Éliane Radigue: Intermediary Spaces

by Julia Eckhardt

Éliane Radigue, born 1932, is considered one of the most innovative and influential contemporary composers, from her early electronic music through to her acoustic work of the last fifteen years. Influenced by musique concréte and shaped by regular sojourns in the United States, where she discovered analogue synthesisers, her work unfolds an intensity which is at once subtle and monumental. Through her deep reflections on sound and listening, not only her music but also her working methods have come to shape a widely resonating set of new parameters for working with sound as musical material.

In the long interview which shapes the main body of this publication, Éliane Radigue speaks about her work and its underlying reflections and research, alongside its historical context. The publication contains a commented list of works and Radigue’s programmatic text, The Mysterious Power of the Infinitesimal.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

211 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book consists mainly of a 115 page interview with Éliane Radigue, in which she talks about her work, inspiration and thinking in detail, chronologically revisiting the various phases in her life & work, resulting in a kind of artistic autobiography.

There's also an introduction, a catalogue of works, a discography, a fair bit of illustrations and photos, and Radigue's programmatic text on The Mysterious Power of the Infinitesimal.

The book has both the original French interview as the English translation.

For Radigue enthusiasts it is a rewarding read, albeit often familiar.

More reviews on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It

[Matt Dowdy]

“My music is profane, but undoubtedly inspired by the sacred.”
Canon text, in my life’s bibliography. Eliane is the patron saint of sound lovers the world over.

[Dean Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely long-form interview with Éliane Radigue covering her entire career (so far). Wonderful detail on her approach to music.

[Cole Blouin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, and hearing Radigue in her own words, one gets a much better sense of what she's like as a person. It was also a very fast read - I read it in two days, couldn't have been more than four or five hours. Great as it is, I hope we get (at some point) a much more intensely detailed excavation of all of this work. Matt Marble did superlative work with his writings on Arthur Russell's esoteric practice as it intersected with his creative project and I dream of some future critical writing on Radigue which excavates the materials she put down on paper - sketches, diagrams, "scores" for herself - and digs deeper into all of her work, as well as explores how her spiritual practice intersected with her music (she talks a little bit about it, but there's room for much, much more).

All in all - a good, quick read; helpful to hear Radigue in her own words. Not the essential text on her electronic work that I'd hoped it might be. Still helpful for anyone as profoundly in love with the work of Radigue as I am.

[nym · Rating 3 out of 5]

she's a sweet lady