Francis Dhomont
Encyclopedia
Francis Dhomont
Francis Dhomont (born Paris
, France
, 2 November 1926) is a French
composer
of electroacoustic
/ acousmatic
music.
and Nadia Boulanger
. In the late 1940s he intuitively discovered with magnetic wire what Pierre Schaeffer
at about the same time came to call musique concrète
, consequently conducting solitary experiments with the musical possibilities of sound recording.
In 1963 he decided to dedicate his time to electroacoustic composition utilising natural sounds. Performances in public of his music are done using the French "diffusion" technique over multiple loudspeakers. His work consists exclusively of tape pieces using natural, or "found" sounds, exploring morphological interplay and the ambiguities between sound and the images it may create.
Dhomont's work has won many international awards including at the Bourges
International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France), the Magisterium Prize in 1988, Prix Ars Electronica in 1992 (Linz
, Austria
) and others. In 1997, as the winner of the Canada Council for the Arts' Lynch-Staunton Prize, he was supported by the DAAD for a residence in Berlin. He was recently awarded a prestigious career grant by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec . Dhomont is the editor of several electroacoustic music journals, and has produced many radio programs for Radio-Canada and Radio-France.
From 1978 to 2005, he divided his time between France and Québec
, where he taught at the Université de Montréal
from 1980 to 1996. He was a founding member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community
. He now lives in Avignon
(France) and regularly presents his works in France and abroad. A great traveller, he frequently participates in juries.
Francis Dhomont (born Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 2 November 1926) is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of electroacoustic
Electroacoustic music
Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...
/ acousmatic
Acousmatic
Acousmatic sound is sound one hears without seeing an originating cause. The word acousmatic, from the French acousmatique, is derived from ἀκουσματικοί akousmatikoi, a term used to refer to probationary pupils of the philosopher Pythagoras who, so that they might better concentrate on his...
music.
Biography
He studied composition under Ginette Waldmeier, Charles KoechlinCharles Koechlin
Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars , travelling, stereoscopic...
and Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
. In the late 1940s he intuitively discovered with magnetic wire what Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Schaeffer
Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist and acoustician of the 20th century. His innovative work in both the sciences —particularly communications and acoustics— and the various arts of music, literature and radio presentation after the end...
at about the same time came to call musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, consequently conducting solitary experiments with the musical possibilities of sound recording.
In 1963 he decided to dedicate his time to electroacoustic composition utilising natural sounds. Performances in public of his music are done using the French "diffusion" technique over multiple loudspeakers. His work consists exclusively of tape pieces using natural, or "found" sounds, exploring morphological interplay and the ambiguities between sound and the images it may create.
Dhomont's work has won many international awards including at the Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France), the Magisterium Prize in 1988, Prix Ars Electronica in 1992 (Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) and others. In 1997, as the winner of the Canada Council for the Arts' Lynch-Staunton Prize, he was supported by the DAAD for a residence in Berlin. He was recently awarded a prestigious career grant by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec . Dhomont is the editor of several electroacoustic music journals, and has produced many radio programs for Radio-Canada and Radio-France.
From 1978 to 2005, he divided his time between France and Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, where he taught at the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
from 1980 to 1996. He was a founding member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community
Canadian Electroacoustic Community
Founded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. He now lives in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
(France) and regularly presents his works in France and abroad. A great traveller, he frequently participates in juries.
Recordings
-
et autres utopies (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 0682, 2006) - Jalons (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 0365, 2003) - Cycle du son (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 0158, 2001) - Frankenstein Symphony (AsphodelAsphodelAsphodelus ramosus, also known as Branched asphodel, is a perennial herb in the Asparagales order. Similar in appearance to Asphodelus albus and particularly Asphodelus cerasiferus, it may be distinguished by its highly branched stem and smaller fruits.In addition, at least on the Catalan coast...
