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NOTE: Mix, Mix 01.0, and Mix 04.4 are multi-CD sets that together make up an amazingly inexpensive, near-comprehensive collection of works by Pierre Henry  that has just been re-released. Selections from Le Microphone Bien Tempere are available on Mix 04.4, but not the entire work, so I will continue to make this transcription available.

AGP42 is the first of two installments of early out-of-print works by Pierre Henry. Le Microphone Bien Tempere (1950-52) was Pierre Henry's first solo work (Symphonie Pour un Homme Seul having been written in collaboration with his mentor Pierre Schaeffer), and one of the earliest pieces of electroacoustic music. The microphone of the title was used to record various sounds produced by a prepared piano. The work comprises sixteen movements, almost all of which were realized using flexible discs rather than magnetic tape, as the latter recording technology was just coming into general use at that time. The sound of these works is primitive, with an earthy sound that has little power at the frequency extremes. Even so, it is remarkable how Henry reconceived the ideas of rhythm, timbre, and musical structure in taking advantage of this new compositional medium.

The installment includes a text file containing the liner notes from the LP from which these works were transcribed. Since they are in French, they are an unedited output of my OCR software.

To download AGP42 files, right-click on each of the following links and select SAVE LINK AS.

01 - Pierre Henry, Le Microphone Bien Tempere, Side A [24:48]

02 - Pierre Henry, Le Microphone Bien Tempere, Side B [23:40]

Liner notes from LPs

AGP42 description

FLAC fingerprints