Eliane Radigue was born in Paris in 1932. She studied electroacoustic music techniques at the "Studio d'essai" of the RTF under Pierre Shaeffer and Pierre Henry, later becoming Henry's assistant at the Studio Apsome in 1967 and 1968. She worked for a year at the New York University School of the Arts in 1970. Her music, its source an Arp synthesizer and medium recording tape, attracted considerable attention for its sensitive, dappled purity. She was in residence at the electronic music studios of the University of Iowa and California Institute of the Arts in 1973. In 1975, Radigue became a disciple of Tibetan Buddhism. After four years of study, she began a large-scale cycle of works based on the life of the 11th century Tibetan master Milarepa. Radigue's music has been performed throughout Europe and the United States. She currently lives in Paris, where she continues to compose electronic music and to study the teachings of the Tibetan lamas.

Eliane Radigue works with electronic sounds on tape to create an ambience within which sound seems to move in a continual flow around the listener. Her music has been described as "infinitely discreet ... next to which all other music seems to be tugging at one's sleeve for attention." Michel Chion in "Les Musiques Electroacoustiques"