Abstracts
Abstract
Rejecting the common practice of his time, Andrei Tarkovsky challenged the composer Edward Artemiev to create unprecedented sound design for his films in the place of conventional musical soundtracks. He also followed this path in his later films produced without Artemiev. This article analyzes the audio-visual sequences of Tarkovsky’s films from the 1970s and the 1980s, exploring transitions from real mode to magic mode, as well as the role of sound design in these cinematic shifts. The new technology and the novel electronic sound that influenced creative processes are at the heart of this analysis. Unique media, such as the ANS and Synthi 100 synthesizers that became available for Artemiev, were key factors that motivated his original sound work. They allowed him to create a sound space capable of absorbing divergent sources (natural sounds, noises, acoustic instruments, and musical quotations), and triggering off transformation of the initial sound sources into sounds of ambiguous nature. This analysis recreates the process of sound-making from its conceptual origins to its final representations, interpreted through comments by Edward Artemiev and Owe Svensson (a Swedish sound-mixer, who worked with Tarkovsky on his last film, The Sacrifice).
Keywords:
- Andreï Tarkovski,
- Sound design,
- ANS synthesizer,
- Synthi 100 synthesizer,
- Magic Realism
Résumé
Rejetant les pratiques habituelles de son temps, Andreï Tarkovski confia au compositeur Edouard Artemiev la tâche de créer un design sonore sans précédent pour ses films en lieu et place des bandes musicales conventionnelles ; voie qu’il poursuivit dans ses derniers films avec d’autres collaborateurs. Cet article analyse le rôle du design sonore dans les transitions du réel au magique dans plusieurs séquences audio-visuelles des films réalisés par le cinéaste russe dans les années 1970 et 1980 ; et en particulier les apports d’une nouvelle technologie et du son électronique dans le processus de création. Des synthétiseurs uniques en leur genre tels que l’ANS et le Synthi 100, avec lesquels E. Artemiev composa, devinrent les instruments décisifs d’un travail sonore original. Ils permirent de créer un espace sonore capable d’absorber des sources hétérogènes telles que des sons naturels et ambiants, des bruits, des sons instrumentaux, et des citations musicales, et de les transformer afin de générer un son aux caractéristiques ambivalentes. Cette analyse s’attache à recréer la genèse de la composition, de sa conception initiale à sa production finale à l’aide des commentaires effectués par Eduard Artemiev et Owe Svensson (mixeur suédois qui travailla avec A. Tarkovski à la création de la bande sonore de son dernier film, Le Sacrifice).
Mots-clés :
- Andreï Tarkovski,
- Design sonore,
- Synthétiseur ANS,
- Synthétiseur Synthi 100,
- Réalisme magique
Appendices
Bibliography
- Artemiev, Edward. 2008. “Vospominaniia O E. A. Murzine [Memory of E. A. Murzin].” In E. Murzin. O Prirode, Zakonomernostiakh Esteticheskogo Vospriiatiia I Putiakh Stanovleniia Muzyki Elektronnoj I Tsveta [E. Murzin. At the Beginnings of Electronic Music. On Nature and Laws of Aesthetic Perception and Paths of Formation of Electronic and Colour Music], 6–11. Moscow: Kompozitor.
- Belzhelarsky, Evgeny. 2006. Elektronnaia Skhima [the Electronic Schema]. http://www.electroshock.ru/edward/interview/belgelarskiy/index.html.
- Boyarinov, Denis. 2015. Eduard Artemiev: “Vozmozhnosti Muzyki Bezgranichny” [Edward Artemiev: “Possibilities of Music Are Infinite”]. http://www.classicalmusicnews.ru/interview/eduard-artemev-vozmozhnosti-muzyiki-bezgranichnyi/.
- Kholopov, Yuri, and Tsenova, Valeria. 1993. Edison Denisov. Moscow: Kompozitor.
