Pierre Henry, Apocalypse de Jean, with English sub titles, sequences 1 - 12 of 20 (1968)

The complete work in 2 files. An introduction is given below, but here are the titles and START times of the sequences contained in this first file:-
1) Revelation and Prologue (0'15")
2) John on Patmos (8'42")
3) The Throne (11'08")
4) The Book (17'00")
5) The Four Horses (20'21")
6) The Souls Cry Out (26'00")
7) The Stars Fall (32'15")
8) No Wind on the Earth (40'50")
9) Silence in Heaven (44'39")
10) The Thundering Censer (47'03")
11) Cataclysms 2: The First Six Trumpets (47'54")
12) The Seventh Trumpet (56'00")
Henry preferred to call this work an "electronic reading" rather than an "oratorio". It can therefor be considered a "sonic reading" of the Apocalypse. The sound materials used as his "vocabulary" were developed over several years, and are made up of two basic categories: the "musique concrete" that comprises the real sounds and noises of everyday life recorded on magnetic tape and transformed by special processing and manipulations. The second category is made up of pure electronic sounds derived from specially designed electronic generators. Henry integrates both these sound forms. The narration is the voice of Jean Negroni.
The Apocalypse is contained in the Biblical book of "Revelations" and is an account of the visions that were given to John whilst he was exiled on the Greek island of Patmos. These visions of what is to happen at the end times are horrendous. Whether one chooses to believe them is entirely a personal affair. One needs to consider the circumstances and the persecution of the Christian religion at the time of the writing.
The French text of "Revelations" that Pierre Henry followed is a shortened adaptation by Georges Levitte. It includes all the main episodes of the overall dramaturgy. Henry emphasized that he did not attempt a detailed description of all the events; rather he represents the visionary material using sound images and montages that range from the delicate and ultra-sensitive, to impressions of worship and adoration, the harps of the celestial virgins, to the utter destruction of the earth and its final desolation. He catches this terrifying spectacle in an overwhelming way. This stands as one of the greatest monuments of this unique sound genre "musique concrete". This is true sound engineering, requiring meticulous skill, patience, and limitless imagination! There is no ad hoc random barrage of industrial noises to be heard here.
What strikes us upon hearing this gigantic masterpiece is the quality of the sound material obtained in the late 1960s by magnetic tape manipulations. In those days, there were no computers and digital apparatus to help. Playback must be through good headphones or hi fi loudspeakers, and full screen. Henry's use of stereophonics is radical, so stereo playback is essential!
This transfer comes from a Philips "prospective 21* siecle" 3-disc LP set I purchased in 1970. The disc surfaces are not in pristine condition after all this time, so for the advantage of the English translation, you will have to put up with the occasional disc surface noise. If a 2-disc CD set of this can be found, don't hesitate to procure it.
By no means have I attempted to assist the drama with pictures in this video. The music must "speak" on its own account. The pictures serve merely to provide a background for the English titles. For the translation, I have used mainly the more amenable New King James version of the Bible.
See the separate file for the remainder of the sequences, nos. 13 - 20:
13) The Beast of the Sea
14) The Beast of the Earth
15) The Lamb and the Virgins on the Mountain.
16) Sea of Glass, Harps of God.
17) The Six Vials of Wrath
18) The Great Whore
19) Cataclysm 4: The Seventh Vial of Wrath, The Fall of Babylon.
20) Behold, quickly

[@AuaTV]

Great upload and awesome introduction commentary. Thank you. Hope this remain public and available.

[@investigationsofadog]

Thanks so much for this

[@gnikcohs]

A powerful work that perhaps tries to do the impossible of associating the electroacoustic imagery of concrete music with the visionary imagery of remote millennia; horses, angels, trumpets, old bearded men, and so on--although the imagery of natural disaster remains unchanged for us. On the one hand bringing these acoustics to that imagery incorporates it into our cultural tradition, but on the other hand the whole project of electroacoustics is its modernity. On the third hand it seems to me to work in other millenary contexts like the Books of the Dead or Greek Tragedy. In this particular upload the ancient spoken text is VERY strongly reinforced by the graphics. Anyway, on to part 2.

[@harryplourde1721]

I think it's grand

[@ReligionProf]

Revelation, not Revelations.

[@JohnBorstlap]

With music this monstruosity has nothing to do. It is primitive, gross, pretentious, and easy: anything will do.