Éliane Radigue

French composer Éliane Radigue's Adnos I-III trilogy may have been composed between 1973 and 1980, but these related works are timeless. Not just in an era, or genre-specific way (in this case: minimalism), but in the sense that when listening to these 70-minute-long drone-based pieces, time seems suspended. There's no traditional development of themes, differentiation of sections, harmonies or rhythms. Instead, we're enveloped in a pulsating, humming cloud of edgeless high, mid- and low tones. Said tones oscillate gently with tiny movements of volume, like objects floating on slightly rippling water. These ripples speed up and slow down almost imperceptibly. At times, they're blended in unity; at others, they happen in an undulating arpeggio sequence. Each of the Adnos pieces has its own rate of movement and change, Adnos I being slow, II a bit faster and III involving bell- and clock-like alternating tones and clicks entering and exiting. The Adnos cycle is a vibratory remembering of the womb. This listening experience is a meditation on, and through, sound.