Press Erkos (English)

ERKOS Press (English) ________________ Friday, November 13, 1992 LE MONDE CULTURE La respiration de la Terre (The Earth's Breathing) Jean-Claude Eloy's "Libérations" cycle at the Autumn Festival stands at the crossroads of many cultures Costin Cazaban * DISSONANZ – DISSONANCE die neue schweizerische musikzeitschrift la nouvelle revue musicale suisse the new Swiss music review n° 51, February, 1997 "Jean-Claude Eloy’s Sound Cosmogony" by Jean-Noël von der Weid		ERKOS Press (English) ________________________________________________ LE MONDE Friday, November 13, 1992 CULTURE La respiration de la Terre (The Earth's Breathing) Jean-Claude Eloy's "Libérations" cycle at the Autumn Festival stands at the crossroads of many cultures At the end of Gaia, the electronic sound, so far rather discreet and purposely anonymous, is like cut through by a wave that puts it in harmony and in tune with a wide planetary frequency. The breath of the One Entity – the fundamental principle – transforms the world of difference into a cosmos of order and hierarchy. Jean-Claude Eloy, the most Eastern-oriented of French composers, suggests a transcendence that reduces diversity to a harmonious identity. The entire composer's approach seems motivated by the will to find what links the most contrasted appearances, diverging traditions, and cultures far remote from one another. In Erkos, a Japanese artist performs shômyô singing (from a major Buddhist school…) on Sanskrit-written verses from Upanishad on an electronic background. What other French composer would have tried and managed to achieve such risky associations? Erkos is the second piece of this part of Libérations programmed by the Autumn Festival (the first part was created in the same scope in 1989, and a new tier is in progress). The recorded tape evokes the Earth's breathing (Mother Earth's – Gaia – symbol of the woman turned goddess, receptacle and matrix of life, which forms the theme of the cycle), like an integrating sound-noise, original womb and ultimate refuge. The two music pieces that make up this wide-scale cycle have a quite similar form (three long and rather different sections followed by the return of the second one, somewhat modified, and by a terrifying electronic crescendo). Glorifying the Feminine Spirit Their meanings also sound alike. They most of all share the glorification of the feminine spirit, here, in American contemporary poetry and in certain feminist-inspired movements, as well as in the sacred scriptures of India from time immemorial. It is logically matched in the cycle with the use of the feminine voice alone and the magnetic tape, which make up a rich, polymorphic and stripped whole. And if the composer uses a narrator and a soprano in Gaia, intervening in turns, it is because the variety of required techniques "makes it very difficult to be executed by only one soloist considering the solid specialties involved in Western singing techniques," the composer admitted. On the other hand, in Erkos, the same soloist sings and plays satsuma biwa (traditional Japanese instrument with a weak yet striking tone, and possibilities of remarkable contrasts). Eloy was able to work with Junko Ueda, a phenomenal artist to whom the piece is dedicated: a voice full of mystery, hieratic though sensual; an instrumental interpretation of amazing accuracy in diversity; a distinguished sense of scenic ceremonial. These creations reveal a maze-like geometry, a structure brought to mind by unexpected stylistic jumps, the hectic static of the development (as though a secrete course were imposed by some mysterious tradition), and the whims of vocal interpretation. Ornamental techniques stemming from the baroque style color, for instance, a chromatic monody characterized by its frozen modal drawing (Anne-Lisa Nathan's voice found a rewarding application for its earthy colors and particular consistency). No juxtaposition is necessary, and is not free either. However, one is far from surrealism; the composer's goal is to gather the energy developed through the shock of contrasts to cast it in the world of symbols and metaphysical transgression. And the general constants, which counterbalance the variety of detail, meet the image of the creative energy, of the regular cosmic pulse again. Elusive music. Music that speaks volumes. COSTIN CAZABAN ________________________________________________ DISSONANZ – DISSONANCE die neue schweizerische musikzeitschrift la nouvelle revue musicale suisse the new Swiss music review n° 51, February, 1977 "Jean-Claude Eloy’s Sound Cosmogony" by JEAN-NOËL VON DER WEID The program of the eighth year of the 38e Rugissants of Grenoble (1) features the French composer Jean-Claude Eloy, creator of worlds of sound that are as subtle and elusive as they are gripping and telluric. He is often misunderstood– or rather he is incompletely understood or misinterpreted, as if his musical isolation had been organized. Let us first of all reject the most common and unfortunate idea, which only promotes the worst confusion, trivialization and prejudice: that Eloy is knocking down the frontier between the Orient and the Occident, that he is a "Japanified tatami-sitting European", etc., etc. From his very first works, the composer has openly expressed his passion for the music of other civilizations, "all the while keeping intact (his) acquired roots from the Occident," he says. "I never wished to reject Occidental influences (....). The issue for me has always been to broaden my cultural roots, not to limit them (2)." Born in 