Listening Report to Pierre Schaeffer – Valse

 

After torturing myself with Stockhausen’s Kontakte, Pierre Schaeffers Valse was a boon to my poor ears. Somehow it felt like there was a rhythm and almost a melody that made it, at least in the beginning, entertaining to listen to the piece. Even though while listening to it in a continuous loop it quickly became annoying. Nevertheless, I found this piece particularly exciting and interesting when listening to it. One reason for this is the way in which this piece of music was created. Maybe I only liked the parts that Pierre Schaeffer put together for this sonic collage, because it is a variation of waltz.      
Because to me it always sounded like you were rewinding a tape, I started to wonder if it would make a difference if you tried to play this piece backwards. Every time I listened to it, I tried to understand the conversation and interpret what was happening. It had something dramatic and yet entertaining, almost like I was trying to solve a riddle. There was certainly a younger woman, a young man and probably a slightly older women talking on the record. And it was presumably something in French. The chunks of conversation also make me laugh a little bit every time. It's kind of reminiscent of the way some people imagine the language of extraterrestrials. Or as if you want to parody the way foreign languages sound to some people. It actually made me remember an episode of Friends where Phoebe tries to teach Joe some French words and everything he says sounds like gibberish.

At the same time, it reminded me of a competition from the radio where the song is played backwards, and you have to guess who the artist is or the title of the song. Furthermore, you could also think it is a sound file that is quickly pushed forward, as if you had increased the speed of the turntable.

The constant listening has again created a movie or rather a scene in my mind, corresponding to the piece Central Park in the dark by Charles Ives. This time it was a scene from a romantic movie similar to the ones from the 50s or 60s, in which the supposed couple meets for the first time and dances together. I basically thought of Walt Disney's production of Cinderella where she and the prince dance together until she has to run away before her evil stepmother sees her and she loses her glass slipper. And it is precisely this part that is being rewound on the VHS tape and Schaeffer's piece is giving the sound to it.

This piece is the kind of avant-garde experimental music I like. It makes me curious about more works by Schaeffer. It doesn't hurt to listen to it and it always encourages my imagination.