Electroacoustic music archives: memories of an evolving music
The archives of electroacoustic music are indispensable witnesses for understanding and studying the creative process behind this genre. These unique documents require specific methods of description and preservation due to their complex nature and technological evolution.
The archival documents that address aspects related to performance, spatial diffusion, and the devices enabling it are crucial for analyzing this music. Electroacoustic works are constantly evolving and are not limited to the edited, radio broadcast or concert versions. This further highlights the importance of how these elements are described within the context of the archives.
This paper and its questions arise from the research conducted in the framework of the project Inventaire Transversal du fonds d’archives de l’Institut international de Musique Électroacoustique de Bourges at the Département de la Musique et de l’Audiovisuel of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France between 2015 and 2019. The development of the archival research instrument for the IMEB fonds, the specification of typologies in the description of items, their indexing, and the scientific valorization of research activities were all part of this work.
As this music will be over 75 years old in 2024, its archives are being integrated increasingly into the collections of institutions responsible for preserving documentary and cultural heritage. We propose to provide some clarifications on the common issues related to electroacoustic music archives.
Our line of approach is based on one of the specific features of electroacoustic compositions, which are transformed in the context of archives. The composition often needs a collection of documents: a grouping of sound documents (in the case of multi-track pieces, for example), graphic scores, spatialization plans, instrumental scores (in the case of mixed music) or even programs for the performance of certain pieces. In addition, the technological support for this music has evolved—from the earliest analog formats to the most recent digital ones. So our question concerns the possibilities for coherently linking these elements within the archives. These factors have significant implications for understanding the evolution of each work.
The debate around these issues, which brings together the details and knowledge contributed by composers, the needs of musicological research and the appropriate methodologies of archivists, seems necessary in order to preserve and valorize the memories of electroacoustic music for both the present and the future.
Keywords: electroacoustic music, archival practices, transversal approach
Biography
Azadeh Nilchiani is an artist, researcher, and university lecturer born in Tehran and based in Paris. She earned her PhD in Arts in 2021 from the LISAA research laboratory at University Gustave Eiffel, focusing on “Sound Installations in Urban Spaces.” She is a postdoctoral researcher for the DEM’ARTS project, “Création, démocratie et numérique,” at Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, under the supervision of Sandra Laugier. She graduated from Tehran University in 2003 and later studied at ENSAD (École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs) and the École nationale de musique de Pantin, specializing in Art-Espace and electroacoustic composition. From 2015 to 2019, she worked at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on the collection of the Institut international de musique électroacoustique de Bourges (IMEB). Her interdisciplinary artistic practice incorporates sound, visual, and spatial media, including installation, video art, and electroacoustic composition.
The ACTE Institute / University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France – azadehf.nilchiani@gmail.com