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Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
and pioneer of
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
.


Biography

Henry was born in Paris, France, and began experimenting at the age of 15 with sounds produced by various objects. He became fascinated with the integration of noise into music, now called
noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...
. He studied with Nadia Boulanger,
Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
, and Félix Passerone at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1938 to 1948. Between 1949 and 1958, Henry worked at the
Club d'Essai The ''Studio d'Essai'', later ''Club d'Essai'', was founded in 1942 by Pierre Schaeffer, played a role in the activities of the French resistance during World War II, and later became a center of musical activity. In 1942 the French composer and th ...
studio at
RTF RTF may refer to: Organisations * African Union Regional Task Force, the military operation of the RCI-LRA, 2011–2018. * Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, a broadcaster in France, 1949–1964 * Russian Tennis Federation, the national gover ...
, which had been founded by Pierre Schaeffer in 1943. During this period, he wrote the 1950 piece '' Symphonie pour un homme seul'', in cooperation with Schaeffer. It is an important early example of
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
. Henry also composed the first musique concrète track to appear in a commercial film: the 1952 short film ''Astrologie ou le miroir de la vie'' by Jean Grémillon. Henry also scored numerous additional films and ballets. Two years after leaving the RTF, he co-founded, with Jean Baronnet, the first private electronic music studio in France: Studio Apsone-Cabasse. Among Henry's works is the 1967 ballet ''Messe pour le temps présent'', a collaboration with composer Michel Colombier and choreographer Maurice Béjart that debuted in
Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. In 1970 Henry collaborated with British
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...
on the album ''
Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...
''. In 1997, a ''Métamorphose: Messe pour le temps présent'' compilation recording was released that brought together remixes of various compositions of Henry's by electronic artists
Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...
, Coldcut, Saint Germain,
The Mighty Bop Christophe Le Friant (; born 10 May 1969), better known by his stage name Bob Sinclar (), is a French record producer, DJ and remixer. He is the owner of the record label Yellow Productions. Musical career A native of Paris, Le Friant began D ...
and Dimitri From Paris. Composer
Christopher Tyng Christopher Tyng (born August 5, 1968) is an American composer for film and television. He composed the music for several television series, including ''Futurama'', ''The O.C.'', '' The Job'', ''Knight Rider'', '' Suits'', ''High Incident'', a ...
was heavily inspired by Henry's ''Psyché Rock'' when writing the theme to the popular animated cartoon show ''
Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
''. The theme is so reminiscent of ''Psyché Rock'' that it is considered a variation of the original which is a piece by Henry and Michel Colombier released in 1967. The track consists of bells, flutes, brass and rock ensemble (guitar, bass, drums) and electronic music. It is strongly inspired by The Troggs song "
Wild Thing Wild Thing or Wild Things can refer to: Books and comics * Wild Thing (comics), a 1999 Marvel Comics superheroine in the MC2 alternate future * ''The Wild Things'', a 2009 novel written by Dave Eggers Film and television * ''Wild Thing'' (film), ...
" (written by Chip Taylor) and " Louie Louie", written by Richard Berry and first popularized by The Kingsmen. Henry died on Wednesday 5 July 2017 at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Paris, at the age of 89.


Discography

* 1950 '' Symphonie pour un homme seul'' (in collaboration with Pierre Schaeffer) * 1951 ''Le microphone bien temperé'' ::''Musique sans titre'' ::''Concerto des ambiguities'' mit Klavier * 1952 First film music with ''musique concrète'' for Jean Grémillons film ''Astrologie'' * 1953 ''Orphée 53'', experimental opera for Donaueschingen Festival, first stage play with ''musique concrète'' (together with Pierre Schaeffer) * 1955 ''Arcane'' (ballet) * 1956 ''Haut voltage'' (ballet) * 1958 ''Coexistence'' * 1959 ''Investigations'' * 1961 ''La Noire à Soixante'' * 1963 ''La Reine Verte'' (ballet) * 1967 ''Le Voyage'' (ballet) * 1967 ''Variations pour une porte et un soupir (Variations For a Door And a Sigh)'' * 1967 ''Messe pour le temps présent'' (in cooperation with Michel Colombier) * 1968 ''L’Apocalypse de Jean'' (Die Apokalypse des Johannes) with spoken text * 1968 ''Le Voyage (D'Après Le Livre Des Morts Tibétain)'' * 1969 ''
Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...
'' (with
Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...
) * 1971 '' Nijinsky, clown de dieu'' (ballet) * 1973 ''Machine Danse'' * 1973 ''Kyldex I'' (cybernetic ballet) * 1975 ''Futuriste'', in memory of the Italian Futurists Luigi Russolo * 1978 ''Dieu'' * 1979 ''La Dixième Symphonie'', tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven * 1986 ''La Dixième Symphonie De Beethoven'' * 1990 ''Le livre des morts égyptien'' (
Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
) * 1997 ''Interieur/Exterrieur'' * 2015 ''Choix d'oeuvres de 1950–1985'' (Selections of works 1950–1985 on VOD Records Cat VOD133 Edition of 400 on 10xVinyl records) * 2021 ''Galaxie Pierre Henry''


References

* * * * * * * * * * *


Footnotes


External links

* * *
Discography
of vinyl records.
Pierre Henry at Virtual International Philharmonic
* http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/intervs/henry.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Pierre 1927 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Paris French electronic musicians French experimental musicians Electroacoustic music composers French sound artists French classical composers French male classical composers Musique concrète Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite 20th-century French composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century French male musicians