French electronic music
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Until 2000 Éliane Radigue's work was almost exclusively created on a single synthesizer, the ARP 2500 modular system and tape."--Sholem Stein |
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French electronic music, a panorama of French music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production.
Notable early french artists and composers in electronic music include Maurice Martenot, the inventor of the Ondes Martenot in 1928, and Pierre Schaeffer, the developer of the musique concrète in 1948. Among the famous contemporary artists include Jean-Michel Jarre, Air, Daft Punk, Justice and M83.
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History
Phonautograph (1857)
The earliest known sound recording device was the phonautograph, patented in 1857 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville.
Ondes Martenot (1928)
In 1928, the Ondes Martenot was invented by Maurice Martenot, who debuted it in Paris. This electronic musical instrument was most famously used in the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen as well as other works by him. The Ondes Martenot was also used by other composers such as Andre Jolivet, Pierre Boulez, Arthur Honegger, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Gilles Tremblay and Edgard Varèse.
Musique concrète (1948)
In 1942, the French composer and theoretician Pierre Schaeffer, began his exploration of radiophony when he joined Jacques Copeau and his pupils in the foundation of the Studio d'Essai de la Radiodiffusion Nationale. His work laid the foundations of the Musique concrète. This technique involved editing together recorded fragments of natural and industrial sounds. The first pieces of musique concrète in Paris were assembled by him, who went on to collaborate with Pierre Henry.
On 5 October 1948, Radiodiffusion Française (RDF) broadcast composer Pierre Schaeffer's Etude aux chemins de fer. This was the first "movement" of Cinq études de bruits, and marked the beginning of studio realizations and musique concrète (or acousmatic art). Schaeffer employed a disk-cutting lathe, four turntables, a four-channel mixer, filters, an echo chamber, and a mobile recording unit. Not long after this, Henry began collaborating with Schaeffer, a partnership that would have profound and lasting effects on the direction of electronic music. Another associate of Schaeffer, Edgard Varèse, began work on Déserts, a work for chamber orchestra and tape. The tape parts were created at Pierre Schaeffer's studio, and were later revised at Columbia University.
In 1950, Schaeffer gave the first public (non-broadcast) concert of musique concrète at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris. "Schaeffer used a PA system, several turntables, and mixers. Later that same year, Pierre Henry collaborated with Schaeffer on Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950) the first major work of musique concrete. In Paris in 1951, in what was to become an important worldwide trend, RTF established the first studio for the production of electronic music. Also in 1951, Schaeffer and Henry produced an opera, Orpheus, for concrete sounds and voices.
I.R.C.A.M. (1975)
In 1970, the President of France Georges Pompidou asked to the composer Pierre Boulez to found an institution for research in new forms of music. The Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique was created under his direction. Since then, IRCAM has been an avant-garde institute for science about music, sound and electro-acoustical art music in France.
French Touch (1990)
Following precursors Jean-Michel Jarre and Cerrone, many French electronic artists have gained worldwide recognition under the name of "French Touch", especially Daft Punk, David Guetta, M83, Justice and Air.
Artists
- Olivier Messiaen
- André Jolivet
- Pierre Schaeffer
- Pierre Henry
- Edgard Varèse
- Jean-Michel Jarre
- Cerrone
- Jacno
- Air
- Daft Punk
- Justice
- M83
- Mr. Oizo
- Bob Sinclar
- David Guetta
- Stardust
- Modjo
- Martin Solveig
- Laurent Garnier
- Etienne de Crecy
- Galleon
- Télépopmusik
- Stéphane Pompougnac
- Mirwais
- Cassius
- Rinôçérôse
- Laurent Wolf
- Kavinsky
- David Vendetta
- Sébastien Tellier
- B.B.E.
- Miss Kittin
- C2C
- Birdy Nam Nam
- Vitalic
- Gesaffelstein
See also
