Eliane Radigue

[Serial_Apologist]

Tonight (Sat 1 August) 9.15

Born in 1932, this French composer began composing musique concrete in the early 1950s, only turning back to acoustic instruments in 2004 acording to Wiki, where it is stated that she is strongly inspired by Tibetan buddhism - a fascinating mix. Not having previously heard any of her music, this for me is a programme with much to anticipate, providing I have managed to stay awake after the Bruckner!

[MrGongGong]

Definitely worth a listen
her electronic works are wonderful

[Beef Oven!]

It's even worth getting her name right!

Éliane Radigue!

MrGG has drawn our attention to her music quite often on here. She figures quite strongly on 'The Rest Is Noise' thread.

I'm particularly fond of...........

[Padraig]

Occam V for cello - any assistance gratefully received.

Edit. You just beat me Beef Oven. I'll listen to yours tomorrow. It may have offered the assistance requested. But Occam V for Cello is still playing.

Edit 2. No it isn't. It's now Occam River IV for cello. I didn't notice the break. Sorry.

[Anna]

I really enjoyed this (although missed the very beginning), especially the last piece (Delta), thanks for flagging it up S_A as otherwise I'd have missed it. It's relaxing music that you can sink into, good for insomniacs I imagine! I'll listen to Beefy's clip tomorrow as I'd like to hear more.

[umslopogaas]

I had never heard of her, but was sufficiently interested by these posts to buy a CD called Transamorem - Transmortem, which I have just started to play. The first couple of minutes sound like a cross between a nasty case of tinnitus and a short circuit in the hifi, but things may improve.

The CD code is IMPREC 337.

[umslopogaas]

Right, sixty four minutes later I can report that Transamorem - Transmortem consists of a deep, very slowly pulsating single note hum, rather like the beginning of Also Sprach Zarathustra before the brass comes in. On reflection, the tinnitus-like sound I mentioned probably was just that and originated in my ears, not the disc.

After about half an hour of hum I phoned the CD shop to check that it really was a CD and I wasnt playing it in the wrong machine, but it is a genuine CD.

It makes Cage's four minutes thirty three seem positively gripping by comparison and at least, that is a good joke with serious intent. This piece has no structure or development or musical content and seems to me to be just a very bad joke.

The notes on the back appear to have been written by someone on a large dose of very strange drugs; they make very little sense, which is quite in keeping with the music.

If anyone wants to hear it and save the cost of a full price CD, just turn up the amplifier beyond the normal limit, so that you get a hum. You dont need to buy the disc at all.

I have some more CDs of her music on order, I cant wait. Mr GG, please tell me they cant be as bad as this.

[MrGongGong]

Music can be a narrative
Music can be a journey
and some music is simply a place to be

You might find this is easier to approach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtB3bFQ0u_0

[umslopogaas]

Yes ... I know, not going to fall for that one, music is just organised sound, but I want it to be organised in a place where something happens as a result of the organisation ...

Just dipped in to that link briefly, but it did suggest that if you hang in long enough, something happens.

But, really, seriously, what is there in Transamorem - Transmortem to persuade anyone to fork out the price of an expensive CD? I could get more music for free by listening to the traffic driving past my door. More diversity by far, and its all free.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes ... I know, not going to fall for that one, music is just organised sound, but I want it to be organised in a place where something happens as a result of the organisation ...

Just dipped in to that link briefly, but it did suggest that if you hang in long enough, something happens.

But, really, seriously, what is there in Transamorem - Transmortem to persuade anyone to fork out the price of an expensive CD? I could get more music for free by listening to the traffic driving past my door. More diversity by far, and its all free.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WL0J3kJEmk

[MrGongGong]

but I want it to be organised in a place where something happens as a result of the organisation ...

Then maybe you need to find another composer to listen to?
I find lots of things "happen" in Radigue's music but I have to give it enough time and attention
why the anxiety of always wanting things to happen anyway?
In the rest of the world stuff is happening the time, music can be different

[umslopogaas]

I will suspend judgement until I hear more of her music, which I soon will, and I hope there will be things happening in it when I do, but on the evidence of Transmorem-Transmortem, there is very little happening for twenty five quid, and what there is isnt worth half a p. Dont get me wrong, I am very much in favour of avant garde experiments, but there has to be something there for we ignorant people to be confused by. There is nothing in that CD except turntable rumble, and I paid a lot of money for my hifi so that it doesnt rumble.

And if you find "lots of things happen" in Radigue's music, what do you find happens in Transamorem - Transmortem except a bad case of worn turntable bearings? I paid at least twenty quid for that CD and I have heard nothing except a bad joke. Its not Radigue's music that infuriates me, it is that she charges me a lot of money for nothing. I've already got plenty of nothing, in case she hasnt noticed, but at least I wont fall for that one again.

[MrGongGong]

Transamorem - Transmortem isn't a piece I know
but having a listen I think you are missing the high frequency components and probably expecting something other than what this music delivers

What I hear (on headphones) is a very slow change of pitches, almost imperceptibly but over the long duration creating an extraordinary sense of space and openness.

I don't think it's an "experiment" either.

[umslopogaas]

I think you are right about the high frequencies. Since I have tinnitus (the result, I think, of having spent twenty years listening to music on headphones to avoid upsetting the neighbouring flats), if high frequencies are not pitched notes I find it hard to distinguish them from the background whistling. I did pick up on the gradual changes in pitch, but I'm afraid they didnt create that sense of space and openness for me.

I shall explore further - I have some more discs on order -, but I doubt I shall give that piece any more of my time.

Isnt it usual to describe novel or unusual approaches as experimental? The piece was written in 1973, whether Moog, Buchla and Arp synthesisers were still experimental at that time is something you will know much better than me. Moog, at least, I think was quite well established? Over to you.

[MrGongGong]

Isnt it usual to describe novel or unusual approaches as experimental? The piece was written in 1973, whether Moog, Buchla and Arp synthesisers were still experimental at that time is something you will know much better than me. Moog, at least, I think was quite well established? Over to you.

The reason I don't think of her music as "experimental" is that the experiments were done before making the pieces.
In some ways ALL composition is a kind of experiment.

I think this piece was made on the ARP 2500 that she is often pictured using (one of the few folks in the world able to get their head around the slider matrix routing)