After the end of World War 2 (2 September 1945) the technological advances that were invented to help the allies win the war were being re-developed for more general use. For instance, the microwave was first patented 8 October 1945. The first electronic computer, ENIAC, was completed in 1945 (10 December 1945), quickly followed by EDSAC in 1949. It was the invention of the transistor in 1947 at Bell Laboratories that heralded the dawn of the electronic age. These advances would not have happened so quickly without the spending on research because of the war.
Socially it was also a time of incredible change as there was a widescale challenge and subsequent breakdown on accepted beliefs and values, including the birth of rock and roll. There was also a boom in the economy that started in the 1950s called the ‘golden age’1 that helped changed the lives of many in western society.
‘It is necessary to destroy music’
Pierre Henry
Pierre Henry was “was classically trained, studying at the famous Conservatoire in Paris under Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger”1 until 1949 when he started working with Pierre Schaeffer at the Club d’Essai2. Together their work, along with their collaborators, created ‘Musique Concrete’ which has influenced music in a fundamental way ever since. It’s use of recording, editing, and manipulation of sound is the basis for much of music production today.
It is interesting to hear how Henry and Schaeffer worked. For instance: “Two tendencies were developing: non-contradictory and complementary in a certain way. The first tendency is to build a complex machine that will simplify the operations and permit a more regular and controlled result…The second tendency consists of developing through practice a specific skill in a technique … the arrival of Pierre Henry to the studio in 1949 brought a person who would develop extensive and new skills in the manipulation of accidents, and be very inventive in the compositional process”3. Also, from this quote from Henry in 1997 to the question “Do you find it necessary to be open to chance in your work?”, his response was: “It’s as important as fate. Without fate, without any deviation… drifting is necessary once in a while. I often play everything together and then listen. Sometimes a strange phenomenon occurs.”4 This chaotic way of exploration lead to works that reinforce his believe that “it is necessary to destroy music.”5
“I believe that the tape recorder is the best instrument for the composer who really wants to create by ear for the ear.”
Pierre Henry
I can see that Henry was driven to produce works with the machines as given, regardless of the complexity of the instrumentation, or quirks involved with their use, in fact the quirks would help with composition of the work, while Schaeffer seemed more likely to want to iterate on the machines to make them more controllable. This can be seen in the development of the Phonogene.
There were three versions of the Phonogene created. The first one was chromatic and controlled by a one-octave keyboard and utilised 12 reading heads that played tape loops. The second Phonogene allowed the musician to move a control rod that changed the speed on the motor of the tape allowing for tonal variation. An example of this version of the Phonogene can be heard in Voile d’Orphee by Pierre Henry (1953), “where a very long glissando appears that symbolises the tearing of the veil by Orpheus when entering hell”6. This led to the final version of the Phonogene, called the universal Phonogene7, which allowed for pitch transposition without altering the duration of the sound and vice-versa.
I couldn’t find a good place for this, but I had to include it, thanks Pierre Henry for giving Christopher Tyng the inspiration for the Futurama theme:
- Toniolo, G., (1998) The Economic History Review New Series, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 252-267 (16 pages)
- Williamson, M., (2017) ‘Pierre Henry: Composer of musique concrete’, Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/pierre-henry-composer-of-musique-concrete-a7838681.html (Accessed: 17 October 2022).
- Teruggi, D., (2007) ‘Technology and musique concrete: the technical developments of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales and their implication in musical composition’, Organised Sound. 12(3), pp. 216
- Lee, I (1997) ‘Pierre Henry’, Available at: http://www.furious.com/perfect/pierrehenry.html (Accessed: 17 October 2022)
- ‘It is necessary to destroy music’. The avant-garde works of Pierre Henry, (2017), Available at: https://www.voert.digital/it-is-necessary-to-destroy-music-pierre-henry-avante-garde-genius (Accessed: 17 October 2022)
- Teruggi, D., (2007) ‘Technology and musique concrete: the technical developments of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales and their implication in musical composition’, Organised Sound. 12(3), pp. 217
- ‘The ‘Groupe de Recherches Musicales’ Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry & Jacques Poullin, France 1951’,(2014) Available at: https://120years.net/wordpress/the-grm-group-and-rtf-electronic-music-studio-pierre-schaeffer-jacques-poullin-france-1951/ (Accessed: 17 October 2022).