Éliane Radigue facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Éliane Radigue
Éliane Radigue
Background information
Born	(1932-01-24) January 24, 1932 (age 93) Paris, France
Genres	Classical music electronic drone minimalism musique concrète
Years active	1950s–present
Labels	Lovely Music Ltd, Important Records, shiiin records, Table of the Elements

Éliane Radigue is a famous French composer, born on January 24, 1932. She started making music in the 1950s. Her first pieces were shared with the public in the late 1960s. For many years, until 2000, she mostly used a special electronic instrument called an ARP 2500 modular synthesizer and magnetic tape. After 2001, she began writing music mainly for regular, non-electronic instruments.

Éliane Radigue's Early Life and Music

Éliane Radigue grew up in Paris, France. Her family were merchants. She later married an artist named Arman. They lived in Nice and had three children. In 1967, she moved back to Paris.

Radigue had learned to play the piano. She was already composing music. Then, she heard a radio show by Pierre Schaeffer. He was the founder of a music style called musique concrète. This style uses recorded sounds as musical material.

Learning Musique Concrète

In the early 1950s, Radigue met Pierre Schaeffer. She became his student. She worked at the Studio d'Essai in Paris. This studio was a place for experimenting with sound. She learned how to use tape to create music.

Radigue found it amazing that any sound could be music. However, her teachers preferred musique concrète. They did not like electronic music as much.

Working with Pierre Henry

In the early 1960s, Radigue became an assistant to Pierre Henry. He was another important composer. She helped him create sounds for his works. As her own music grew, she started using microphone feedback and long tape loops. This was a new way of making sounds. Her teachers felt her music was different from their ideas. But her methods were still related to theirs.

Éliane Radigue's Musical Journey

Tape Feedback and Synthesizers

Radigue left Studio d'Essai to support her children. She lost access to the studios. So, she studied classical composition, harp, and piano. In 1967, she reconnected with Pierre Henry. She worked as his assistant again. During this time, she became very interested in tape feedback. This technique allowed her to create tiny changes in sound over a long time.

After a year, Radigue started her own music career. She focused on editing sounds on tape. Around 1970, she made her first music using a Buchla synthesizer. This was in a studio she shared in New York. Her goal was to make sounds slowly "unfold." She used analogue synthesizers and magnetic tape. She felt her music was similar to the minimal composers in New York.

She tried Buchla and Moog synthesizers. Then she found the ARP 2500 synthesizer. She used this instrument for the next 25 years. It helped her create her unique sound. Her piece Adnos I (1974) was one of her first works with it.

Buddhist Influence on Music

After Adnos I was first played, Radigue met some French music students. They told her about Tibetan Buddhism. She found it very interesting. When she returned to Paris, she started learning about it.

Radigue became a Buddhist. She spent three years practicing her faith. Her teacher then told her to go back to her music. She returned to composing with the same methods and goals. She finished Adnos II in 1979 and Adnos III in 1980.

Then came a series of works about Milarepa. He was a Tibetan yogi known for his "Hundred Thousand Songs." First, she composed the Songs of Milarepa. Then came Jetsun Mila, which was about Milarepa's life. The French government helped fund these works.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she worked on a three-hour piece. This work, Trilogie de la Mort, is considered her masterpiece. It was released in 1998. The first part, kyema Intermediate states, explores the six states of consciousness. This work was inspired by the Bardo Thodol (also known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead). It was also influenced by her meditation practice. The deaths of her teacher and her son also played a role.

Acoustic Works and Recent Projects

In 2000, Radigue created her last electronic work in Paris. It was called L'Ile Re-sonante. She won the Golden Nica Award for it in 2006.

In 2001, an electric bassist named Kasper T. Toeplitz asked her to create an instrumental piece. This was her first work for regular instruments, called Elemental II. She later worked with a group called The Lappetites. They used laptops for improvisation.

Since 2004, she has focused on music for acoustic instruments. She worked with American cellist Charles Curtis. The first part of Naldjorlak was played in New York in 2005. It was performed in many concerts. The second part of Naldjorlak was for two basset horn players. The three musicians finished the third part together. The complete work, "Naldjorlak I,II,III," was first played in 2009.

In 2011, her piece for solo harp, Occam I, was played in London. It was written for harpist Rhodri Davies. Many other solo and group pieces in the OCCAM series have followed.

In January 2025, Radigue's new work, OCCAM DELTA XXIII, was played in London. She created it with Carol Robinson and Ensemble Klang. This piece shows her unique way of composing. She often works with others and shares her music by teaching it orally. This shows her lasting impact on modern music.

Selected Works

• Jouet électronique, 1967
• Elemental I, 1968
• Usral, 1969
• Omnht, 1970
• Stress Osaka, 1970
• Vice-Versa, etc..., 1970
• Opus 17, 1970
• Chry-ptus, 1971
• 7th Birth, 1972
• Geelriandre, 1972
• Ψ 847, 1973
• Arthesis, 1973
• Biogenesis and Transamorem Transmortem, 1974
• Adnos, 1974
• 7 petites pièeces pour un Labyrinthe Sonore, 1975
• Triptych, 1978
• Adnos II, 1980
• Adnos III, Prélude à Milarepa, 1982
• 5 Songs of Milarepa, 1984
• Jetsun Mila, Vie de Milarepa, 1986
• Kyema, 1988
• Kailasha, 1991
• Koumé, 1993

The last three works make up the Trilogie de la Mort.

