Pierre Henry
Pierre Henry was a French composer, born in Paris on 9 December 1927. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Olivier Messiaen, Nadia Boulanger and the percussionist Félix Passerone. From 1949 he worked with Pierre Schaeffer at the radio studio of the RTF, where the two made Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950) and the opera Orphée 53, staged at Donaueschingen. He left the RTF in 1958 and set up his own studio. His long partnership with the choreographer Maurice Béjart produced Messe pour le temps présent (1967), written with Michel Colombier, whose "Psyché Rock" became a hit.
Variance / Duo
Two unreleased late works by Pierre Henry for his centenary: Variance (2005), a fugal homage to Luc Ferrari, and Duo (2003), a gestural rhapsody for feedback and piano dedicated to Maurice Béjart. Licensed from Studio Son/Ré.
Bidule 2.0
On Bidule 2.0, eRikm tunnels into a cache of unheard Pierre Henry tapes, feeding analog “sound objects” from 1950–1974 through his custom digital apparatus to forge a dense, flickering work where early musique concrète and present‑tense signal proces…
Messe Pour Le Temps Présent (LP)
Early 70's re-pressing on Philips of the adventurous groovy electro-aacoustic psychedelic music for a ballet by Maurice Béjart with the addition of excerpts from other three nasterpieces from the 1960's (Le Voyage. La Reine Verte, Variations Pour Une…
Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir (LP)
1968/9 edition on Philips' silver covers "Prospective 21e Siècle" series of the highly evocative 1963 masterful variations for a door and a sigh. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record. Green labels.
Le Voyage (D'Après Le Livre Des Morts Tibétain) (LP)
1968/9 edition on Philips' silver covers "Prospective 21e Siècle" series of 1963 feedback masterpiece based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record. Green labels.
Voile D'Orphée I et II / Entité / Spirale (LP)
Original 1969 edition on Philips' silver covers "Prospective 21e Siècle" series of three early masterpieces from the 1950's. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record. Green labels.
Voile D'Orphée I et II / Entité / Spirale (LP)
Original 1969 edition on Philips' silver covers "Prospective 21e Siècle" series of three early masterpieces from the 1950's. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record. Green labels.
La Noire À Soixante / La Noire À Soixante + Granulométrie (LP)
Original 1968 edition on Philips' silver covers "Prospective 21e Siècle" series of two amazing works from the early 60's, one using the vocalizations of sound poet Francois Dufrêne. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record…
Prismes (LP)
First 1973 edition on Philips of the music for Nicolas Schöffer's dynamic and cybernetic space-light show with choreography by Alwin Nikolaïs. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record.
Musiques Pour Une Fête (LP)
First and only 1976 vinyl edition on Philips of the wild 1971 "spontaneous creation" made with elements of previous compositions. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record.
Dieu (LP)
First and only vinyl edition on Philips of the intense 1977 work inspired by Victor Hugo. Like all Pierre Henry's output, beautiful music and essential record.
Symphonie Pour Un Homme Seul / Concerto Des Ambiguïtés (LP)
Mid-70's re-issue of two 1950 musique concrète's defining works, seminal and essential, as well as beatuful, to say the least.
Ceremony (LP)
Later 1970's re-pressing of Henry's 1969 wild electronic mass in collaboration with British hard rock / prog rock band.
Messe Pour Le Temps Présent / Le Voyage (CD)
1987 first CD re-issue of two landmark works from the 60's.
Mouvement Rythme Étude (CD)
1989 first CD re-issue of the 1970 music for a ballet by Maurice Béjart.
Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir / Voile D'Orphée (CD)
1987 first CD re-issue of two early masterpieces, respectively from 1963 and 1953.
Apocalypse De Jean (2CD)
First CD re-issue as a double-disc set on the superb and massive 1968 electronic oratorio in 5 parts.
Messe De Liverpool / Pierres Réfléchies (CD)
1991 CD coupling two great works, one from 1967 and one from 1982.
Intérieur / Extérieur (CD)
First and only CD edition of Henry's 1996 work once again using rock music elements, here provided by folk punk band Violent Femmes.
Panorama of Musique Concrète (LP)
Historical first collection of musique concrète compiled in 1956 and featuring Pierre Henry, Pierre Schaffer and Philippe Arthuys