Page 302 - (DK) The Classical Music Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained

300 ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND MUSIQUE CONCRÈTE

increased to 12 for Henry’s 1966 and Eroïca, and a further two—
revision, which has become Collectif and Apostrophe—suggest
accepted as the official version. verbal exchanges. Strette, the title
The symphony is an explorative of the last and longest movement,
work utilizing recorded sounds like the Italian term stretto, which
and new techniques in a relatively is often used to describe fugues or
simple and also somewhat crude operatic finales, indicates a faster
manner, when compared with speed or richness of texture as
what would later be achieved in earlier sounds are reprised.
the field of electronic music. In his 1952 work, À la recherche
The first and seventh of the 12 d’une musique concrète (In search
movements of Henry’s 1966 revised of a Concrete Music), Schaeffer
version are titled Prosopopée 1 described the individual nature of
and Prosopopée 2, from the Greek the work and also listed some of its
rhetorical term prosopopeia, in sonic elements. He declared that a
which a speaker communicates in man could be his own instrument,
The soundtracks and effects the guise of someone else. Other using many more than the 12 notes
for most programs made by the
BBC were mixed in the control room movements are given musical of the singing voice: “He cries, he
at Alexandra Palace, London, until terms, such as Valse and Scherzo, whistles, he walks, he thumps his
the early 1950s. two are evocatively named Erotica fist, he laughs, he groans. His heart
beats, his breathing accelerates,
he utters words, launches calls,
Sounds used in the 12 movements of and other calls reply.”
Symphonie pour un homme seul The choreographer Maurice
Béjart, who sensed the further
Knocking, shouts, humming, whistling, and wordless
1. Prosopopée I expressive potential of the
singing.
Symphonie, used it as a score for
2. Partita Mostly someone playing a prepared piano. the dance piece that was also
called Symphonie pour un homme
3. Valse Made up of the distorted sounds of an orchestra playing seul, which he created in 1955. It
fragments of a waltz with various voices over the top. was Béjart’s first success and has
been revived several times.
4. Erotica A woman’s voice laughing and purring with pleasure.
A musical legacy
5. Scherzo Conversational speaking voices played at various speeds Although Schaeffer was appointed
and alternating with detached sounds from the piano.
professor of electronic composition
6. Collectif Relaxed voices over soft, sustained piano chords. at the Paris Conservatoire in 1968,
he composed few works after
The sound of footsteps alternates with various pitches 1962. He continued, however, to
7. Prosopopée II
from the piano.
pursue a vast range of artistic
interests and concepts, especially
8. Eroïca Busy clattering sounds with a voice played backward.
creative writing, theoretical studies
9. Apostrophe Male and female voices repeat lyrical phrases against short in musique concrète and other
rhythmic ideas on the piano. electronic techniques, and the
organization and running of groups
10. Intermezzo Sounds like fragments of a collective prayer against a tense, dedicated to the new genres.
percussive accompaniment.
Henry went on to explore the
11. Cadence Sounds of knocking on wood and metal. medium he had helped to invent
in collaboration with Béjart, the
12. Strette A loud, eruptive opening, then a summary of what has gone choreographer Alwin Nikolais, his
before, with percussive sounds, crowd noises, and sirens.
fellow composer Michel Colombier,

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