Pierre Henry 100: Sound Visions

Pierre Henry 100: Sound Visions is a vibrant concert film that unites two landmark silent masterpieces of the European avant‑garde with the groundbreaking electroacoustic scores of pioneer Pierre Henry. The programme opens with the 1927 silent film “Berlin, Symphony of a Great City,” directed by Walther Ruttmann, a dazzling urban symphony that captures bathed trams, horse‑drawn carriages, automobiles and the magic of the electricity fairy, as well as everyday work and sport in interwar Berlin. After a brief intermission the experience continues with the 1929 silent film “The Man with the Camera,” directed by Dziga Vertov, another emblematic “urban symphony” of Soviet cinematographic modernity, documenting the progress and excesses of industrial life. Pierre Henry, who discovered these experimental masterpieces early on, composed two great sound poems for them in 1985 and 1993, extending the electroacoustic adventure that began in the 1950s with Pierre Schaeffer and further developing the genre of musique concrète. Jonathan Prager and Paul Ramage open a breach in time by combining these experimental films with Henry’s pioneering soundscapes, creating a living, breathing sonic journey that celebrates the cultural and industrial modernity of the interwar period. Discover more details & tickets.