
For several years, the University of Paris had been planning to create an Institute of Phonetics. The idea of a Speech Museum, put forward by various people, had found favor with the public. But the means to found these institutions were lacking, when on February 18, 1911, Monsieur Emile Pathé offered to set up a speech recording laboratory at the Sorbonne. Thus was created the « Archives de la parole », which would form the basis of the future Institut de phonétique.
The installation consists of a sound creation freely inspired by speeches made in the Grand Amphithéâtre and the « Archives de la parole », offering a playful exercise in phonetics. The extracts collected and reused serve as the score for the composition, which combines voice, electronic instruments and concrete recording. The piece is listened to from the stage, with the listener taking the place of the speaker.
On June 3, 1911, in the Grand Amphithéâtre of the Sorbonne, Ferdinand Brunot (linguist and professor of the history of the French language at the Faculté des lettres de Paris) inaugurated the Archives de la Parole.
In his speech, he outlines the main thrusts of the project:
– To build up a sound library of the language, by recording French, hexagonal patois and foreign languages on disc;
– Use these recordings to develop the science and analysis of speech.
On September 3, 2014, Léa Moreau read Ferdinand Brunot’s speech. Nicolas Charbonnier recorded it.
Our proposal for the Sorbonne uses this recording as a musical score. In the Salle des Autorités, it is broadcast in its original version.
In the Grand Amphithéâtre, we broadcast a score for 4 groups of loudspeakers. These groups symbolize the link between perception and discourse, comprehension and alteration. From probable to comprehensive representations, each occupies a specific position in the amphitheatre.
– The first group, located in the center of the auditorium, broadcasts Léa’s voice intermittently, with only certain words from the recording preserved.
– The second group occupies the semicircle of bleachers surrounding the parterre. The sound material corresponds to all the sound evocations present in Ferdinand Brunot’s speech (« what would it be like if you heard the beast howling », « while certain vowels trumpeted », « a light scratching noise », etc.).
– The third group, located in the balconies above, uses the pitches and rhythms of the recorded voice to control a synthesizer.
– The fourth, located in the alcoves, makes the voice resonate in these spaces, transforming it into a soundtrack.
At the end of the tour, Flo Kaufmann presses a vinyl of this interpretation. Embossed with hollows and protrusions, a bridge between 1911 and today, the public can grab a copy.