, ASP 0978, 1997) - Forêt profonde (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9634, 1996) - Sous le regard d'un soleil noir (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9633, 1996) - Les dérives du signe (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9608, 1996) - Cycle de l'errance (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9607, 1996) - Mouvances~Métaphores (empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 9107/08, 1991)
List of works
- À cordes perdues (1977), doublebass, and tape
- L'air du large (1997–98)
- À propos de K (2006)
- Asie (1975), audiovisual presentation (images by Giovanni Biaggini)
- Assemblages (1972)
- AvatArsSon (1998)
- Brief an den Vater (2005)
- Cathédrale d'images (1977), large-scale audiovisual presentation
- Chiaroscuro (1987)
- Chroniques de la lumière (1989, 2005)
- Cité du dedans (1972)
- Convulsive! (1995)
- Corps et âme (2001–02)
- CPH Pendler Music (1997)
- Drôles d'oiseaux (1985–86, 2001)
- L'électro (1990)
- En cuerdas (1998)
- Espace / Escape (1989)
- Espaces sonores pour des textes de Jean Tortel (1976), radiophonic piece
- Figures de la nuit / Faces of the Night (1991–92)
- Forêt profonde (1994–96)
- Frankenstein Symphony (1997)
- Glank-50 (2002)
- Here and There (2003)
- Je te salue, vieil océan! (1998, 2000–04)
- Lettre de Sarajevo (1995–96)
- La liberté ou la mort (1976), incidental music
- Mais laisserons-nous mourir Arianna? (1979)
- Métonymie ou le corps impossible (1976)
- Moirures (2006), videomusic
- Les moirures du temps (1999–2000)
- mourir un peu (1984–87)
- Nocturne à Combray (1995–96)
- Novars (1989)
- Objets retrouvés (1996)
- Phonurgie (1998)
- Poe-Debussy, Autour de la maison Usher (1988), Incidental music for a musical theater by Marthe Forget
- Points de fuite (1982)
- Premières traces du Choucas (2006)
- Previews (1994)
- Puzzle (1975)
- Qui est là? (1990)
- Reflets LR (2003–06), videomusic
- Ricercare (1998)
- Signé Dionysos (1986–91)
- Simulacres: un autoportrait (1991)
- Sol y sombra L'espace des spectres (1998, 2000), guitar, and tape
- Sous le regard d'un soleil noir (1979–81)
- Studio de nuit (1992)
- Syntagmes (1975)
- Terre d'ombres (2006), videomusic
- Les traces du rêve (1986), film soundtrack, Les traces du rêve by Jean-Daniel LafondJean-Daniel LafondJean-Daniel Lafond CC is a French-born Canadian filmmaker, and the husband to the former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, making him the Viceregal Consort of Canada during her service.-Biography:...
, NFBNational Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions... - Transits élémentaires (1983)
- Un autre Printemps (2000)
- Un autre Printemps [vidéo] (2000)
- Vol d'Arondes (1999, 2002)
- Voyage dans le voyage (1991), radiophonic piece
- Voyage-miroir (2004)
- Zones et rhizomes (1978)
Further reading
- Dhomont, Francis. “L’écriture acousmatique: Rappels et questionnements.” eContact! 12.4 — Perspectives on the Electroacoustic Work / Perspectives sur l’œuvre électroacoustique (August 2010). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - _____. 2008. “Abstraction et figuration dans ma musique / Abstraktion und Gegenständlichkeit in meiner Musik” (French/German). Komposition und Musikwissenschaft im Dialog VI, edited by Marcus Erbe and Christoph von Blumröder. Vienna: Verlag Der Apfel, 2008. pp. 134–167. Available online in eContact! 11.2 — Figures canadiennes (2) / Canadian Figures (2) (July 2009). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - _____. “Abstraction et figuration dans ma musique.” eContact! 11.2 — Figures canadiennes (2) / Canadian Figures (2) (July 2009). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - _____. “Éléments pour une syntaxe.” eContact! 11.2 — Figures canadiennes (2) / Canadian Figures (2) (July 2009). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - Gayou, Évelyne (Ed.). 2006. Francis Dhomont. Paris: INA, 2006. ISBN 2-86938-189-1
- Mountain, Rosemary. “From Wire to Computer. Francis Dhomont at 80.” Computer Music Journal 30/3 (Fall 2006), pp. 10–21.
- Paes, Rui Eduardo. “Entretien avec Francis Dhomont.” eContact! 11.2 — Figures canadiennes (2) / Canadian Figures (2) (July 2009). Montréal: CECCanadian Electroacoustic CommunityFounded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
. - Paland, Ralph. 2008. “Dhomont, Francis.” Die Musik in Geschichte und GegenwartMusik in Geschichte und GegenwartDie Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart is the largest and most comprehensive German music encyclopedia, and among Western music reference sources, only the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is comparable to it in size and scope...
. 2nd Edition. Biographical encyclopedia. Supplementary volume, edited by Ludwig Finscher. Kassel, Stuttgart: Bärenreiter, Metzler. pp. 153–154. ISBN 978-3-7618-1139-9 - _____. “Mythen der elektroakustischen ‘Revolution’: Aktuelle Geschichtskonstruktionen einer Musik ohne Vergangenheit.” Vorzeitbelebung: Vergangenheits- und Gegenwarts-Reflexionen in der Musik heute, edited by Jörn Peter Hiekel. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2010. pp. 107–139. ISBN 978-3-936000-85-6
- Steenhuisen, Paul. “Interview with Francis Dhomont.” Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0888644749
External links
- Francis Dhomont (The Canadian Encyclopedia)
- http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/dhomont_fr/ (with permission)