Gérard Pape
Encyclopedia
Gérard Pape is a composer
of electronic music
, author, and psychologist. He is a former student of David Winkler, George Cacioppo, William Albright
, and George Balch Wilson
. He has been the director of Les Ateliers UPIC (now CCMIX) since 1991 (CCMIX Paris 2001; Makan 2003, 21).
psychoanalyst as well as a composer (Makan 2003, 23–24). After moving to France at the beginning of the 1990s, his compositions came under the influence of the Mexican composer Julio Estrada
. Estrada shares with Pape an interest in psychoanalysis and focuses on what he calls "sound fantasies"—fantasies that occur "inside the head of the composer and take the form of sequences of sounds" (Makan 2003, 25). Pape extended Estrada’s conception by treating chaos as a formal concept (McHard 2006, 28). For example, in his opera-in-progress, Weaveworld, Pape "employs sudden and unpredictable patterns in streams of sound in a plasma that draws from chaos models” (McHard 2006, 288). The tape part for Makbénach I and III convolves
"timbre paths", made from chains of sampled saxophone sounds, together with a dense series of grains following particular trajectories (produced by a computer program called Cloud Generator), in order to produce timbral transformations (Feller 2000, 95; Roads 2001, 319)
Pape's 1995 chamber opera Monologue uses as text the Samuel Beckett
play A Piece of Monologue
(Makan 2003, 29–30). His most important work is Feu toujours vivant for large orchestra and 4 sampler keyboards (1997), which was commissioned by Art Zoyd
and the National Orchestra of Lille, conducted by Jean-Claude Casadesus
(CCMIX Paris 2001).
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 electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, author, and psychologist. He is a former student of David Winkler, George Cacioppo, William Albright
William Albright (musician)
William Albright was an American composer, pianist and organist.Albright was born in Gary, Indiana, and began learning the piano at the age of five, and attended the Juilliard Preparatory Department , the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan , where he studied composition with...
, and George Balch Wilson
George Balch Wilson
George Balch Wilson is an American composer who is particularly known for his contributions to electronic music. In 1955 he won the Prix de Rome for composition. He taught for more than 30 years on the faculty of the University of Michigan where he notably founded and directed the school's...
. He has been the director of Les Ateliers UPIC (now CCMIX) since 1991 (CCMIX Paris 2001; Makan 2003, 21).
Biography
Gérard Pape studied clinical psychology and music simultaneously at the University of Michigan, and is a practicing LacanianJacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
psychoanalyst as well as a composer (Makan 2003, 23–24). After moving to France at the beginning of the 1990s, his compositions came under the influence of the Mexican composer Julio Estrada
Julio Estrada
Julio Estrada Velasco was born in Mexico City, April 10, 1943. His family was exiled from Spain in 1941. He is a composer, theoretician, historian, pedagogue, and interpreter.-Life:...
. Estrada shares with Pape an interest in psychoanalysis and focuses on what he calls "sound fantasies"—fantasies that occur "inside the head of the composer and take the form of sequences of sounds" (Makan 2003, 25). Pape extended Estrada’s conception by treating chaos as a formal concept (McHard 2006, 28). For example, in his opera-in-progress, Weaveworld, Pape "employs sudden and unpredictable patterns in streams of sound in a plasma that draws from chaos models” (McHard 2006, 288). The tape part for Makbénach I and III convolves
Convolution
In mathematics and, in particular, functional analysis, convolution is a mathematical operation on two functions f and g, producing a third function that is typically viewed as a modified version of one of the original functions. Convolution is similar to cross-correlation...
"timbre paths", made from chains of sampled saxophone sounds, together with a dense series of grains following particular trajectories (produced by a computer program called Cloud Generator), in order to produce timbral transformations (Feller 2000, 95; Roads 2001, 319)
Pape's 1995 chamber opera Monologue uses as text the Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
play A Piece of Monologue
A Piece of Monologue
A Piece of Monologue is a fifteen-minute play by Samuel Beckett. Written between 2 October 1977 and 28 April 1979 it followed a request for a “play about death” by the actor David Warrilow who starred in the premiere in the Annex at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York on 14 December...
(Makan 2003, 29–30). His most important work is Feu toujours vivant for large orchestra and 4 sampler keyboards (1997), which was commissioned by Art Zoyd
Art Zoyd
Art Zoyd is a French band formed in 1968, mixing free jazz, progressive rock and avant-garde electronica.Like other members of the Rock in Opposition movement, Art Zoyd fuses progressive rock and jazz with contemporary classical music. Like fellow RIO member Univers Zéro, they are also influenced...
and the National Orchestra of Lille, conducted by Jean-Claude Casadesus
Jean-Claude Casadesus
Jean-Claude Casadesus is a French conductor.Casadesus was born in Paris on December 7, 1935, the son of actress Gisèle Casadesus and her husband Lucien Pascal...
