Browse by Artist: RADIGUE, ELIANE

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Jouet Electronique/Elemental I
Label:	ALGA MARGHEN (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	MARGHEN 029LP

"Alga Marghen proudly presents two sublime pieces by Eliane Radigue, 'Jouet Electronique' (1967) for feedback on magnetic tape and 'Elemental I' (1968) for feedback of natural sounds on magnetic tape. Both works, recorded at Pierre Henry's Studio Apsome in Paris, have not been published before. Between 1967 and 1968, Eliane Radigue was the assistant of Pierre Henry in his studio, mainly for the editing of 'L'Apocalypse de Jean.' He also put her in charge of organizing his sound archive according to different criteria. It was endless work -- there were incredible sounds, a true sound library! Eliane Radigue really enjoyed doing this work, even if it took a long time. So, sometimes she decided to set the machines of the studio to do some little work on her own. 'Jouet Electronique' and 'Elemental I' were born this way as a kind of recreation during her time as a studio assistant. Working with feedback is something that Eliane Radigue learned through Pierre Henry. Do you remember 'Voyage'? There's that fluid part which is made of feedback constructed with a microphone. Everything had to be set at a precise distance from the loudspeakers because that is the specific problem with feedback -- you have to be at the right distance. Afterwards, these high tone recordings were slowed down in order to discover the deeper character of their color. This work with feedback was in the end quite limited and the composer preferred working with two reel tape machines to produce sounds. The first was set on the recording mode while the other was playing and it was the accidents happening in this phase that made the feedback richer. With some fine-tuning you could reach very beautiful results: low pulsations, very high-pitched sounds -- sometimes both at the same time -- or long sounds. All of these sounds could be slowed down or accelerated, which gave her a beautiful material to work with. With 'Jouet Electronique' Eliane Radigue had a lot of fun, hence the title. As far as 'Elemental I' is concerned, it was the first attempt at something which was very important to her based on the theme of the basic elements: water, fire, air and earth. Eliane had the chance to record in open air thanks to a small Stella Vox that Arman gave her in the beginning of the 1960s. At the time she was still living in Nice and every now and then she went for a walk to do some recordings of the sea, the wind, the rain, the fire -- Eliane Radigue continued this way to build her very minimal sound library, consisting of not more than ten reel tapes. This was the starting point and in 1968 she used these recordings for her work with two reel tape machines. First pressing limited to 300 copies, with a text by Emmanuel Holterbach and a photo portrait by Arman."

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Feedback Works 1969-1970
Label:	ALGA MARGHEN (ITALY)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$48.00
Catalog #:	MARGHEN 040LP

"Alga Marghen very proudly presents the complete documentation of Eliane Radigue's sound installations from 1969-1970. These previously unpublished recordings include the broad tectonic vibrations of 'Omnht', the celestial voices of 'Usral', 'Stress Osaka's' massive chant, and the moving horizon in 'Vice-Versa, Etc...' The works of the feedback period finally revealed! It is amazing that she could build such formidably organic sonic edifices in her home studio with the primitive machines given to her by Pierre Henry: three tape recorders, a mixing board, an amplifier, two loudspeakers and a microphone. Eliane previously worked for him at the Studio d'Essai of the R.T.F. from 1955 to 1957, after having met Pierre Schaeffer almost by chance, who invited her to learn the techniques of musique concrète. Created 10 years after her Studio d'Essai experience, the Feedback Works of Eliane Radigue immediately take a new direction from the explorations of musique concrète. Her adventure is intuitively going toward flux, toward contemplative stasis: a music of continuous sounds, of apparently simple structures, which permits the revelations and expansion of rich acoustic phenomena. It is as if her musical work was in some way a martial art, as if she meditated for 10 years before striking the first blow, with an impressive precision! First pressing of 400 copies also including a 16-page LP-size booklet with original photos, scores and liner notes as well as a second LP titled Vice-Versa, Etc..., originally a small handmade box, signed and numbered, realized as a multiple on the occasion of a show at Lara Vincy's gallery in 1970, which contained a reel of magnetic tape and the instructions for use. It indicates that all playback speeds are possible, forward or backward, as well as any combination of two channels, on several recorders, ad libitum... This LP presents two versions done by Emmanuel Hoelterbach following the indications of Eliane Radigue to the letter, respecting her composition methods." Housed in a full-color gatefold sleeve.