• Elemental II, 2004
• Naldjorlak, 2005
• Naldjorlak I II III, 2009

Occam Series

• Occam I for harp (2011)
• Occam II for violin (2012)
• Occam III for birbynė (2012)
• Occam IV for viola (2012)
• Occam V for cello (2013)
• Occam VI for EMS synthesizer (2012)
• Occam VII for voice and electronics
• Occam VIII for cello (2013)
• Occam IX for “digital spring spyre” (2013)
• Occam X for trumpet (2014)
• Occam XI for tuba (2014)
• Occam XII for viola (2017)
• Occam XIII for bassoon (2015)
• Occam XIV for harp (2017)
• Occam XV for clarinet in C
• Occam XVI for bass clarinet (2014)
• Occam XVII for double base (2016)
• Occam XVIII for sub-base recorder (2014)
• Occam XIX for five string double bass (2014)
• Occam XX for EMS synthesizer (2014)
• Occam XXI for violin (2015)
• Occam XXII for voice (2018)
• Occam XXIII for alto saxophone (2018)
• Occam XXIV for bass and alto flute (2018)
• Occam XXV for organ (2018)
• Occam XXVI for percussion (cymbal) (2018)
• Occam XXVII for bagpipes (2019)

Occam River Series

• Occam River I for birbynė and viola (2012)
• Occam River II for violin and cello (2013)
• Occam River III for birbynė and trumpet (2014)
• Occam River IV for tuba and cello (2014)
• Occam River V for viola and cello (2014)
• Occam River VI for sub-bass recorder and harp (2014)
• Occam River VII for bassoon and cello
• Occam River VIII for bass clarinet and five string double base (2014)
• Occam River IX for two violas (2014)
• Occam River X for bassoon and tuba (2015)
• Occam River XI for bassoon and cello (2015)
• Occam River XII for cello and harp (2015)
• Occam River XIII for bassoon and harp (2017)
• Occam River XIV for harp and five string double bass (2017)
• Occam River XV for violin and double bass (2017)
• Occam River XVI for birbynė and harp (2017)
• Occam River XVII for violin and harp
• Occam River XVIII for double bass and harp
• Occam River XIX for viola and baritone (2018)
• Occam River XX for harp duo
• Occam River XXI for tuba and harp
• Occam River XXII for bass clarinet and saxophone (2018)
• Occam River XXIII
• Occam River XXIV
• Occam River XXV
• Occam River XXVI
• Occam River XXVII for bass clarinet and harp (2020)
• Occam River XXVIII for birbynė and viola de gamba (2021)

Occam Delta Series

• Occam Delta I for birbynė, violin, viola and harp (2012)
• Occam Delta II for bass clarinet, viola and harp (2012)
• Occam Delta III for violin, viola and cello (2013)
• Occam Delta IV for tuba, cello and harp (2013)
• Occam Delta V for bass clarinet, tuba, cello and harp (2013)
• Occam Delta VI for bassoon, two violas and cello
• Occam Delta VII for two violas and cello (2014)
• Occam Delta VIII for bassoon, tuba, cello and harp (2015)
• Occam Delta IX for bassoon, tuba, and cello (2015)
• Occam Delta X for trombone, horn, tuba (2018)
• Occam Delta XI for violin, viola and bassoon (2016)
• Occam Delta XII for bass fute, bass clarinet and cello (2017)
• Occam Delta XIII for base clarinet, harp and 5-string double bass (2019)
• Occam Delta XIV for harp, violin and double bass (2019)
• Occam Delta XV for string quartet (2018)
• Occam Delta XVI for bassoon, tuba and harp (2018)
• Occam Delta XVII for bassoon, violoncello and harp (2015)
• Occam Delta XVIII for saxophone, viola, baritone, bass clarinet (2018)
• Occam Delta XIX for alto saxophone, birbynė, voice+viola de gamba (2019)

Occam Hexa Series

• Occam Hexa I for bass clarinet, tuba, viola, cello and harp (2013)
• Occam Hexa II for fute, clarinet, viola, cello and percussion (2015)
• Occam Hexa III for trumpet, bassoon, bass clarinet, violin, viola and 5-string double bass (2016)
• Occam Hexa IV for 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass (2016)
• Occam Hexa V for 2 saxophone, trombone, electric guitar, piano and percussion

Occam Hepta Series

• Occam Hepta I for Ensemble Dedalus (guitar, viola, trombone, trompet, violin, bassoon, and cello) (2018)

Occam Océan Series

• Occam Océan I for large ensemble (2015)

Discography

• Vice - Versa, Etc... (1970)
• Songs of Milarepa (1983)
• Jetsun Mila (1987)
• Mila's Journey Inspired by a Dream (1987)
• Kyema, Intermediate States (1990)
• Biogenesis (1996)
• Trilogie de la mort (1998)
• Songs of Milarepa (two discs) (1998)
• Σ = a = b = a + b (1969, re-released 2000)
• Adnos I–III (2002)
• Geelriandre / Arthesis (2003)
• Elemental II (2004)
• L'île re-sonante (2005)
• Chry-ptus (2007)
• Naldjorlak for Charles Curtis (2008)
• Triptych (2009)
• Vice Versa, etc. (2009)
• Jouet electronique / Elemental I (2010)
• Transamorem / Transmortem (2011)
• Feedback Works 1969–1970 (2012)
• "Ψ 847" (2013)
• Naldjorlak I II III (2013)
• Occam XXV (2022)

The triple-CD recording Trilogie de la mort includes Kyema, Kailasha and Koume. The two-disc recording Songs of Milarepa includes Mila's Journey Inspired by a Dream.

With The Lappetites

• Before the Libretto (2005)

See also

In Spanish: Éliane Radigue para niños