Bernard Parmegiani

French composer Bernard Parmegiani was one of the pioneers of acousmatic music. Building on the earlier innovations of musique concrète composers like Pierre Schaeffer, he created rich, spatialized works designed for playback on multi-channel speakers. With recordings such as the spellbinding masterpiece De Natura Sonorum (1975), he reimagined how everyday sounds, fragments of pre-existing music, and electronic tones can be transformed into intense, captivating narratives. Apart from his electroacoustic music, Parmegiani composed music for films, wrote jingles and sound bites for French media, and performed with improvisational jazz ensembles. Cited as a major influence by experimental electronic artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, Parmegiani's work has received renewed attention during the 21st century, with several reissues as well as archival releases such as the soundtrack Rock (issued in 2017). A comprehensive digital reissue project of Parmegiani's complete discography was initiated in 2024.