1938 in Rouen, Jean-Claude Eloy receives top honors in the National Superior Music Conservatory of Paris (1957-1960), attends summer courses in Darmstadt (1957-1961), becomes one of Boulez’ rare direct pupils at the Academy of Music in Bâle (1961-1963) and of particular note, meets Stockhausen, who will invite him to the WDR studio in Cologne. (During this time, Eloy composes some twenty-odd separate pieces for voice, piano and chamber music.) At this point, to describe Jean-Claude Eloy in terms of a path or itinerary, or even of compositional stages, would be completely inadequate and unjust ; he is more appropriately understood in terms of convolutions circling around a core – his own, himself - , a movement akin to initial overtures, followed by a clearing away of successive strata from an opaque nodal point – his "unshatterable core of the night". Well before his time as professor in Berkeley (1966-1968), as a student composing learned counterpoints, he is already fervently listening to music from the Far East, wearing his records thin by repetitive playing; he has a particular preference for a record brought back from Japan, which reveals to him the strange beauty of Gagaku music (the traditional orchestra whose origins go back to Chinese court music from the Tang epoch – a model which is lost today); he also discovers the recitative chant of Nô theater (proving more interesting than Schoenberg’s fascinating research on the Sprechgesang), as well as Dhrupad music from India, the diphonic chants of Tibetan monks and classical music of Iran. He is captivated by the allure of other sounds, "the hidden side", (3) which induces a cross-cultural mix. What pleases him in Gagaku and its silence of acoustic refinements is its slow pace, the new perception of time it imposes, a time that is stretched and prolonged, for Eloy is weary of the fast pace of the West; it is also the striking contrast between non-modulating modal music and forced modulation, athematism, the chattering frenzy of post-serialism, the shattered, multidivergent aesthetics ; he also finds himself drawn to the unidirectional form of the Raga-s (going from a minimal point to a final culmination with intensity, tempo, ornamental complexity, etc.), "a fundamental and characteristic gesture," explains Eloy, "a faithful reflection of the cosmic energies spoken of in India in its philosophies, religions and cosmogonies". From his first works performed in public, the early signs of change were already underway: open spaces for thinking and listening (not always well-understood) particularly from Northern India and Shinto Japan - "re-created, transposed, transsubstantiated, but conscious"; such spaces serve to lighten the polyphonic complexity, the linguistic principles and theories pertaining to the post-serial aesthetic; hence, Occidental. In Etude III (1962) for orchestra and Equivalences (1963) for 18 instrumentalists, the influence of the Orient is revealed not by borrowed melodic or rhythmic formulae, or modes, that is, anything derived from a single musical language or technique: "it was manifested," Jean-Claude Eloy points out, "through the appearance of particular shaping and characteristics that I have called "acoustical gestures". These gestures were sorts of archetypes, stemming from the dynamic, in a general sense, of the construction of elements alongside each other". Thus, in the final section of Equivalences, the micro-tone gliding on the part of the trombone "represented (for him) a kind of reminiscence of Tibetan horns". Subsequently – in Faisceaux-Diffractions (1970) for 28 instrumentalists, in Kâmakalâ (1971) for three orchestral groups, five choral groups and three conductors and in Fluctuante-Immuable (1977) for full orchestra - , the composer endeavors to bring together both fixed and mobile elements, renewal and permanence, through the use of "fixed fields of pitch within a chromaticism, thus functioning as if in defective chromatic mode". The gesture of "implacable logic" of the "formal directional crescendo" asserts itself as well, particularly in Kâmakalâ, whose title and idea are for the first time "clearly" inspired from Tantric Shivaism concepts. Mastery of electro-acoustic techniques opens up an immense field of investigation for Jean-Claude Eloy, "not only for the exploration of material, sound and acoustic activity, but also to develop the tense and dialectical exchange between the Occident (...) and what is beyond the Occident, more particularly Asia", which will engender the deployment of lavish structures containing no elements from extra-European musical languages since they are based on the confrontation in a studio between concrete and electronic material. Thus, Shânti ("Peace"), "meditation music" for electronic and concrete sounds, lasting an hour and three quarters, created in the Cologne Studio in 1972-1973, attracts attention for the innovation it brings to this approach, notably in the relationships among textures (tone-colors) and time. This progression towards very large structures is fully expressed in Gaku-no-Michi ; ("The Paths of Music"), "film without images for electronic and concrete sounds", created in 1977-1978 at the NHK studios in Tokyo (duration : 4 hours), as well as in Yo-In ("Reverberations"), "music for an imaginary ritual" in four acts, featuring a percussionist-character, 2 and 4-track electro-acoustic tapes, lights, a true "theater of sound in itself, through its reverberating echoes", as defined by the composer who created it in 1980 in the phonology studio in Utrecht (duration: 3 hours, 40 minutes). Constructed in four large parts embedded between an introductory sound, a central sound and a sound of prolongation, the first of these works, which refers to the geographical area where it was created, Japan, calls on some very broad categories of acoustic material : the most abstract of sounds (generated in the studio) are dialectically confronted by all sorts of concrete sound sources in modern Japan (street noises, subway ringers, railway stations...) traditional (temple bells...), metamorphosed through electronics from the most "concrete" stage (as is) to the most abstract (where all traces of their origins are lost). The second work, Yo-in, reveals the integration of entirely new material, such as the direct use (in addition to electronic manipulation) of numerous and rich percussion instruments assembled by the American soloist Michael Ranta. Many of these instruments belong to non-European traditions, such as Asia, Southeast Asia and India; all of them deliver complex spectra, each one different and very specific (4). In 1983, the National Theater of Japan in Tokyo presented Approaching a Meditating Fire(5), after commissioning it from Jean-Claude Eloy. It would be the first collaboration between the composer and an ensemble of purely ethnic musicians: five Gagaku orchestral groups, four choirs of Buddhist monks from the Shingon and Tendai sects, five Bugaku dancers and six percussionists. Certain problems arose concerning composition, notation and execution by the choirs of monks. Conscious of the various techniques in Shômyô chants (the "clear voice" , a general word defining the genre of Buddhist chants in temples) which he had been familiar with for a long time, Eloy took a sheet of paper symbolizing space/time coordinates and quickly traced a continuous broken line – a graphical notation meant to represent a melodic shape. To his astonishment, the monks immediately sang "something," he says, "that resembled quite faithfully in time and space this improvised line, graphically expressed". Thus, thanks undoubtedly to the respect granted to the "acoustical identities" of all the vocal and instrumental parts before the actual structuring of the musical work, a place of mutual understanding was possible. When the work was performed, it met with general surprise. The few Europeans among the audience wondered how it was possible, thinking that Eloy must have taken original bits of traditional music, cleverly fiddling with them to suit his own needs. "In fact, no ! I’m the one who did the composing !" , Eloy stated. The listeners found it hard to admit because, auditorily, the work sounded as if it dated from ten centuries prior, and at the same time, it sounded like something that was eminently personal (like a double canon, in contrary motion!). Takemitsu was present as well; flabbergasted, he said to Eloy that only a European could, in such a way, grasp the traditional music of his country, and asked him, jokingly, if he might give him some courses in Japanese music ! The best and brightest of these musicians were chosen by Eloy to lead them exactly where he wanted them to go, with the use of electronics. This combination of technical material and human resources is illustrated in Anâhata (a Sanskrit word referring to "vibration of origin", the "original sound of the universe", unstruck, unheard), music of a contemplative nature, invention of a sound situation coming from no previous model, neither Asian nor European, a galaxy of elements including solo parts (instrumental and vocal), electro-acoustic parts (on tapes) and mixed parts. Anâhata is comprised of a cycle formed by three separate and relatively independent works: Anâhata I "Anâhata - Hata" (Unstruck sounds – Struck sounds); Anâhata II "Akshara - Kshara" (the Immutable – the Mutable); Anâhata III "Nîmîlana - Unmîlana" (That which Awakens – That which Slumbers), this last work including two electro-acoustic parts that can be performed independently of the work, and which were performed at the 38e Rugissants Festival: Galaxie 1 is a very slow transformation, lasting twenty minutes, going from Bonshô sounds (temple bells, striking metallic sounds) to continuous steady sounds emanating from Shô instruments (mouth organ; unstruck sounds); in Galaxie 2, clouds of sounds gather like very brief impulses, "accumulated, rapid and violent (actual galaxies of points of sound, entirely achieved with a potentiometer)", all coming from the constant sound of the Shô (6). These two Galaxies are linked by a period of pentatonic mixing of a working of the shô sounds ; in Grenoble, the link, which completely modified the perception we could have of these two Galaxies, consisted of a vocal solo, specially composed (1996) for and performed by Junko Ueda, a remarkable singer who is versed in the traditions of Asian chant: the Satsuma-Biwa (epic chant where she accompanies herself on the string instrument whose strings are plucked by a plectrum) and the Shômyô chant. The second Galaxie closes on an indefinite prolonged sound, forming a contemplative space that follows the preceding disruption. These were but "little" sensations compared to the work that struck us to the core, Erkos (1990-1991), a veritable cosmogony of sound, performed in the first part of the concert. (The word erkos from Indo-European means, according to the experts, "song" or "praise". It is close to the Sanskrit arkas, meaning "hymn", "chant", "radiance" and to the Tokharian yarke, signifying "veneration", "homage".) The texts used in the work (fragments