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Vice Versa, Etc...
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	2CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 259CD

"Includes liner notes & archival photographs. 1970 was an important year in Eliane Radigue's musical life since it was the year just before she acquired her ARP 2500 synthesizer. Since 1967, she had been using the feedback as a material; feedback from two tape recorders reworked through intensive studio techniques: slowing down, alteration, superimposition, montage. In 1970, the last year she dedicated to feedback, several milestone pieces saw the light of day: Omnht, a wonderful sound installation for three out-of-phase tape loops and wall-mounted loudspeakers; the theoretical setting of Labyrinthe Sonore (eventually premiered at Mills College in 1998 in collaboration with Pauline Oliveros, Maggie Payne and William Winant, amongst others); Opus 17, one of her first compositions in fixed duration (according to Rhys Chatham, a decisive piece that would change his own compositional career); and Vice-Versa, etc..., which appears to be her very last feedback loop composition. Vice-Versa, etc... was conceived as a sound installation setting similar to S=a=b=a+b. A single magnetic tape can be played at any speed, a stereo tape of which allows three playings: left channel alone, right channel alone, left and right channels together. These different channels can be overlapped/crossed over as much as possible, at any speed. Thus the piece reveals itself in its whole dimension, its infinite grace. In its content, the piece is the most minimal that Eliane Radigue has ever composed. Feedback is horizontally sustained, time is suspended, vibrating with organic and subtle pulsations. The fastest playthrough, in just 2'42", weaves a graceful continuum of uncanny depth, somewhere between the sonority of feedback and a glass harmonica. Played slowly, at 13'41", it takes us into an universe of low frequency vibrations felt as much by the guts, the ribcage and the whole body as by the eardrum: the signature sound of Eliane Radigue. Between these two extremes, many delicate shadings/variations appear simply through speed modulation. What is striking about this work, which may arguably be one of Radigue's most important compositions, is the extraordinary quality of the tones obtained from such a rudimentary material. It is hard to believe that the composer was yet to begin working on her ARP, since the sonorities heard on Vice-Versa, etc... are surprisingly similar to those she would go on to produce with her synthesizer. Vice-Versa, etc... is a minimal work which possesses an infinity of possible variations, a secret object containing the seeds of the oeuvre to come, and a discreet turning point linking the composer's two important working phases, an extremely subtle cross-fade between her feedback loop period to her ARP period. Originally, only ten signed and numbered copies of this little boxset containing a magnetic tape and a handwritten note were released -- needless to say this is a work that has been nearly forgotten! We have decided to reissue this object as a double CD, with the tape played respectively forwards and backwards, at four different speeds, corresponding to the standards of the tape recorders of the time. This will allow dedicated listeners to experiment with simultaneous playback of the work's different versions, recreating the conditions of the original installation. For lazier listeners, a simple playthrough provides complete satisfaction, a listening experience that loses itself in the ineffable and discreet beauty of these four variations."

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Triptych
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 260CD

"Includes liner notes & archival photographs. On the suggestion of Robert Ashley, Douglas Dunn commissioned this piece from Eliane Radigue for choreography. Only the first part of Triptych was staged at the premiere at the Dancehall/Theatre of Nancy on February 27 1978. Recorded in the composer's studio in Paris. After the premiere of Adnos I in San Francisco in 1974, a group of French students introduced Eliane Radigue to Tibetan Buddhism. When she returned to Paris, she began to explore this spirituality in depth, which slowed her musical production up until 1978. Triptych marks her return to composition, and draws its inspiration from 'the spirit of the fundamental elements,' water, air, fire, earth. Eliane Radigue likes to add that this has often been useful to her in her moments of research and transitions. This three-part composition, with its great humility and contemplative simplicity, heralded a new period of work and was the first in a series of masterpieces inspired by Tibetan Buddhism: Adnos II (1980), Adnos III (1981), Songs of Milarepa (1983) -- with the voices of Lama Kunga Rinpoche and Robert Ashley -- Jetsun Mila (1986), as well as the Trilogy of Death: Kyema (1988), Kailasha (1991) and Koume (1993). Archival images included in the accompanying booklet."

