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. |