from the Devî-Upanishad and the Devî-Mâhâtmya, in Sanscrit) pay homage to the Goddess, mother of all Energies, such as Indian philosophy has conceived them. One can only resort to metaphors and images in the attempt to describe the truly hallucinatory effect that such a work can produce on the spectator. All regular reference points fall away, sweeping away conventional signposts; time stops (such as a philosopher’s idea, which blocks out thought), it erupts in clacking and cracking, epiphanies of hissings and scrapings, while, astounded and stunned, one feels as though one were witnessing geological times, in our innermost depths, of continental drift, a drift frozen in time, an immobile movement, hundreds of thousands of tectonic plates of sounds as they are dazzled and splattered by light. This impression, this imprint, originates undoubtedly from the difference in perception between micro and macro-events; Eloy notes that the "output of a mass of matter can be accelerated to the maximum, without modifying the outer boundaries of this field of activity, whose global evolution can progress very slowly"; but this impression also comes from the principle of the four DATs used by Jean-Claude Eloy (and not the 8-track which he could very easily use today), as the textures offer varying possibilities of anchor points in the mixing process; therefore, in this work, departures and superimpositions can vary from zero to 30 seconds, even a bit more, depending on the "interpretation" of the composer, which, at each execution, reveals new elements in the details of sound material (7). Currently, following a cycle of pieces for classical soprano voice, theatrical actress’ voice and electro-acoustic, (Gaia), Jean-Claude Eloy is returning to the Occident and its source material and is creating projects in this direction (Sieben Frauen aus Berlin; Pianos-multiples; Das Sinnende...). So what are record companies waiting for to record the works of such an important composer ? One would think that the truly original and independent creators can no longer, as Varèse once said, refuse to die; but they are condemned to such a fate. JEAN-NOËL VON DER WEID (1996) 1. From November 22 to December 7, 1996. Benoît Thiebergien, festival director, chose the theme "Earth Sounds" with, notably, the creation of Cantus Umbrarum, "chtonian symphony for rocks, stalactites, fistulars and digital instruments", by Lightware (Christophe Harbonnier and Charles Wittmann), Compositions ornithologiques by Bernard Fort, and Motion Control, Modell-5 by Granula Synthesis (Kurt Hentschliger and Ulf Langheinrich), a virtual opera where four clones of a hypothetical soprano share the video stage, itself powered by a sound-image-movement trance. 2. In 1994, he wrote: "We know which cultural models dominate in this world. But, for my part, there is a place for a meeting, a coming together of all the musical minorities that differentiate themselves from these standardized models of cultural domination: on the one hand, those from non-Western traditions that differentiate themselves by their high-level musical forms (...); on the other hand, the musical forms that differentiate themselves through their innovations (...). This coming together, this meeting between the most ancient musical forms on earth and the most modern of musical creation is (...) a vital necessity for the survival of the musical diversity of the planet." 3. Title (whose sub-title is: "Towards new frontiers in musical territories ?") from the article by the composer in La musique et le monde (Music and the World), published by Editions Babel "Internationale de l'imaginaire", nouvelle série, n 4, Arles 1995. 4. Some examples. Act I: ching (China) or keisu (Japan); tsching-ba (China); kwong-wong-lek (Thailand)... Act II: muban (China); ankelung (Thailand); pak (Korea)... Act III: dei ching and jung ching (Korea); schellen-baum (Pakistan)... Act IV: chau-low (Chinese tam-tam); hwa-gu (China); chi-jo-puk (Korea)... 5. Jean-Claude Eloy explains that this title comes in part from a lecture which Heidegger devoted to certain terms of ancient Greek, in which he used the poetic expression "meditating fire". Eloy: "The image of approaching was almost imposed on me by my desire to express this form of progressive crescendo extending through the entirety of the work. I wanted to evoke a rite of passage, a sense of quest, and to create a ceremonial that would be utterly invented and personal, reflecting my predilection for evolving forms, of forms in progress, symbolized by the idea of a path going towards something situated on the horizon, but which is as yet unknown, not yet revealed..." 6. "As the shô is capable of producing no more than 15 sounds pratically all diatonic-pentatonic, I developed chromatic scales extending over several octaves for the electro-acoustic parts, thanks to transpositional techniques and multiple recording facilities. The play-back of these sounds through a VCA (Voltage Control Ampliflers) console unit as well as the use of some microchips, allowed me to obtain some melodic-harmonic configurations that proved to be completely unusual." 7. The WDR Studio where Erkos was created, commissioned by WDR upon the invitation of Stockhausen and along with the collaboration of the French Institute in Cologne, is not "used here as a generating source, explains Jean-Claude Eloy, but rather as a powerful <transformer-multiplier> of the soloist, who is the true origin of all sound : symbolically, the source, the Goddess-mother, as expressed in the chosen Sanskrit texts".