Pierre Schaeffer, 1953: Towards an Experimental Music

An analysis of the relationship between Pierre Schaeffer and the musical avantgarde of 1953, with particular reference to Pierre Boulez and to Schaeffer’s shift from musique concrète to recherche musicale. The main source is Schaeffer’s “Vers une musique expérimentale” (Revue musicale 236); extensive excerpts are translated here into English. The antagonism between the Paris and Cologne studios is discussed in the light of two different approaches to technology and tradition; for the exponents of elektronische Musik new technology was a means to perfect Western music, while for Schaeffer it was simply a means to make new musical discoveries. (RILM I)

Schaeffer’s research on different sound sources — including electronic devices and concrete sounds — led him to experiment with compositional techniques such as serialism. His role in the development of musique concrète has been misunderstood by those who focus on his sound sources rather than his compositional methods. His later phase can be categorized as experimental, as he used his earlier experiences with sound sources as a stimulus for investigating new compositional procedures and forms. (RILM II)