Symphonie pour un homme seul

work by Schaeffer and Henry

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July 14, 2026

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Symphonie pour un homme seul (Symphony for One Man Only) is a significant work in the history of experimental music, created in 1950 by Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry. It is a prime example of musique concrète, a genre pioneered by Schaeffer.12

Musique concrète involves using recorded sounds from the real world as the basis for musical composition. These sounds, whether from natural sources or man-made objects, are manipulated through techniques such as altering playback speed, reversing the tape, cutting and splicing, and filtering. The goal is to transform these original sounds into a new musical piece, creating an artistic unity from diverse auditory experiences. Symphonie pour un homme seul, with its ten movements, was the first major work in this style and established foundational techniques for later tape music.312

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electronic music
Establishment of electronic studios
…period are Schaeffer and Henry’s Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950; Symphony for One Man Only) and Henry’s Orphée (1953), a ballet score written for the Belgian dancer Maurice Béjart. These and similar works created a sensation when first presented to the public. Symphonie pour un homme seul, a descriptive…
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…period are Schaeffer and Henry’s Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950; Symphony for One Man Only) and Henry’s Orphée (1953), a ballet score written for the Belgian dancer Maurice Béjart. These and similar works created a sensation when first presented to the public. Symphonie pour un homme seul, a descriptive…
Read More

electronic instrument
The tape recorder as a musical tool
The Symphonie pour un homme seul (“Symphony for One Man Only”), composed by Schaeffer and his collaborator, Pierre Henry, is one of the landmarks of musique concrète, for it laid the technical and aesthetic foundations for much of the later tape music.
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The Symphonie pour un homme seul (“Symphony for One Man Only”), composed by Schaeffer and his collaborator, Pierre Henry, is one of the landmarks of musique concrète, for it laid the technical and aesthetic foundations for much of the later tape music.
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Pierre Schaeffer
Schaeffer’s 10-movement Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950; “Symphony for One Man Only”), produced in collaboration with Pierre Henry, was the first major concrete piece. This and other works of musique concrète reflect an approach to sound that had an important influence on composers of aleatory, or…
Read More
Schaeffer’s 10-movement Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950; “Symphony for One Man Only”), produced in collaboration with Pierre Henry, was the first major concrete piece. This and other works of musique concrète reflect an approach to sound that had an important influence on composers of aleatory, or…
Read More