Search - Philippe Manoury, Ilmo Ranta, Frédéric Prin :: Philippe Manoury: Pluton (1988), for Midi Piano & Electronics (from the "Sonus ex Machina" Cycle) - Ilmo Ranta, Midi Piano

An IRCAM success that almost works as a sequel to Boulez's "

Christopher Culver | 12/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the first triumphs of IRCAM was designing computer software that could follow a human musical performance and respond in realtime, and the composer Philippe Manoury was the driving personality behind these advances. Early efforts in this vein were quite limited. Boulez' Répons had a digital signal processor producing modulations of orchestral material, and an old IRCAM video from 1984 shows flautist Lawrence Beauregard accompanied by the computer as harpsichordist in a Handel sonata. But in his cycle "Sonus ex machina", Manoury subsequently went much further. "Pluton" for MIDI piano and electronics (1988) has the computer adapting its material to the individual playing style of the human performer. The Finnish pianist Ilmo Ranta has performed the piece, and accordingly this recording appeared from the Finnish national label Ondine.



The piece is divided into five sections, "Toccata", "Antiphonie", "Sequences", "Modulations", and "Variations". From the concept of the piece, I was afraid it will be dull and pointilistic like Stockhausen's "Mantra", but instead it is a fast-moving kaleidoscope of timbres. The music is remarkably similar to Boulez' "Repons", and indeed I wonder if it was Manoury who assisted that composer in realizing his electronic effort. As the pianist plays his part, the computer responds with sheets of sound as soft and subtle as silk, ostinatos made up of aggressive blocks, and rarely the occasional lyric passage.



"Pluton" also involves spatialization of sound, as it was originally conceived to be performed through a six-channel reproduction system. For this stereo recording, IRCAM's Spatialisateur software was used (just like Boulez's "Repons"). Manoury warns that headphones won't do it, but if you sit directly between two speakers facing them head on, the sound will be heard as coming from many directions.



Sure, beneath the glittery surface "Pluton" is musically limited. But then again, so was "Repons" and a lot of early spectralist music. And yet, it is is still utterly enchanting for the simple joy of its timbres and spatialization. IRCAM has been around now for over thirty years, and the NeXT computers used for this early research are long since superseded, but these electronic techniques still seem fresh and exciting. It is a pity that this disc is now out of print. Fans of music realized at IRCAM should certainly seek it out."