After an introduction to precursors of soundscape composers (e.g., the film maker, Walter Ruttman, the Italian bruitists) and on Chion's theories, the author presents the birth of soundscape from Pierre Schaeffer to Murray R. Schafer and its three main tendencies: Schafer and his influences, the works containing elements such as poetry or documentary ones, the notion of the sound bridge between two natural or urban environments and the recent tendency to work on sounds to erase any reference to their original source. To conclude, he briefly presents sound installations and performances in acoustic environments.