pierre Schaeffer: A Survey of the Literature (compiled by Carlos Palombini, Leonardo Online)
Pierre Schaeffer: An Interview with the Pioneer of Musique concrète (ele-mental.org)
Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry: Pioneers in Sampling (John Diliberto, Electronic Musician) also here
Pierre Schaeffer and the Significance of Radiophonic Art (John Dack, Sonic Arts) also here
Pierre Schaeffer and the Theory of Sound Objects (Cedric Maridet, sweb.cityu.edu.hk)
Pierre Schaeffer Jubilee (Norwegian Center for Technology in Music and the Arts)
Pierre Schaeffer, Musique concrète, and the Influences in the Compositional Practice of the 20th Century (Carlos Guedes)
Pierre Schaeffer - Obituary (Adrian Dannatt, The Independent)
Technology and the Instrument (John Dack)
Translating Pierre Schaeffer: Symbolism, Literature and Music (John Dack) also here
What the GRM Brought to Music: From Musique Concrète to Acousmatic Music (Marc Battier, Inventionen.de)
Composer's website . . . inquire about Pierre Schaeffer: here
Schaeffer @ Wikipedia
Schaeffer @ Wikipedia.fr
Schaeffer @ Answers.com
Schaeffer @ Elizabeth Antébi
Schaeffer @ Arcane Candy
Schaeffer @ Art + Culture
Schaeffer @ Ars-classical
Schaeffer @ Cdmc / Centre de documentation de la musique contemporaine
Schaeffer @ CITWF / Complete Index to World Film
Schaeffer @ Classical Composers Database
Schaeffer @ CNMAT / Center for New Music & Audio Technologies
Schaeffer @ Computer Music Journal
Schaeffer @ Curating the Moving Image
Schaeffer @ digital-music-archives.com
Schaeffer @ École Polytechnique
Schaeffer @ Electronic & Experimental Music: Pioneers in Technology & Comp. (T. Holmes, Psycology Pr, books.google.com)
Schaeffer @ EMF Media/Electronic Music Foundation
Schaeffer @ Everything2
Schaeffer @ The Evolution of Sound
Schaeffer @ Facebook
Schaeffer @ Le Groupe de Recherches Musicales
Schaeffer @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Schaeffer @ Inart
Schaeffer @ INA-GRM
Schaeffer @ IRCAM
Schaeffer @ Medlen Kunst Netz/Media Art Net
Schaeffer @ mimaroglumusicsales
Schaeffer @ Modern Classical
Schaeffer @ MOG
Schaeffer @ MSN Music
Schaeffer @ museSpace
Schaeffer @ MusicBrainz
Schaeffer @ Musicologie.org (in French)
Schaeffer @ The Music of Sound
Schaeffer @ MusicWeb International
Schaeffer @ MySpaceMusic
Schaeffer @ Naxos
Schaeffer @ The New York Times
Schaeffer @ NNDB
Schaeffer @ OLATS/Leonardo Online (in French)
Schaeffer @ OLATS/Observatoire Leonardo des arts et des technosciences (in French)
Schaeffer @ Reading Sound
Schaeffer @ seevl.net
Schaeffer @ sfSound
Schaeffer @ Sompedia
Schaeffer @ Sonicarts
Schaeffer @ Tobey Christine
Publisher
Schaeffer @ ???
Streaming Audio
Schaeffer @ last.fm
Schaeffer @ MySpaceMusic
Schaeffer @ Rhapsody.com
Schaeffer @ Yahoo! Music
Recordings
Schaeffer @ ArkivMusic
Schaeffer @ ClassicsOnline
Schaeffer @ Discogs
Schaeffer @ electrocd.com
Schaeffer @ SquidCo
Video
Schaeffer @ YouTube
Schaeffer @ Google Video
Schaeffer @ Vidéo Ina (in French)
Schaeffer @ Vimeo
~ top of page ~
Schaeffer on Schaeffer: Interview (in French)/Ina.fr (VIDEO)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
~ top of page ~
Notes on the Music of Pierre Schaeffer
Cinq études de bruits (1948)
Étude 1: Déconcertante ou Etude aux Tourniquets
The sonic material fort his study was provided by exotic and non-exotic thin-metal instruments, wooden percussion, and two whirligigs which supply two characteristics musical figures. A certain abstract organization, suggested by the form of an initial composition by Gaston Litaize, was planned fort his study. The techniques used, however, led away from the execution of that plan, which was ultimately considered too brief. The principal themes were played at 33 RMP and a certain number of rhythmic figures were isolated with the intent of creating a fuller orchestration.
