Annette Vande Gorne

Tao is the complete five-part cycle that Annette Vande Gorne composed between 1983 and 1991, one piece for each element of the Taoist system: Eau, Feu, Bois, Métal and Terre. Each piece is built on its own tonic axis, taken from the scale of fifths derived from the twelve primitive sound pipes, and the order of the cycle leads from nature presented as it is towards pure mental structures. This edition is a reissue, with booklet essays by Werner Lambersy and Francis Dhomont.

Eau (1984) is a “phonogram” of water recorded up close and left unaltered, gathered in many recording campaigns, including a bell tolling midnight at a Provençal fountain. Feu (1985-86) tells a story, setting the breath of fire against human breath and natural crackling against fireworks. Bois (1986) uses the brassage function of the SYTER system on the blows of a tree being felled, the rotation of a mill and a ping pong game, with a door that nods to Pierre Henry. Métal (1983) explores the resonances of a large collection of extra-European percussion lent by André Van Belle. Feu and Métal, presented together as Énergie / Matière, received the 1985 SABAM Special Prize of the Year of Music.

Terre (1989-91), dedicated to François Bayle, was commissioned by the Ina-GRM and realized in its SYTER and 123 studios. It transforms excerpts from the four other pieces into a double conical spiral and premiered in 1991 at the Planétarium de Montréal. The version here is the stereo reduction of the 8-channel original, made in 1992 for radio.

Born in Charleroi in 1946, Annette Vande Gorne studied at the Royal Conservatories of Mons and Brussels and later with Guy Reibel and Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. In 1982 she founded Musiques & Recherches and the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio in Ohain, and she later launched the festival L’Espace du son around a 60-loudspeaker acousmonium.

CD-R edition in OGpak, empreintes DIGITALes IMED 9311, 2018.