Jérôme Noetinger, Revue & Corrigée
“DJ avant l’heure!”
Michel Chion
Préludes à la Vie
Labelempreintes DIGITALesGenreElectronic
Out of stock
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Michel Chion’s second empreintes DIGITALes album pairs two musique concrète works eighteen years apart: Le prisonnier du son (1972), his first melodrama, and the Vingt-quatre préludes à la vie (1989-90), which answer it.
Préludes à la vie is the second album by Michel Chion on empreintes DIGITALes, and like the first it brings together works far apart in time. Le prisonnier du son (1972) was his first “melodrama” and his first long piece; the Vingt-quatre préludes à la vie (1989-90) are, in his words, more formal and technical, and he hopes poetic as well.
Chion presents the two musique concrète works as the two sides of a vinyl album, joined by their endings. The prisoner asks the future “The Wall of Sound, when will we overcome it?”, and at the close of the preludes the voice of Cécile Sacco answers in the present: “We are alive.”
The booklet reprints a 1984 text by Pierre Schaeffer calling Chion a concrète musician: wary of machines even as he uses them, listening first to natural sounds, and drawn to the word. Schaeffer notes that the voices in this music are not chopped into “sound material” but keep their meaning.
CD, empreintes DIGITALes IMED 9523, 1995. Out of print.
Details
Instruments: TapeElectronics
Cat. number: IMED 9523
Year: 1995
Format
"Le prisonnier du son", a concrète melodrama in two parts, was commissioned by the Groupe de recherches musicales, and written, realized and performed by the composer in the studios of the INA-GRM in Paris.
"24 préludes à la vie", a work in two books, was commissioned by Ministère de la culture and the INA-GRM, and realized in the latter's studios.
Release notes
"Le Prisonnier Du Son" (1972-91), a concrète melodrama in two parts, was commissioned by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, and written, realized and performed by the composer in the studios of the INA-GRM in Paris. "24 Préludes À La Vie" (1989-91), a work in two books, was commissioned by Ministère de la culture and the INA-GRM, and realized in the latter's studios.
Tracklist
| Le Prisonnier Du Son | |||
| 1e Partie | |||
| 1a | Générique | 0:38 | |
| 1b | Ouverture | 5:18 | |
| 1c | Monologue | 0:52 | |
| 1d | Appel | 1:23 | |
| 1e | Danse | 1:31 | |
| 1f | Réveil | 1:02 | |
| 1g | Travail | 1:30 | |
| 1h | Apparitions | 0:58 | |
| 1i | L'Usine À Sons | 2:42 | |
| 2e Partie | |||
| 2a | Nocturne | 3:07 | |
| 2b | Larsen | 0:45 | |
| 2c | Apparition | 1:38 | |
| 2d | Danse Du N'Importe Quoi | 1:22 | |
| 2e | Rencontre | 3:41 | |
| 2f | Révolte | 0:47 | |
| 2g | Cataclysme | 2:26 | |
| 2h | Le Mur Du Son | 4:50 | |
| Préludes À La Vie | |||
| 1er Cahier | |||
| 3 | 1. Linceul | 1:06 | |
| 4 | 2. Libera Me | 1:41 | |
| 5 | 3. Aux Morts | 0:40 | |
| 6 | 4. La Piazza | 0:36 | |
| 7 | 5. Éveil | 0:55 | |
| 8 | 6. Dans La Nurserie | 1:19 | |
| 9 | 7. Chant Simple | 0:42 | |
| 10 | 8. La Source | 1:23 | |
| 11 | 9. Oubli | 0:21 | |
| 12 | 10. Matimes | 1:33 | |
| 13 | 11. Danse De L'Ombre | 3:01 | |
| 14 | 12. Qu'est-ce Que? | 0:57 | |
| 2e Cahier | |||
| 15 | 13. Ronde De Nuit | 3:01 | |
| 16 | 14. En Songe | 1:15 | |
| 17 | 15. Sursauts | 2:16 | |
| 18 | 16. Les Pleurs | 0:55 | |
| 19 | 17. Des Hauts Et Des Bas | 0:55 | |
| 20 | 18. Terre Et Ciel | 0:54 | |
| 21 | 19. À Pierre Schaeffer | 1:31 | |
| 22 | 20. Tumulte | 2:00 | |
| 23 | 21. Le Couple | 1:19 | |
| 24 | 22. Rêve De Valse | 3:25 | |
| 25 | 23. Annonce | 1:07 | |
| 26 | 24. Nous Sommes Vivants | 9:12 | |
Credits
- Michel Chion
- Composed By, Performer, Cover [from René Chion], Liner Notes, Mastered By [Digital Mastering], Written-By [Text] (1, 2)
- Luc Beauchemin
- Graphic Design [Computer Graphic Design And Production]
- Pierre Schaeffer
- Liner Notes
- Laurie Radford
- Liner Notes [English Translation]
- François Donato
- Mastered By [Digital Mastering]
- Robert Cahen
- Photography By
- Stéphane Ouzounoff
- Photography By
- Jean-François Denis
- Producer
François Tousignant, Le Devoir
“C’est une musique qui n’émeut pas; elle passionne et va gratter loin dans l’âme.”
Tom Schulte, Outsight
“Also new on the label from Chion is Préludes à la vie (Preludes to Life). This combines pieces from 1972 to 1991 in two electronic operas.”
★★★
