Review Electronic music

Beatriz Ferreyra

GRM Works

Recollection GRM • 2015

Electronic music often appears more »abstract« than acoustic music. Which can be seen as an advantage. Sounds on their own, independent from their making, are always abstract and concrete at the same time. And still, electronic music is often inspired by esoteric topics, as if it needs to contrast the rational and technical dimension of sound production with a natural or irrational element. On »GRM Works«, the Argentinean musician Beatriz Ferreyra, who worked at the Parisian Groupe de Recherche Musicales (GRM) from 1963 to 1970 under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer, has assembled two compositions from that time and two more recent works. The choice of topics is quite noticeable: „Demeures aquatiques“ deals with the power of tides, „Un fil invisible“ was inspired by the alchemy of the middle ages, while „Les Larmes de l’inconnu“ attends to Kabbalah’s different kinds of mysticism. The only track that does without a narration as a means of interpretation is „Médisances“ – it’s merely built of differently manipulated orchestra-sounds. Regardless of esotericism, Beatriz Ferreyra’s music always comes up with a stringent flow, despite her Musique-concrète-primness. It summarizes sounds in great arches, creating their own dramaturgy, their own logic. Of course, one can lean back and think of gold extraction or the breaking of waves. But one can also enjoy the music speaking from within.