The Evens Foundation is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of French composer Éliane Radigue, who received the Special Mention of the Jury at the Evens Arts Prize 2019.
Selected by an independent jury from a list of 45 internationally acclaimed artists nominated by major European cultural institutions, Radigue was recognised for her singular and uncompromising artistic path. One of the most innovative and influential composers of her generation, she profoundly shaped contemporary music through her pioneering work in electronic composition and her later collaborations with acoustic instrumentalists.
Radigue’s work explored minimal rhythms and subtle harmonic shifts unfolding into intricate sonic webs. Deeply attentive to sound, time and perception, her compositions invite introspection, empathy and a heightened attunement to the world.
In 2020, a special event dedicated to her work took place at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, organised by IRCAM and the Musée national d'art moderne in partnership with the Evens Foundation. The one-day programme celebrated her oeuvre through electro-acoustic and live concerts, a film screening, and a public conversation with the composer.
The Foundation is honoured to have recognised Éliane Radigue’s extraordinary contribution to contemporary music. Her work will continue to resonate across generations of composers, musicians and listeners.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
In 2019, the Foundation published a reflection on Radigue’s work on the occasion of the Evens Arts Prize. The text captures something essential about her music:
“Éliane Radigue’s music is delicate, quiet, slow, on the cusp of immobility. It is a music of shades, difficult to describe with musical vocabulary. Its characteristics are sustained sound and low volume, with silence present as the place from where sound emerges. It is music which provides listeners with a perspective on sound’s inner life.”
Radigue approached composition as an act of attentive listening — an excavation process guided by what she described as “what the sounds are telling me.” Sound, for her, was an autonomous life to be respected.
You can read the full extract from The Music of Éliane Radigue here.