(CCMIX Paris 2001).
Orchestra
- Cosmos, symphony for large orchestra and tape (1985)
- Three Faces of Death, for orchestra (1988–89)
- Feu toujours vivant, for large orchestra and four samplers (1997)
Opera and musical theater
- Ivan and Rena (text: Gérard Pape), music drama for reciter, three vocal soloists, orchestra, and tape (1983–84)
- A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil, surrealist opera for tape and slides; texts and slides by Max Ernst (1990)
- Monologue, chamber opera based on Samuel Beckett’s play, A Piece of Monologue, for bass voice and eight-channel tape (1995)
- Weaveworld (in progress), after the novel by Clive Barker
- Battle, for four vocal soloists and tape (1996),
- Weaveworld Prologue, for bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, horn, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, contrabass (1998)
- Les Cenci, opera in four acts, for seven vocal soloists, orchestra of 24 flutes, three percussionists, tape, and live electronics (text: Antonin ArtaudAntonin ArtaudAntoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...
) (2000– )
Chamber music (with or without electronics)
- Soundbook, for instruments and live electronics (1982)
- Tableaux, for acoustic and electronic instruments (1983)
- In Memoriam: George Cacioppo, for eight trombones, two percussionists, and tape (1984)
- String Quartet No. 2 "Vortex" (1988–89)
- X-Stasis, for ensemble and tape (1992)
- Le Fleuve du désir III, for string quartet and tape (1994)
- Le Fleuve du désir IV, for eight solo violins, or one violin, tape, and live electronics (1994/2002)
- Makbénach I, for saxophone, ensemble, and tape (1996)
- Makbénach II, for saxophone and ensemble (1996)
Solo instrument (with electronics)
- Recordare, for soprano recorder, live electronics, and tape (1984)
- Cerberus, for organ and tape (1987)
- That Burning Thing, for flute and tape (1989)
- Le Fleuve du désir V, for violin, tape, and live electronics (1994)
- Le Fleuve du désir VI, for viola, tape, and live electronics (1994)
- Le Fleuve du désir VII, for cello, tape, and live electronics (1994)
- Le Fleuve du désir VIII, for contrabass, tape, and live electronics (1994)
- Makbénach III, for saxophone, live electronics, and tape (1996)
- Makbénach IV, for trombone, live electronics, and tape (1998)
- Aquarelles, for basset horn doubling clarinet, tape, and live electronics (1999)
- La Naissance du son, for amplified cello (2002)
- For Maurizio, for amplified viola (2003)
- Ascension au Purgatoire, for percussion and computer (2004)
Vocal music
- Pour un Tombeau d'Anatole, for voice, saxophones, and percussion (1984)
- Catachresis, for soprano and chamber orchestra (1987)
- La Tristesse de la lune (text: Charles Baudelaire) , for baritone, soprano (pre-recorded), and tape (1986)
- Two Electro-Acoustic Songs for soprano, flute, and tape; poems by Dahlia Ravicovitch (1993)
- Funeral Sentences, for two sopranos, percussionist, and live electronics (1998)
- The Ecstasy of St. Theresa (homage to Bernini) (text: St. Theresa of Ávila), for nine mixed voices and live electronics (2001)
Electronic music
- Triple Requiem, for multiple tapes and turntables (1982)
- Dreamwake (texts: Gérard Pape), for tape (1984)
- Resonance, for tape (1984)
- Prélude Electronique, for tape (1992)
- Variations Varèsiennes, for tape (1992)
- Le Fleuve du désir II. for UPIC-generated tape (1994)
- Fabula, for eight-channel tape (1999)
- Mon autre Peau, installation for 20-channel tape and DVD (based on paintings by Ana-Paula Portilla with digital video by Anney Bonney; texts by Ana-Paula Portilla, Parmenides, and the Upanishads) (1999)
- Tantric Transformations, for eight-channel tape and digital video; video by Anney Bonney (2000)
- Clouds for six-channel tape (2002)
Sources
- CCMIX Paris. 2001. Mode Records 2-CD set, MDE 98.
- Feller, Ross. 2000. "Gerard Pape: Electroacoustic Chamber Works". Computer Music Journal 24, no. 1 (Spring): 94–95.
- Kozinn, Allan. 1988. "Review/Recital; Albright at the Organ". New York Times (May 5).
- McHard, James L. 2006. The Future of Modern Music: A Vibrant New Modernism in Music for the Future, second edition. Livonia, Michigan: Iconic Press; Salt Lake City: American University & Colleges Press. ISBN 0-9778195-0-7
- Makan, Keeril. 2003. "An Interview with Gerard Pape". Computer Music Journal 27, no. 3 (Fall): 21–32.
- Roads, Curtis. 2001. Microsound. Cambridge: MIT Press. ISBN 0262182157