Étude 2: Imposée ou Etude aux Chemins de Fer
The railroad theme is treated freely in the first part, which contains numerous rhythmic developments. The first part is a bit like a theme and variations; then the second part, still made up of the same elements, moves with determination away from the anecdotal character of the noises. At the end, a coda recalls the initial theme.
Étude 3: Conertante ou Etude pour Orchestre
In answer to Etude 1, called Déconcertante, which followed the idea of an initial score, Etude 3, called Concertante, takes at its basic material a few moments of an orchestra surprised in the act of tuning. A series of freeform manipulations of this initial recording brings out a very large variety of ideas that were initially provided by chance, then chosen from among the possibilities, than composed. An orchestration was thus born, which very naturally led to a dialogue with a concertino instrument. It ist J.J. Grunewald who interacts with this reorganized orchestra through a series of piano improvisations. The Etude consists of four movements. In this composition, which was purposefully based on a limited selection of raw material, it is no surprising to fnd a concentration on a tonality based on A, with a certain number of modulations to G due to the 33 RPM.
Étude 4: Composée ou Etude au Piano
Whereas the Etude called „Imposed or Railroad Study“ is based on natural sound which are difficult to use in composing, Etude 4 or „Composed“ illustrates rather brilliantly the process defined by the term „musique concrète“. The whole study that we’re going to hear has, as its only source, the noises and sounds that can be derived from a piano. Particular attention was paid to excluding all normal ways of playing the piano, not from principle but to make the demonstration more vivid. This composition was based on the „closed groove“ technique; it consists of isolating sound fragments or rhythmic figures in different tempos and at different pitches, to be used structurally with different techniques: reverberation, reverse playback, etc. the Etude includes a first rhythmic movement, followed by a melodically slow movement, then a reprise of rhythmic variations, again cut off by a slow motif based on musical ideas in three opposing ranges. The Etude concludes with a rhythmic reprise that recalls the initial tempo.
Étude 5: Pathétique ou Etude aux Casseroles
After a short opening from one then two rolling boxes, an opposing slow theme brings out a rhythmic leitmotif that continues until the end. Then vocal elements appear, treated in such a basic way as to conserve the same rigorous character in the entire sonic ensemble. After a crescendo sustained by tonal ritornelli, a diminuendo leads to the conclusion, which is given, of course, to a rolling box. Due to the composer’s ignorance of customary action in this situation, he believes that it is indispensable to mention that he is working with voices found on a disc that had been thrown away and where the only identifable voice is hat of the marvelous comedian Sacha Guitry.
Solfège de l'objet Sonore (1966) (Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française/ORTF, SR 2) (3 LPs, released 1967)
Original sound examples by Guy Reibel and Beatriz Ferreyra, assisted by Henri Chiarucci & François Bayle to illustrate Pierre Schaeffer's "Traité des objets musicaux" (Treatise on the sound objects); also contains musical examples by : Luc Ferrari, François Bayle, Pierre Henry, Jean-Pierre Toulier, Ivo Malec, Bernard Parmegiani & Devy Erlih, Bernard Parmegiani, Edgardo Cantón, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Chatur-Lal, Jean-Sébastien Bach, Herbert Eimert; narrator: Pierre Schaeffer; technicians: Beatriz Ferreyra, François Bayle, Guy Reibel and Henri Chiarucci; realized by Groupe de recherches musicales de l'Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF). From Digital-Music-Archives: "This book, accompanied by 285 tracks of examples on 3 CDs is a unique and indispensable resource work for all those interested in electroacoustic music. Examples by Parmegiani, Henry, Bayle, Xenakis, Luc Ferrari etc. illustrate Pierre Schaeffer's text. This was originally designed to accompany Schaeffer's seminal work Traite des Objets Musicaux, but is a wonderful and enlightening tutorial in its own right." - see more here
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