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After an audition for a concert version of 'Violostries', Arlette Sibon-Simonovitch (to whom this current work is dedicated) was charmed by its form and the way in which it had been created. She asked me to write a piece using the same methods but applying them to the Ondes Martenot. The overriding principle was simple: the electronics consist exclusively of sounds coming from the Ondes Martenot and processed using electro-acoustic compositional methods. In addition to this is a score for the Ondes Martenot for live performance. Aside from the usual processing (filtering, transpositioning, etc.), for this piece I’ve also made use of techniques that enrich the instrument’s harmonic spectrum, especially the controlled use of feedback to provide doses of harmonic apparitions. The resulting sounds seem to come from an even stranger place than their instrumental origins. For the live score, I’ve often used "unorthodox" timbre lever positions, in a way that highlights the timbral qualities more than the pitches of any notes.
[Bernard Parmegiani]

• Commissioned by the French State
• Premiered on 23 October 1969 at the Studio 104 of Maison de la Radio — Paris during the Semaine Musicale Internationale by Arlette Sibon-Simonovitch (ondes) & Bernard Parmegiani (sound projection)
• Dedicated to Arlette Sibon-Simonovitch

Restored manuscript, program notes, historical documentation about the project & genesis.
Printed in Hi-Res colors.
French/English publication.

Bernard Parmegiani is a pioneer and leading light of electroacoustic music. He leaves behind him a vast and fascinating œuvre, a priceless heritage for today's generation.

His life was structured around a few mainstays: working in a studio filled with machines, lighting a pipe filled with Amsterdamer, in the company of his wife (his « first ear »), and not least, a few affectionate cats.

Find the majority of his concert pieces at Maison ONA — about 50 mixed music and electroacoustic pieces released over time.