Bernard Parmegiani

Bernard Parmegiani was a leading figure in twentieth-century musique concrète and electroacoustic music. Born into a musical family, he did not follow a traditional path: he initially devoted himself to the art of mime, studying with Jacques Lecoq and Maximilien Decroux, and also pursued a career in television as a mime. At the same time, he worked as a sound technician—an experience that, in 1959 and at the invitation of Pierre Schaeffer, brought him to the Groupe de Recherche Musicale (GRM) in Paris. There, after two years of study alongside François Bayle, he transitioned from sound engineer to composer. His interest in the relationship between music and image, inspired by his exposure to video art in the United States, led him to create multimedia works such as L’œil écoute, Jeux d’artifices, and Écran transparent.

 

Difficult to classify, Parmegiani composed few works for acoustic instruments (among them Violostries for violin and tape), preferring electronic instruments and fixed media. An admirer of Stockhausen and supported by Schaeffer, he combined rigor and experimentation, leaving a decisive mark on electronic and acousmatic music. His influence, which inspired generations of contemporary composers, continues to shape the work of sound artists of all ages and styles today.

 

Capture éphémère marks a turning point in the history of the Groupe de Recherche Musicale. Its inspiration came from a real event: the wingbeat of a bird crossing the clear desert sky above the Dead Sea, which lingered in his memory and became a source of inner resonance. From this image, Parmegiani created sound worlds made of uncertain breaths, micro-events, and mineral falls frozen in time, transformed into a new and autonomous sonic matter.

 

The strength of the piece lies in the complexity of its manipulations: tightly edited fragments, transformations that erase the identity of the original sources, accelerated sequences, filtering, and mixing, all producing constantly shifting textures. Parmegiani thus developed a musical language that turns sound into energy, rhythm, and form, shaping acoustic landscapes that merge technical mastery with poetic imagination. This balance between experimentation and precision established him as a central figure in acousmatic music.