Electronic Music

In the 1920Ős and 30Ős, composers such as Edgar Varse were interested in applying technology to music.  By the mid-30Ős, though, all money was being directed to war effort.  After WWII, composers were able to focus on this and also receive funding. Some important accomplishments:

á          More reliable technology for recording and reproducing live sound events was developed

á          Composers had an ability to manipulate recorded sounds

á          Composers had the ability to generate sound electronically

Electronic Music is a term that was used to describe manipulation of recorded sounds and electronic generation of sound

á          musique concrete: techniques for manipulating recorded sounds (splicing, changing speeds and directions, filters, etc.)

á          elektronische Musik: sounds generated electronically using oscillators, synthesizers

á          In the early stages, most advancements were made in Paris or Cologne respectively, hence French and German names

á          The two types werenŐt kept distinct for long; pieces using both types of techniques came out, e.g. VareseŐs Pome Electronique

á          Commissioned for World Exposition in Brussels 1958

á          Created in collaboration with architect Le Corbusier, who designed the Philips Pavilion where it would be performed.  Very futuristic

á          Building no longer there, but sound paths planned carefully.  Inside, ~400 loud speakers were placed along curves of the ceiling, so the Pome would sweep through the building in continuous arcs of sound (3-D concept)

á          The piece was to have images projected along with the sounds, and a sudden silence in the middle accompanied by a stark white light.

á          The piece uses recognizable sounds such as human voices, church bells; also many electronically generated sounds.  Naturally-occurring sounds are reshaped using filters, loops, other electronic devices, to give them new associations.  Varse called sounds that had undergone these processes Organized Sound

á          One byproduct of electronic music was ability to control performance: a machine will produce music the same every time; an advantage if music was really complex, e.g. Milton Babbitt (b. 1916): wrote music so complex that people couldnŐt perform it to his satisfaction.

á          Phonemena: Babbitt wrote two versions: one for voice and piano, the other for voice and tape with the tape containing a synthesized accompaniment.