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Transamorem - Transmortem
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 337CD

"Transamorem - Transmortem was premiered on March 9, 1974 at The Kitchen in NYC, where the music programmer at the time was Rhys Chatham - this was right before his guitar phase. During this period, Transamorem - Transmortem was presented along with other compositions by Eliane Radigue in a linear mode of listening, although the piece had originally been conceived, during its composition, as a sound installation. Of course, both modes of listening are possible, and each works marvelously in its own way."

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Songs of Milarepa
Label:	LOVELY MUSIC
Format:	2CD
Price:	$26.00
Catalog #:	LCD 2001/2

Double CD of all 5 of Radigue's songs in tribute to the Tibetan saint and poet from the eleventh century. Two of the tracks date from an 1983 LP (Radigue's first release), 2 are previously unreleased and the final 62-minute track was previously issued as a sole CD in 1987. The material is performed by Radigue (synthesizer & recording), Robert Ashley (English voice) & Lama Kunga Rinpoche (Tibetan voice). Radigue was born in France and has studied under Pierre Shaeffer and Pierre Henry; her musical has an extremely organic and mystical electronics vibe, and has been previously documented on Phill Niblock's XI label, as well as Metamkine and Lovely.

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Jetsun Mila
Label:	LOVELY MUSIC
Format:	2CD
Price:	$26.00
Catalog #:	LCD 2003

Recorded by Eliane Radigue in 1986, it's beyond great to have mass access to this delicate and spiritually profound electronic work, spread out over 84 minutes. There are only a handful of available works from Eliane, despite the fact that she has been active for the last 4 decades, and each one is a major event. "Performed (Arp synthesizer) and recorded digitally by Eliane Radigue. Jetsun Mila is inspired by the life of Milarepa, a great yogi and poet of Tibet who lived in the 11th century. The story of his life as told to his closest disciple, Rechungpa, represents one of the most famous works within Tibetan culture. The Mila Kabum, or Namthar, has been translated into several Western languages, including English and French. Eliane Radigue's 84-minute musical evocation of Milarepa's life is in nine sections, with prelude, which correspond to major periods of the life of this famous yogi. The sections flow from one to the other without breaks, one giving birth naturally to the next." "Eliane Radigue works with electronic sounds on tape to create an ambience within which sound seems to move in a continual flow around the listener. Her music has been described as 'infinitely discreet...next to which all other music seems to be tugging at one's sleeve for attention." --Michel Chion,

Artist:	RADIGUE, ELIANE
Title:	Triologie de la Mort
Label:	XI
Format:	3CD
Price:	$25.00
Catalog #:	XI 119CD

Classic 1998 release, restocked. "Trilogie de la Mort is a work in three parts. The first, Kyema, was originally released by XI in 1992. The 2nd and 3rd parts, Kailasha and Koumé are being released for the first time and the trilogy now makes its debut as a whole [this 3CD set is being sold for the cost of 2 CDs to make up for the prior availability Kyema]. 'Kyema' is inspired by the texts of Bardo-Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead). This work evokes the six intermediate states which constitute the 'existential continuity' of the being. 'Radigue's 'Kyema' explores electronically the full range of existence, going beyond death and back into the exuberance of physical life, expanding the musical consciousness of the uninitiated, leading one in a cyclical voyage through a myriad of tones, drones, and warbles where the end is only the beginning.' -- Neil Strauss. 'Kailasha', the second chapter in the work, is structured on an imaginary pilgrimage around Mt. Kailash, one of the most sacred mountains in the Himalayas; considered as a path to other spheres of existence. 'Koumé' makes up the last part of the trilogy and emphasizes the transcendence of death. It is the descent to the deepest, where the spark of life is. There, Death is born. Death becomes birth. Activity re-beginning. Eternity, a perpetual 'becoming'."

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