Pierre Henry
Encyclopedia
Pierre Henry
Pierre Henry (born 9 December 1927 in Paris
, France
) is a French composer
, considered a pioneer of the musique concrète
genre of electronic music
.
, Olivier Messiaen
, and Félix Passerone at the Paris Conservatoire from 1938 to 1948 (Dhomont 2001).
Between 1949 and 1958, Henry worked at the Club d'Essai studio at RTF
, which had been founded by Pierre Schaeffer
in 1943 (Dhomont 2001). During this period, he wrote the 1950 piece Symphonie pour un homme seul, in cooperation with Schaeffer; he also composed the first musique concrète to appear in a commercial film, the 1952 short film Astrologie ou le miroir de la vie. Henry has scored numerous additional films and ballets.
Two years after leaving the RTF, he founded with Jean Baronnet the first private electronic studio in France, the Apsone-Cabasse Studio (Dhomont 2001).
Among Henry's best known works is the experimental
1967 ballet Messe pour le temps présent, written with Michel Colombier
, and one of several cooperations with choreographer Maurice Béjart
featuring the popular track "Psyché Rock." In 1970 Henry collaborated with British rock
band Spooky Tooth
on the album Ceremony.
Composer Christopher Tyng
was heavily inspired by Henry's "Psyché Rock" when writing the theme to the popular animated cartoon show Futurama
. The theme is so reminiscent of the Henry's song, it is considered a variation of the original (Cohen 2001).
Pierre Henry (born 9 December 1927 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) is a French composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, considered a pioneer of the musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
genre of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
.
Biography
Pierre Henry began experimenting at the age of 15 with sounds produced by various objects, and became fascinated with the integration of noise into music. He studied with Nadia BoulangerNadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
, Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
, and Félix Passerone at the Paris Conservatoire from 1938 to 1948 (Dhomont 2001).
Between 1949 and 1958, Henry worked at the Club d'Essai studio at RTF
Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française
The Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the national agency charged, between 1964 and 1974, with providing public radio and television in France.-Post World War II:...
, which had been founded by Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
in 1943 (Dhomont 2001). During this period, he wrote the 1950 piece Symphonie pour un homme seul, in cooperation with Schaeffer; he also composed the first musique concrète to appear in a commercial film, the 1952 short film Astrologie ou le miroir de la vie. Henry has scored numerous additional films and ballets.
Two years after leaving the RTF, he founded with Jean Baronnet the first private electronic studio in France, the Apsone-Cabasse Studio (Dhomont 2001).
Among Henry's best known works is the experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
1967 ballet Messe pour le temps présent, written with Michel Colombier
Michel Colombier
Michel Colombier was a French composer, songwriter, arranger, and conductor.- External links :*...
, and one of several cooperations with choreographer Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart was a French born, Swiss choreographer who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He was the son of the French philosopher Gaston Berger.- Biography :...
featuring the popular track "Psyché Rock." In 1970 Henry collaborated with British rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth are an English rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points, and continues to perform occasionally.-Career:...
on the album Ceremony.
Composer Christopher Tyng
Christopher Tyng
Christopher Tyng is an American composer. He composed the music for several television series including Futurama, The O.C., The Job, The Baby-Sitters Club, Knight Rider, High Incident, and Rescue Me....
was heavily inspired by Henry's "Psyché Rock" when writing the theme to the popular animated cartoon show Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
. The theme is so reminiscent of the Henry's song, it is considered a variation of the original (Cohen 2001).
Discography
- 1950 Symphonie pour un homme seul (in collaboration with Pierre Schaeffer)
- 1951 Le microphone bien temperé
-
- Musique sans titre
- Concerto des ambiguities mit Klavier
- 1952 Erste Filmmusik in musique concrete für Jean GremillonJean GrémillonJean Grémillon was a French film director. After directing a number of documentaries during the 1920s, many now lost, he had his first substantial success with the dramatic feature Maldone in 1928...
s Film Astrologie - 1953 Orphèe 53, Experimentaloper für die Donaueschinger Musiktage, erstes Bühnenstück in musique concrète (zusammen mit Pierre Schaeffer)
- 1955 Arcane (Ballett)
- 1956 Haut voltage (Ballett)
- 1959 Coexistence
- 1952 Erste Filmmusik in musique concrete für Jean Gremillon
- Investigations
- 1960 La noir a soixante
- 1962 Le voyage (Limelight RecordsLimelight RecordsLimelight Records was a subsidiary label of Mercury Records. Originally headed by Quincy Jones, its activities were directed by the producer Jack Tracy...
) - 1963 La Reine Verte (Ballett)
- 1967 Messe pour le temps présent (in Zusammenarbeit mit Michel ColombierMichel ColombierMichel Colombier was a French composer, songwriter, arranger, and conductor.- External links :*...
) - 1968 L’apocalypse de Jean (Die Apokalypse des Johannes) mit gesprochenen Text
- 1969 Ceremony zusammen mit der Pop-Band Spooky ToothSpooky ToothSpooky Tooth are an English rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points, and continues to perform occasionally.-Career:...
- 1971 NijinskyVaslav NijinskyVaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
, clown de dieu (Ballett) - 1973 Kyldex I (kybernetisches Ballett)
- 1975 Futuriste, zur Erinnerung an den italienischen Futuristen Luigi RussoloLuigi RussoloLuigi Russolo was an Italian Futurist painter and composer, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises . He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of "noise concerts" in 1913-14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921...
- 1979 La Dixième Symphonie, Hommage an Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
- 1986 La Dixième Symphonie De Beethoven
- 1990 Le livre des morts égyptien (Das ägyptische Totenbuch)
- 1997 Interieur/Exterrieur
Documentaries/Films
- French director Jérémie CarboniJérémie CarboniJérémie Carboni is a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He was born on December 28, 1980, in Châtenay-Malabry, France. He is the founder of Zerkalo production in 2008.-Early life:...
is filming a documentary on a story of musique concrète including Pierre Henry (Anon. n.d.).
External links
- Discography of vinyl records.
- Live in Berlin 2008