Browse by Artist: HENRY, PIERRE

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	Le Microphone Bien Tempéré
Label:	DOXY (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.00
Catalog #:	DOZ 402LP

On 180 gram vinyl. "Electronic music pioneer, Pierre Henry, was a classically trained French pianist and percussionist, but gained notoriety as one of the driving forces behind the French avante-garde movement 'musique concrète', which attempted make music by using 'real' sounds, like trains on tracks, dogs barking, footsteps, etc., in place of actual instruments and then electronically manipulate them in ways that had never been seen before, effectively redefining the very idea of music itself, and forcing listeners to ask themselves the question, 'what is music?'. Many did, and the many answers to this question went on to inspire scores of artists and musicians, and the ripple effect is still being felt today. The idea that any naturally occurring sound could be music was, to say the least, a new concept at the time, and so it helped that the movement had the backing of someone who, like Henry, was a classically trained, or 'serious'musician, as movement founder Pierre Schaeffer would have defined him. This piece, Le Microphone bien Tempéré, written by Henry in 1951, was the first attempt at notated musique concrete."

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	Le Voile d'Orphée
Label:	DOXY (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOZ 403LP

"Pierre Henry's 1953 'Veil of Orpheus' is the first example of symphonic musique concrete, the use of non-traditional sources and 'real' sounds like trains, dogs barking, footsteps, etc., in place of actual instruments and then electronically manipulating these sounds in new ways. It was originally composed for the opera Orpheus 53, which was written with movement founder Pierre Schaeffer for the Donauescliingen Festival. Despite the quantum leaps made in the field of electronics over the past 50 years, this initial experiment still manages to convey its original importance. The piece uses 'concrete sounds' much in the same way a traditional orchestra would use individual instruments. Besides two versions of 'Veil of Orpheus' (the original 27-minute version and the second 15-minute version used in the Maurice Bejart-Pierre Henry ballet Orpheus in 1958), there are two shorter pieces -- 'Entity' and 'Spiral' -- which evoke an unsettling search for meaning that is so often associated with Henry's work."

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	Musique Sans Titre/Spatiodynamisme
Label:	DOXY (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOZ 404LP

"Musique Sans Titre, composed in 1951 at the Studio d'essai of the RTF, was one of Henry's earliest attempts at musique concrète. Spatiodynamisme, on the other hand, was based on the 1954 recordings of a Nicolas Schöffer sound sculpture. Metallic parts, mirrors, lights and sounds emanating from a 50-meter building interacted with the environment and visitors. Henry recorded various grating and scraping sounds from the metallic sculpture and then manipulated them for this piece, which was influenced by Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo's L'Arte Dei Rumori."

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	Haut-Voltage/Coexistence
Label:	DOXY (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOZ 405LP

"The 22-minute 'Haut-Voltage' is a product of Henry's collaboration with French choreographer Maurice Béjart, recorded in 1956 for one of Bejart's stage productions, and featuring the vocals of Henry himself. By 1958, Henry had left Pierre Schaeffer's RTF and had begun working in his own private studio. 'Coexistence,' recorded in 1959, comes from this new period, when Henry had begun to realize that in order for musique concrète to evolve, it would have to begin to use electronics. 'Coexistence' is one of Henry's first attempts at bringing the two together."

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	04.2: Fragments Pour Artaud
Label:	PHILIPS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	PHI 2203

Features: "Fragments pour Artaud (1970), Entité (1959), Prisme (1973)." "Fragments Pour Artaud" is from 1970, a composition for voice, cello, and electronics. Lovely electronic abstractions and purely transformed vocal input (not a text-laden piece, don't worry) make this another essential Henry masterwork of strange and bewildering genius. "Prismes" is a 15 minute electronic opera from 1973 (the soundtrack to Alwin Nikolaïs's choreography), performed at Opera de Hambourg, Feb, 1973. Oscillating electronics, processed choral sounds, another showcase for peak Henry exploration.

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	01.3: Messe De Liverpool/Fantaisie Messe Pour Le Temps Prese
Label:	PHILIPS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	PHI 4402

New version of "Messe de Liverpool", superceding the prior CD version on Mantra (now deleted). "Liverpool" is a classic electronic mass from 1967, originally issued by Philips on LP. " "Fantaisie Messe Pour le Temps Présent" is a 23-minute remix of the historic 1967 meeting between Pierre Henry and Michel Columbier; it was remixed in 1967 by William Orbit, working from original "electronic jerks" from the original and parts of Henry's 1991 remix of the same. One of the ultimate psychedelic/electronic mergers.

Artist:	HENRY, PIERRE
Title:	02.2: Mouvement-Rythme-Etude
Label:	PHILIPS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	PHI 4534

"Reissue of the 1970 composition dedicated to Maurice Béjart." This supersedes the now deleted Mantra version. "This work is dedicated to a close friend of Henry: Maurice Bejart, the famous dancer. Henry has composed numerous works for ballet, which were staged by the dancers of Bejart. In the early days Henry even accompanied the dance group all over the world. This work is exactly what the title says: it's a study of movement and rhythm. Starting of with very simple beats that meet with the reversed sound of scraped metal wires. Track 2 is a play for blowing balloons and a person saying: 'pssh' and 'psst'. Talking about humour. Track 3 is instrumental and quite acoustic whereas track 4 is entirely electronic. And that's how it continues. The whole things consists of 21 etudes for a ballet dancer." -- Ios Smolders

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page