L'Infonie was an avant-garde Québécois chamber ensemble founded in Montreal in 1967, under the direction of classical composer Walter Boudreau and artist/poet Raôul Duguay.[1][2] The name is derived from a pun for the French words for "symphony" and "the Inferno". They produced four albums between 1969 and 1974, after which the project ended. It was intended both as a commercial music group and a novel approach to collective improvisation. L'Infonie had as many as thirty full-time musicians during its artistic apex.
L'Infonie | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1967–1974 |
| Past members |
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Duguay published the group's manifesto in 1970. They released a number of albums on the avant-garde side of Quebec's progressive rock and jazz-rock scenes, blending disparate genres like classical, jazz, rock and electronica, proving to be influential in Montreal's political counterculture in the early 1970s until its 1974 dissolution.[3] Their albums have since become sought-out collector's items.[4] The ensemble's third album, Vol. 333, was re-released on vinyl in 2016 by Montreal label Mucho Gusto.[5]
Unfinished Infonie
editUnfinished Infonie (L'Infonie inachevée...), a 1973 documentary film by Roger Frappier about the ensemble, won the Canadian Film Award for Best Sound at the 25th Canadian Film Awards,[6] before going into wider release in 1974.
A restored version of the film was screened as part of the 2022 Festival du nouveau cinéma's Estival program of summer repertory screenings, before going into commercial release in 2023.[7]
Discography
edit- 1969: Vol. 3
- 1971: Vol. 33: le Mantra
- 1972: Vol. 333
- 1974: Vol. 3333
References
edit- ↑ "Walter Boudreau biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ↑ Martin, Gabriel (2013-07-30). "Infonie, l'". Dictionnaire des onomastismes québécois: les mots issus de nos noms propres (in French). Éditions du Fleurdelysé. p. 87. ISBN 978-2-9814025-0-9.
- ↑ Québec Info Musique: Raôul Duguay, Biographie, accessed 14 December 2010.
- ↑ Couture, François. "L'Infonie Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
- ↑ Desfossés, Félix B. (2016-12-15). "L'Infonie de retour sur vinyle : la troisième naissance de Raôul Duguay et Walter Boudreau". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
- ↑ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 111-114.
- ↑ Stéphane Baillargeon, "Les folies créatrices de L’Infonie". Le Devoir, January 14, 2023.
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