PIERRE SCHAEFFER

 

A french guy - 1910 - 1995. In a manner of speaking, he is the "inventor" of electroacoustic music. Originally an engineer for the french radio, he ended up as a figurehead for what is called musique concrète in France. His main work is an honourably big book entitled "Le Traité des Objets Musicaux" - litterally, the Music Objects Treaty. Schaeffer's goal was to create a musical theory which would be extended to every sound imaginable. By essence, this goal was impossible to achieve, be it for Schaeffer or for anyone else, so naturally he never came to a completely satisfactory result. Nevertheless, Schaeffer's works are extremely interesting and useful to anyone dealing with audio production in general.

 

Pierre Schaeffer in 1952   When Schaeffer died in 1995, a group of musicians from around the world decided to write a tombeau in his memory - as it was the fashion in the XVIIth century in France - "tombeau de Couperin" etc. The result is a disaster, to speak frankly. 22 pieces of very, very mediocre musique concrète. Hopefully, soon forgotten - the tombeau, not Pierre Schaeffer.   Back to main index