>Volume 4: Documents 1948-1990
The last volume contains short pieces that are supported by French commentary on what Schaeffer’s music. It was more of a documentary CD but I’ll point out some short sections that I thought were notable.
The first piece is Musique et Modernité which is sort of a musique concrete introduction to the world. It starts off with a small orchestral sample and then proceeds to distort it right away. A spoken word passage at the end is probably making a note that this is the “modernist” music, the musique concrete.
Faber et Sapiens, dans Opus Schaeffer features a sample of Erotica. At this point I am almost certain that this is more of a documentary CD but even some of the spoken descriptions of the music would be possible to feature as a musical piece on some of the Schaeffer’s compositions. Sometimes the speaker’s fade out is done in such a manner that you’re really confused whether you heard some description or it was a musical piece. Really funny how it turns your world around.
I think there is a Messiaen interview here too.
Unfortunately I do not understand the language outside of a couple of words every now and then so I can’t give you a full run down.
I am not going to include the last disc in my overall rating because it is more of a complimentary addition to the main pieces. The first 3 CDs are 9+/10 for me. It is mind-bending and an absolutely revolutionary document in the history of music. Schaeffer's vision was absolutely brilliant and it still manages to sound so modern years later. This is an eventual must listen for everyone.
9+/10
Favorite pieces: Cinq études de bruits, Suite pour 14 instruments, Echo d'Orphée, Bilude