GRM Archives (review)

In the history of electroacoustic music, the work done in Paris at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) studios throughout its long history and various forms is central. The Quatre Études de Bruits by Pierre Schaeffer, first presented to a shocked but intrigued public in 1948, changed the world of music composition, riding the wave of recording and broadcasting technological innovation that was already changing the wider world of music production and reception. New terms such as musique concrète, acousmatic music, electroacoustic music, and electronica came into being in order to provide labels for this new music that was conceived and created using studio technology, and not necessarily using musical instruments or voices. Not only the techniques had to be developed, but the ways of thinking about this new music also had to be developed. Pierre Schaeffer and the GRM have been crucial to these ends.

In 2004, to celebrate 30 years of the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA)—the administrative umbrella organization that includes the GRM among other elements—a large archival recording project was released, to celebrate the 50-some years of creative musical activity at GRM. Archives GRM comprises five compact discs, each with substantial liner notes in French and English, and an 80-page booklet of photographic images portraying the people and technology of GRM. The discs are organized thematically: (1) les visiteurs de l'aventure concrète [the visitors of the concrète adventure]; (2) l'art de l'étude [the art of the etude]; (3) le son en nombres [sound by numbers]; (4) le temps du temps réel [the time of real time]; and (5) le GRM sans le savoir [GRM without knowing it (or . . . without knowledge?)]. This grand project was overseen by Christian Zanési, a GRM affiliate composer, and was clearly a labor of love, no doubt involving many others who go uncredited.

Is it typical for French technocrats to also be intellectuals? (One thinks of Jacques Attali, politician-economist who penned Noise: The Political Economy of Music.) Emmanuel Hoog, Président Directeur Général of INA, quotes Victor Hugo in his introduction to this exceptional publication: "La musique c'est du bruit qui pense" ["Music is noise that thinks"]. After going on to state the INA's mission, "to conserve and diffuse audiovisual heritage," he concludes rather poetically: "Résolument, l'INA construit l'avenir de votre mémoire" ["The INA is steadfastly building up the future of your memory"]. From the top down, this is an intelligent, creative, and engaging production (it is also self-important, but one would expect that from an institution as large and active as this one). Along with Mr. Hoog's introduction, each of the five liner-note booklets contains an opening essay by musicologist Jean-Christophe Thomas, five variations on a theme of avoiding classification while having fun "dreaming up taxonomies." In addition, each of the five booklets contains more targeted essays and notes on specific tracks by GRM associates: François Bayle (CD 1); Régis Renouard Larivière (CD 2); Yann Geslin (CD 3); Daniel Teruggi (CD 4); and Christian Zanési (CD 5). There is a great deal of interesting historical and technical information contained in these texts. What is missing, though, are composer biographies of any sort. Although some of the artists of this collection are well known, such as Pierre Schaeffer, many are not, and even pointers to biographical information would have beeen helpful. The INA has been taking some steps to address this lacuna with its Portraits Polychromes series of publications on individual composers important to the history of electroacoustic music (and, by strong coincidence, mostly active at GRM), and the associated Acousmaline Web site (www.ina.fr/grm/acousmaline/index.fr.html).

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