He collected the sounds of everyday life, and built with them sound collage: The Frenchman, Pierre Henry, was the founder of concrete music and is considered by many as a pioneer of Techno. Now he has died at the age of 89 years.
Pierre Henry died, according to his assistant over to the AFP news Agency on Wednesday night (06.07.2017) in Paris.
He was born there in 1927. Early on, he came to the music: at the age of ten he attended a Conservatory, studied there for ten years, in addition to piano and drums, but also composition and theory of harmony. With 18 years he began to work as an orchestral musician, but after five years in favor of a composer’s career, and founded, together with Pierre Schaeffer, the “Groupe de Recherches de la Musique Concrète”. It was a radical departure from the classical.
Henry’s compositions with Schaeffer are considered to be Central works of concrete music. Characteristic for this style of music sound assemblages from everyday noise, alienation effects, and the Lack of scores. The first concert in Paris, in which Henry and Schaeffer, conceived of the “Symphonie pour un homme seul”, with the help of a sound engineer, was premiered, caused a sensation: The work consisted of sounds such as voice, heartbeat, or breathing, and instrumental sounds, which could all be from a single human creates.
Pierre Henry 2008 at the Cité de la Musique in Paris
“The father of modern music”
And Henry always went in new directions. He described himself as the “father of modern music”. His goal is a combination of concrete, electronic, instrumental and vocal music, which he called electro-acoustic music.
He often spent his days thus, noise in the streets and Parks of Eastern Paris, where he lived. In this case, should it be happened that he was passing joggers to her gasp of compliments.
Henry’s well-known work, the 1967, the theatre festival of Avignon-written “Messe pour le temps présent” (mass for the present time), which he wrote together with the film composer Michel Colombier. Part of this fair, Psycho-Rock, “which belonged, in 1969, to the Soundtrack of the Oscar-winning film” Z “(Director: Constantin Costa-Gavras)”.
But not everything was so catchy to the ear: His 1963 produced “variations for a door and a sigh” is composed of almost 50 minutes full of squeaky doors, snores, and sighs.
“Grandfather of Techno”
Henry’s interest for rock music and Techno has also led to revisions by other musicians, for example, was launched in his “Psycho-Rock” from the DJ Fatboy Slim. Also contributed to Henry’s nickname, the “grandfather of Techno”, which he was.
The French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre paid tribute to Henry with the French news Agency AFP as “one of the great sound-pioneers of the 20th century. Century. He was not only a musician and innovator, he was a Poet. He leaves behind a large and impressive work, and I hope France proves to him the honor he deserves.” Several French orchestra have already announced tributes, and also to the national holiday on 14. July sound to be “Psycho-Rock” in Paris.
ka/ bb (afp/munziger)