In Search of a Concrete Music - (California Studies in 20th-Century Music) by Pierre Schaeffer (Paperback)

About the Book

Originally published: A la recherche d'une musique concrete / Pierre Schaeffer. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1952.

Book Synopsis

Pierre Schaeffer's In Search of a Concrete Music (À la recherche d'une musique concrète) has long been considered a classic text in electroacoustic music and sound recording. Now Schaeffer's pioneering work--at once a journal of his experiments in sound composition and a treatise on the raison d'être of "concrete music"--is available for the first time in English translation. Schaeffer's theories have had a profound influence on composers working with technology. However, they extend beyond the confines of the studio and are applicable to many areas of contemporary musical thought, such as defining an 'instrument' and classifying sounds. Schaeffer has also become increasingly relevant to DJs and hip-hop producers as well as sound-based media artists. This unique book is essential for anyone interested in contemporary musicology or media history.

From the Back Cover

"Few books have described with such precision the evolution of thoughts and concepts behind the invention of a new music as A La Recherche d'une Musique Concrete. In this book Schaeffer has unveiled the major philosophical problems of music of the second half of the twentieth century. An excellent translation by Dack and North." --Daniel Teruggi, Head of Institut National Audiovisuel, Groupe de Recherches Musicales, Paris



"A fascinating glimpse into the mind of Pierre Schaeffer, the creator of the very first kind of electroacoustic music, the Concrete music, here in a stellar translation. In this diary combined with musical considerations, Schaeffer gives the necessary keys and invites the reader to follow, step by step, how Concrete music became a major trend of the twentieth century." --Marc Battier, Professor of Musicology, University Paris-Sorbonne



"Pierre Schaeffer's writings are fundamental to our understanding of twentieth-century music in general and all the sound arts that use technology. This book reveals a truly experimental journey with its detours and frustrations--yet with determination, dazzling imagination and insight, Schaeffer pieces together a coherent and radical theory of music made through sound as perceived. Christine North and John Dack's translation brilliantly captures Schaeffer's painstaking reinvention of the vocabulary of music." --Simon Emmerson, Professor of Music, Technology, and Innovation, De Montfort University

Review Quotes

"Captures these uneven rhythms of intuition and perplexity, and his imagination and wit."-- "Los Angeles Review Of Books" (4/3/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"One striking impression that emerges from reading this book is that [Schaeffer's] work merits a perspective with greater nuance."-- "Times Higher Education" (2/28/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Collects Schaeffer's journals and other writings about his musique concrete, which he created by manipulating recorded sounds."-- "Harper's "

"Completely changed how I hear the world and, after more than 30 years, I am still living with the consequences."--John Dack "The Wire" (2/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"One of the postwar perìod's most significant (and readable) grapplings with new artistic paradigms."--Rob Young "Frieze" (2/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Recommended."--J. Behrens, Wolf Museum of Music and Art "Choice" (4/19/2013 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Composer Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) was the inventor of musique concrète music created by combining and manipulating recorded sounds (rather than being played on conventional musical instruments).

Translators:
John Dack is Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Sonic Arts Department at Middlesex University. Christine North is retired as Lecturer in French at Middlesex University.