Hace unos días que acabó la edición de este año del ineludible Ars Electronica, archiconocido festival que se celebra en Linz (Austria) cada año desde 1987. La lista de premiados con sus premios (los Golden Nica) en esta edición ya los citamos por aquí en mayo, pero queremos fijarnos hoy en la premiada en la categoría “digital musics”. Se trata de la francesa Eliane Radigue, que recibió este premio por su obra “L’île re-sonante”.

According to Eliane Radigue, “L’îIe re-sonante” (The Resonating Isle) was inspired by a moment in which the musician saw an island in a lake while the water reflected her face. Such an image is two elements in one—a “real” picture and an optical illusion. The depth of the water is reflected by the deeper tones; the higher tones float above them like the island jutting out of the water. Eliane Radigue emphasizes the transparency on which the work is primarily based, and cites as an additional source of inspiration the moment at which the last strains of a piece of music resonate in listeners’ ears while they simultaneously prepare to partake of new sounds—a fleeting moment that extends “no longer” and anticipates “not yet.”

Eliane Radigue composes electro-acoustic music. In the early ‘50s, she was one of the pioneers of this genre (together with Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry). The same consistency and economy with which she works exclusively with an ARP synthesizer has characterized her musical mode of expression for decades. Lately, she has been discovered as a model by a younger generation of musicians.