Lightwave is the

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It ...

project of keyboardists Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman, founded in 1984 in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

.Going underground
. Lightwave Biography/Interview. Retrieved on December 27, 2011. They have collaborated with a plethora of artists, such as Hector Zazou, Michel Redolfi,

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

and

Paul Haslinger Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Early life Haslinger was born and raised in Linz, Austria. He attended high school at Kollegium Aloisi ...

History

Lightwave was originally conceived as an electronic music trio consisting of Serge Leroy, Laurent Bozeck and Christian Wittman. In 1987, Lightwave was re-established as a duo comprising musicians Christoph Harbonnier and Christian Wittman. The first album by the newly formed Lightwave was released in 1990 under the title '' Nachtmusik'' for German Erdenklang. In 1993, it was the turn of ''

Tycho Brahé ''Tycho Brahé'' is the second studio album by Lightwave, released in 1993 by Crystal Lake. Track listing Personnel Adapted from the ''Tycho Brahé'' liner notes. ;Lightwave * Christoph Harbonnier – synthesizer * Christian Wittm ...

'' with the help of the violinist Jacques Deregnaucourt, Hector Zazou and Paul Haslinger member of Tangerine Dream. The album, dedicated to the Danish astronomer of the same name, is an innovative blend of cosmic music and

. In 1995 Mundus Subterraneus, an album of what is considered their magnum opus, was published by Hearts of Space Records. The group, now a quartet, was inspired to create a guide to a journey into the bowels of Vesuvius by Athanasius Kircher, a philosopher of the seventeenth century. The album is a succession of sounds that evoke terrifying nightmares, symbolic journey into the bowels of the Earth, but represents collectively a journey in the human unconscious. The returning duo of Wittman and Harbonnier continued the work begun with the sound research of Mundus Subterraneus in subsequent albums: In Der Unterwelt (1996), consists of a single 20-minute suite, published by Plan Sonores; Cantus Umbrarum (1999), recorded within the Choranche caves in the Vercors region (France) on the occasion of Rugissants Festival of Grenoble, and Caryotype (2001) consisting of a suite in eleven movements. In 2004, the group turns to chamber music for the album ''Bleue Comme Une Orange''. Inspired by the works of

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (; russian: Александр Николаевич Скрябин ; – ) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. Before 1903, Scriabin was greatly influenced by the music of Frédéric Chopin and composed ...

, the group uses classical instruments to a greater extent and featured the participation of

. Their concerts and recordings of their records are the result of research of particular locations like the concert at the Gasometer in Oberhausen in Germany, and in the large domed observatory of Bischoffsheim Nice during the recording of the live album Uranography at M.A.N.C.A. (Musiques Actuelles Nice Côte d'Azur) Festival.

Musical style

With a jovial approach to old and new electronic stringed instruments and sound materials, Lightwave focused on exploring poetic and sensual worlds, playing with sounds as with colors, shapes, concrete objects or spatial dimensions. The duo favored mixing live electronic with acoustic instruments, performing impromptu compositions that were built on listening and sharing, similar in to a jazz trio or string quartet. Lightwave utilized analog synthesizers such as Polymoog, Oberheim and RSF Polykobol to craft their music.

Discography

* '' Nachtmusik'' (1990) * ''

'' (1994) * ''

Mundus Subterraneus ''Mundus subterraneus, quo universae denique naturae divitiae'' (very roughly "The subterranean world, all its riches") is a scientific textbook written by Athanasius Kircher, and published in 1665. The work depicts Earth's geography ...

'' (1995) * '' Uranography'' (1996) * '' Cantus Umbrarum'' (2000) * ''Caryotype'' (2001) * ''Bleue comme une orange'' (2004)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ambient music groups Musical groups from Paris Musical groups established in 1984