The only French composer of her generation that may be considered a pioneer of music for synthesiser, Éliane Radigue created an aesthetic in which acoustic beating between frequencies replaces rhythm and other, more traditional means of organising sounds. Radigue’s compositional process, which, for the most part, consisted of recording and mixing sounds produced by synthesisers on magnetic tape, was meticulous, with each work taking up to three years to complete. Nonetheless, her catalogue of electronic works comprises more than 20 hours of music, making her one of the most prolific artists in the field.

In 1955, Radigue met Pierre Schaeffer, and soon thereafter became an intern at the French National Radio/Television Experimental Studio. While there, she learned the techniques of musique concrète, and advocated the medium in lectures in Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Darmstadt, and the Côte d’Azur. The wife of artist Arman and mother of three children, Radigue left Schaeffer and Henry’s studio in 1958 to raise her family, while nonetheless taking harp and music theory lessons at the Nice Conservatory. From 1967 to 1968, she once again worked with Pierre Henry at the Apsome Studio, serving as his assistant for the creation of La Messe de Liverpool and L’Apocalypse de Jean. It was around this time that Radigue composed her first known works, using audio feedback and with asynchronous structures that resulted from looping sections of tape. However, she received little recognition in France for her early compositions.

It was in the experimental “downtown” scene in New York that Radigue was first taken seriously as an artist. While in New York, she became acquainted with figures including James Tenney, Malcom Goldstein, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Alvin Lucier, and John Cage, among others. From 1970 to 1971, Radigue was composer-in-residence at New York University School of the Arts, where she had access to the Buchla Series 100 modular synthesiser (one of the first ever created) in Morton Subotnik’s studio. Towards the end of her time in New York, Radigue experimented with Moog, Electrocomp (EML), Putney (EMS), and ARP 2500 synthesisers. She purchased her own ARP 2500 and took it back with her to Paris, composing almost exclusively using this instrument, and becoming a veritable virtuoso on it, over the next several decades. Her first works for synthesiser garnered considerable attention in the United States, and in 1973, Radigue was again offered a composition residency, this time at the electronic music studios of CalArts and Iowa University.

In 1974, Radigue discovered Tibetan Buddhism and undertook a spiritual retreat with lama Pawo Rinpoche; she only returned to composition in 1978. Upon her return to composing, Radigue wrote a series of masterpieces of electronic music: Adnos II and III, and a large-scale cycle dedicated to Tibetan yogi Jetsun Milarepa. In 1984, Radigue was awarded a grant from the French government which allowed her to compose Chants de Milarepa for synthesiser and the voices of lama Kunga Rinpoché and Robert Ashley (including translations into English by lama Kunga Rinpoché of excerpts from Milarepa’s “The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa”). In 1986, Radigue received a commission from the French state for further work on the cycle.

In 2006, Radigue was awarded the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica for her final work for recorded modular synthesiser, L’îIe re-sonante (2000).

Since 2001, after some 40 years of working with the ARP 2500, Radigue only collaborates with instrumentalists, and applies a process of composition which resembles the means of oral transmission of traditional music. The first such collaboration was initiated by contrabassist Kasper T. Toeplitz. Subsequent projects in this vein include the three Naldjorlak, as well as the monumental Occam Océan, performed by some of the most esteemed musicians of our time. This cycle (still in progress) already comprises more than 70 pieces for instrumental forces ranging from solo to orchestral.

Radigue’s music has been programmed in numerous prestigious festivals, and continues to be premiered throughout Europe and the United States in a wide range of settings, from loft spaces to major concert halls, galleries, and museums.