Michel Chion
Encyclopedia
Michel Chion born in 1947 in Creil
, France
, is a composer
of experimental music. He teaches at several institutions within France and currently holds the post of Associate Professor at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle
where he is a theoretician and teacher of audio-visual relationships.
After studying literature and music he began to work for the ORTF (French Radio and Television Organisation) Service de La recherche as assistant to Pierre Schaeffer
in 1970. He was a member of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) between 1971 - 1976.
His compositional pieces elaborate on schaeffarian theories and methodologies which Schaeffer referred to as musique concrète
.
He has also written a number of books as well as essays expounding his theories of the interaction between sound and image within the medium of film.
In particular, the book titled L’audio-vision. Son et image au cinéma, originally published in France in 1990
, has been considered by the critics as the definitive book on the relations between sound and image, which are described as two different languages within the muldimedia art form, discussing the argument from both technical-linguistic and aesthetic points of view, where before it was discussed principally in terms of narrative implications.
About Michel Chion : Lionel Marchetti, La musique concrète de Michel Chion, essay - Metamkine 1998 http://www.metamkine.com/
Creil
Creil is a large town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-History:Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site, as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging to a Gaulish fortress or protected camp.The city itself...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of experimental music. He teaches at several institutions within France and currently holds the post of Associate Professor at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle
University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle
The New Sorbonne University is a public university in Paris, France.The Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle is a founding member of the Paris Universitas, a union of 6 Parisian universities....
where he is a theoretician and teacher of audio-visual relationships.
After studying literature and music he began to work for the ORTF (French Radio and Television Organisation) Service de La recherche as assistant to Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
in 1970. He was a member of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) between 1971 - 1976.
His compositional pieces elaborate on schaeffarian theories and methodologies which Schaeffer referred to as musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
.
He has also written a number of books as well as essays expounding his theories of the interaction between sound and image within the medium of film.
In particular, the book titled L’audio-vision. Son et image au cinéma, originally published in France in 1990
, has been considered by the critics as the definitive book on the relations between sound and image, which are described as two different languages within the muldimedia art form, discussing the argument from both technical-linguistic and aesthetic points of view, where before it was discussed principally in terms of narrative implications.
Writings
- 1982. (With Norbert Dufourcq and Marcelle Benoit). La musique électroacoustique . Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 2130372627
- 1984. La voix au cinéma. [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema Livres. ISBN 2866420047
- 1983. Guide des objets sonores: Pierre Schaeffer et la recherche musicale . Bibliothèque de recherche musicale. [N.p.]: Buchet Chastel. ISBN 2702014399
- 1985. Le son au cinéma. New, revised and corrected edition. [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema Livres. ISBN 2866420233
- 1987. Jacques Tati. Collection "Auteurs". [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema. ISBN 2866420586
- 1994. Musiques, Médias, Technologie
- 1994. La symphonie à l'époque romantique. Les chemins de la musique. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 2213592713
- 1995. La musique au cinéma. Les chemins de la musique. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 221359466X
- 2001. David Lynch. New, enlarged edition. Collection "Auteurs". [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema Livres. ISBN 2866423194
- 2002. Technique et création au cinéma
- 2005. Stanley Kubrick : L'humain, ni plus ni moins. Collection "Auteurs". [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema Livres. ISBN 2866423925
- 2005. Le son. [N.p.]: Armand Colin. ISBN 2200341032
- 2005. L´Audio-Vision. Son et image au cinéma. [N.p.]: Nathan. ISBN 2091907049 English edition, edited and translated by Claudia Gorbman, as Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994) ISBN 0-231-07899-6
- 2008. Andrei Tarkovski. [N.p.]: Cahiers du Cinema Livres. ISBN 2866425030
Recordings
- La Vie En Prose - Une Symphonie Concrète (Brocoli 2011)
- Diktat (Nuun Records, Musique Concrète, 2010)
- Tu (Brocoli, BROCOLI 002, 2006)
- Les 120 jours with Lionel Marchetti, Jérôme NoetingerJerome NoetingerJérôme Noetinger is an improviser and composer of electroacoustic music based in Grenoble, France.He also runs the record label and record distributor Metamkine and writes in the French magazine Revue Et Corrigee...
(Fringes, FRINGES ARCHIVE_03, 2004) - Dix-sept minutes (Cinéma pour l'oreille, MKCD 032, 2002)
- L'opéra concret (MCE, MCE 01, 1998)
- On n'arrête pas le regret (Ina-GRM, INA_E 5005, 1996)
- Gloria (Cinéma pour l'oreille, MKCD 015, 1995)
- Préludes à la vie (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9523, 1995) - Requiem (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9312, 1993) - Credo mambo (Cinéma pour l'oreille, MKCD 004, 1992)
- La tentation de saint Antoine; La ronde (Ina-GRM, INA_C 2002/03, 1991)
About Michel Chion : Lionel Marchetti, La musique concrète de Michel Chion, essay - Metamkine 1998 http://www.metamkine.com/
List of works
- 24 préludes à la vie (1989–91)
- Crayonnés ferroviaires (1992)
- Credo Mambo (1992)
- Dix-sept minutes (2000)
- L'été (1982)
- Gloria (1994)
- Hymne de l'enfant à son réveil (1997)
- L'isle sonante (1998, 2005)
- La machine à passer le temps (1972)
- La Messe de terre (1996, 2003)
- Nuit noire (1979–85)
- On n'arrête pas le regret (1975)
- Le prisonnier du son (1972–91)
- Requiem (1973)
- La Ronde (1982)
- La roue (1972–85)
- Sambas pour un jour de pluie (1985)
- Sonate (1990)
- Suite volatile (1984)
- La Tentation de saint Antoine (1984)
- Tu (1977, 96)
- Une symphonie concrète (2006-)
- Variations (1990)
Further reading
- Marchetti, Lionel, and Christian Zanési. 1998. La Musique concrète de Michel Chion: Essai. [France]: Metamkine Rives. ISBN 2-9511799-0-1 Chapter 24 published in English, as "Cries and Silence", translated by Christine North and John Dack, in Writing Aloud: The Sonics of Language, edited by Brandon LaBell and Christof Migone, 107–17. Los Angeles: Errant Bodies, 2001. ISBN 0-9655570-3-0