Joseph Bertolozzi: Tower Music

It might look like a giant radio tower, but composer Joseph Bertolozzi envisioned a different kind of broadcast emanating from the Eiffel Tower: one composed from the bones of the structure itself.

Never one to shy away from a compositional challenge, Bertolozzi undertook what became a twelve year odyssey to sample and write music using only the sounds of the Eiffel Tower. Without the aid of supplemental instruments or effects, he worked with the raw surfaces of this architectural landmark.

A spiritual follow-up to his Bridge Music (composed for and using New York's Mid Hudson Bridge), Tower Music was a logistical as well as artistic challenge. Bertolozzi's careful navigation of the considerable political, artistic and organizational challenges guided Tower Music to completion through waters fortuitously free of protocols. Notoriously protective of images of their iconic structure, the French embraced Bertolozzi's project to make it sing.

This muse of iron did not yield its harmonies easily, however. Percussive cadences revealed themselves more readily than melodic lines, but the challenge was met: Bertolozzi takes something incomplete as an instrument and makes it seem like there's nothing missing.

Bertolozzi's tour de force of compositional craftsmanship takes the listener on a colorful journey: from its bold, opening overture to gentle whisperings; from a lilting waltz to a darkly avant-garde soundscape; from a mash-up of modern Western and ancient Indonesian styles to the volcanic finale. Here, a composer takes on a world monument and brings back the music of the world.