23. Mila’s Journey Inspired By A Dream

Eliane Radigue: Songs of Milarepa (Lovely, 1987);
composed by Éliane Radigue

This French composer is known for her electronic drone compositions in just intonation. “Drone” means only that there is no rhythmic movement, as such, and what harmonic movement there is – and there is plenty – operates on such an extruded time scale that it seems utterly alien to first-time listeners. But if Radigue’s drones do not have “plots,” they certainly have arcs – gripping ones. Her wholly-electronic Trilogie de la Mort may be the most emotionally overwhelming example of this. As a convert to Tibetan Buddhism, many of her reference points come from the liturgy. In this piece, however, it becomes lyrics, recited in Tibetan by Lama Kunga Rinpoche – whose first appearance after ten very quiet minutes is like having an ice bucket dumped on you from behind – alternating English sprechstimme by Robert Ashley. For the first half, the former brigand and now visonary Milarepa details to his followers how a dream has illuminated the group’s future devotional practice. The last half hour is all deep electronics in which so many audio figurations begin to pop out of the mix that you are certain you hear chanting or the throb of engines. When it suddenly stops, it is no longer your planet.

Note: 25 secular essays about 25 songs, each one exactly 200 words long, appearing one per day (on average) during Advent (or the moral equivalent).