- Kreichi, Stanislav. 1997. The Ans Synthesizer: Composing on a Photoelectronic Instrument. Theremin Center. http://www.theremin.ru/archive/ans.htm.
- Kreichi, Stanislav. 2008. “Moia Ansiana [My Ansiana].” In E. Murzin. O Prirode, Zakonomernostiakh Esteticheskogo Vospriiatiia I Putiakh Stanovleniia Muzyki Elektronnoj I Tsveta [E. Murzin at the Beginnings of Electronic Music. On Nature and Laws of Aesthetic Perception and Paths of Formation of Electronic and Colour Music], 12–16. Moscow: Kompozitor.
- Murzin, Evgeniĭ Aleksandrovich. 2008. O Prirode, Zakonomernostiakh Esteticheskogo Vospriiatiia I Putiakh Stanovleniia Muzyki Elektronnoj I Tsveta [at the Beginnings of Electronic Music. On Nature and Laws of Aesthetic Perception and Paths of Formation of Electronic and Colour Music]. Moscow: Kompozitor.
- Petrov, Arkady. 1996. Eduard Artemiev I Andrej Tarkovskij (“Muzyka V Fil’me Mne Ne Nuzhna…”) [Edward Artemiev and Andrei Tarkovsky (“I Do Not Need Music in Films…”)]. http://www.electroshock.ru/edward/interview/petrov3/index.html.
- Schmelz, Peter J. 2009. “From Scriabin to Pink Floyd: The Ans Synthesizer and the Politics of Soviet Music Between Thaw and Stagnation.” In Sound Commitments. Avant-Garde Music and the Sixties, Adlington, R., 254–77. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Shpinitskaya, Julia. 2011. “Sounding, Quotation and Visualisation: Applying Poetic Logic. Realistic Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky.” Imafronte. Revista de Historia Del Arte 19-20:385–404.
- Shpinitskaya, Julia. 2015. “Approcher L’irréel. Aspects Du Naturalisme Sonore Dans Les Films d’Andreï Tarkovski.” Ligeia. Dossiers Sur L’Art 2 (141-144):136–46.
- Shulgin, D. 2004. Priznanie Edisona Denisov [Confession of Edison Denisov]. Moscow: Kompozitor.
- Smith, Stefan. 2007. “The Edge of Perception: Sound in Tarkovsky’s Stalker.” The Soundtrack 1 (1):41–52.
- Svensson, Owe. 2003. “On Tarkovsky’s the Sacrifice.” In Soundscape. The School of Sound Lectures 1998-2001, Larry Sider and Diane Freeman and Jerry Sider, 112–17. London: Wallflower Press.
- Tarkovsky, Andrey. 1986. Sculpting in Time. Reflections on the Cinema. Austin: University of Texas Press.
- Tarkovsky Jr., Andrei. 2017. Andrej Tarkovskij-Mladshij: “Fil’my Otsa Nado Smotret’ Glazami Rebenka” [Andrei Tarkovsky Junior: “Father’s Films Need to Be Seen by Eyes of a Child”]. https://ria.ru/interview/20170404/1491424721.html.
- Tomilov, Boris. 2006. Eduard Artemiev — Prostranstvo Russkogo Dukha [Edward Artemiev — the Space of the Russian Spirit]. http://www.electroshock.ru/edward/interview/tomilov/index.html.
- Truppin, Andrea. 1992. “And Then There Was Sound: The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky.” In Sound Theory. Sound Practice, Rick Altman, 235–48. New York; London: Routledge.
- Varaldiev, Anneliese. n.d. Russian Composer Edward Artemiev. Interview with E. Artemiev. Accessed May 28, 2018. http://www.electroshock.ru/eng/edward/interview/varaldiev/index.html.
- Volkova, P.D. 2002. “Stat’ Samim Soboj [to Become Himself].” In Andrej Tarkovskij. Archivy, Dokumenty, Vospominaniia [Andrei Tarkovsky. Archives, Documents, Memoirs], 9–94. Moscow: Eksmo-Press.