Pascale Criton
Encyclopedia
Pascale Criton is a French musicologist and a composer of contemporary music, more specifically microtonal music
. She is particularly known for exploiting very dense microtonal scales such as 1/12 tone or 1/16 and beyond for the particular perception properties they imply.
and Jean-Etienne Marie
. She took part in the Darmstadt Academy in 1980 and 1988, and had an electroacoustic formation (CIRM,1980–82). She also had a computer music training course, IRCAM(1986).Criton became interested into ethnomusicology as well, taking part in the activities of the "Groupe de Recherche sur la Tradition Orale" (Abidjan 1979).
Her works are created in France and abroad: Darmstadt
, American Festival of Microtonal Music (New York), Ircam
, Radio-France, Manca, Today Musics, Midem, Presences, Intermusica, Ars Electronica, Ijsbrecker Institute, Archipelago Festival, Ilkhom XX (Tashkent), Simn (Bucharest).
Her aesthethic and intellectual approach of the music is strongly linked to the thought of philosopher Gilles Deleuze
she met in 1987.
Pascale Criton takes interest most particularly in the considerations concerning the continuum
. In regard to this, her compositional approach lies in going above the natural discontinuity of scales to reach some state of continuity while closing up the continuum thanks to very dense microtonal scales. (very small intervals et very close to each other). And she takes advantage of the very specific properties these microtonal scales have on the ear perception.
The interval
of two or three 1/16 tone is very small and is barely recognisable by the ear. But it has an impact on the perception of timbre
, rhythm
, the feeling of time
. Criton takes advantage of this property to create subtle shifting of notes, giving rise to progressive but imperceptible change of musical texture.
Microtonal music
Microtonal music is music using microtones—intervals of less than an equally spaced semitone. Microtonal music can also refer to music which uses intervals not found in the Western system of 12 equal intervals to the octave.-Terminology:...
. She is particularly known for exploiting very dense microtonal scales such as 1/12 tone or 1/16 and beyond for the particular perception properties they imply.
Life
Born in 1954 in Paris, Pascale Criton was the daughter of artists Jean Criton and Dominique d'Acher. She had a compositional formation with Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Gérard GriseyGérard Grisey
Gérard Grisey was a French composer of contemporary music.-Biography:Gérard Grisey was born in Belfort, France on 17 June 1946. He studied at the Trossingen Conservatory in Germany from 1963 to 1965 before entering the Conservatoire de Paris...
and Jean-Etienne Marie
Jean-Etienne Marie
Jean-Etienne Marie was a French composer of contemporary music. He is an important figure in the history and exploration of Microtonal music and electroacoustic.-Biography:...
. She took part in the Darmstadt Academy in 1980 and 1988, and had an electroacoustic formation (CIRM,1980–82). She also had a computer music training course, IRCAM(1986).Criton became interested into ethnomusicology as well, taking part in the activities of the "Groupe de Recherche sur la Tradition Orale" (Abidjan 1979).
Her works are created in France and abroad: Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, American Festival of Microtonal Music (New York), Ircam
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
, Radio-France, Manca, Today Musics, Midem, Presences, Intermusica, Ars Electronica, Ijsbrecker Institute, Archipelago Festival, Ilkhom XX (Tashkent), Simn (Bucharest).
Composition
Since the early 80s, she has investigated the microvariability of the sound and she dedicated her instrumental composition to microtonal tuned instruments (pianos, microtonal guitares, strings tuned in 1/4, 1/8, 1/12 , 1/16 tone) which it is most of the time associated with diatonic instruments as well as to the Audio synthesisHer aesthethic and intellectual approach of the music is strongly linked to the thought of philosopher Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
she met in 1987.
Pascale Criton takes interest most particularly in the considerations concerning the continuum
Continuum (theory)
Continuum theories or models explain variation as involving a gradual quantitative transition without abrupt changes or discontinuities. It can be contrasted with 'categorical' models which propose qualitatively different states.-In physics:...
. In regard to this, her compositional approach lies in going above the natural discontinuity of scales to reach some state of continuity while closing up the continuum thanks to very dense microtonal scales. (very small intervals et very close to each other). And she takes advantage of the very specific properties these microtonal scales have on the ear perception.
The interval
Interval (music)
In music theory, an interval is a combination of two notes, or the ratio between their frequencies. Two-note combinations are also called dyads...
of two or three 1/16 tone is very small and is barely recognisable by the ear. But it has an impact on the perception of timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
, rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, the feeling of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. Criton takes advantage of this property to create subtle shifting of notes, giving rise to progressive but imperceptible change of musical texture.
Works
- Mémoires for 1/16th tone piano (1982)
- Thymes, for 1/4th tone Piano and digital synthesis (1988)
- Clines, for bass flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and tape (1990)
- Biffurcations for cello and 1/16th tone piano (1994)
- Territoires imperceptibles, for bass flute, 1/16th tone tuned guitar and cello(1997)
- La Ritournelle et le galop, 1/16th tone tuned guitar (1995)
- Le passage des heures, For voice, cello, violin and flute (1998)
- Artefacts for flute, clarinet, horn, timbales, three guitars (amplified, in 1/12th tone), violin, viola, cello, doublebasse(2001)