Electronic art music
Related: electronic music - art music - electronic art - electronica
Electronic art music
Electronic "art" music is a regrettably vague term for the formal and primarily academic branch of electronic music that is focused on extending musical capabilities through technology. Electronic art music suffers from naming difficulties similar to those associated with the terms "contemporary music" and "modern classical music" (modern music composed in the traditions of classical music.)
When electronic techniques first came to be used for musical purposes, the experimental field was fully contained within the term "Electronic music". Many of these early electronic compositions drew widespread interest, but little enthusiasm. Beginning in the 1960s, however, electronic techniques and instruments were embraced by popular musicians, eventually leading to more mainstream styles that also came to be embraced under the umbrella of "electronic music". Although both forms are still referred to as "electronic music" by their respective adherents, the term "art music" is generally used to specify the less mainstream of the two branches.
History
Electronic musical instruments date from the late 19th century. During the 1920s, for instance, at public demonstrations of the Theremin Clara Rockmore frequently used the instrument to play violin parts for popular classical pieces. But it was not until the 1940s that they were adopted as a tool for the creation of non-traditional music.
The foundations of modern electronic "art" music (hereinafter referred to simply as "electronic music") lie in the developing musical sensibilities of early 20th century symphonic music. Perhaps the most direct lineage can be drawn from the music of composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, who felt that contemporary music had begun to exhaust its potential, and that musicians would have to break away from the constraints of tradition before the art could advance. This belief was widely adopted amongst the musical avante-garde, and led to the exploration of atonality as a means to exceed the limits of classical harmony.
Although atonality was refined to a great degree, some musicians felt that the simple use of traditional symphonic instruments was a serious limitation. It was the development of the tape recorder and musique concrète that alerted the musical community to the potential of electronic music as a means to surpass the limitations that were imposed by the use of traditional musical instruments.
Concrete itself can be compared to a sonic collage, in which various natural and man-made sounds are spliced, mixed and looped on the tape recorder to form an integrated "piece". One notable characteristic of Concrete that drew strong interest was that with Concrete, the final product and the musical "score" are one and the same. As a result, there are no additional layer of abstraction and interpretation (such as a musical score, musicians or a conductor) between the composer and the "orchestra". This concept intrigued many experimental composers, many of whom soon adopted the technique.
Notable electronic art musicians
- Mario Davidovsky
- Pierre Henry musique concrete pioneer
- Paul Lansky
- Otto Luening early tape music
- Pauline Oliveros EIS: Extended Instrument System
- David Rosenboom biofeedback pioneer
- Jean-Claude Risset
- Pierre Schaeffer musique concrete pioneer
- Juan Maria Solare (electroacoustic music & Hörspiel = radiophonic art)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen
- James Tenney
- Vladimir Ussachevsky early tape music
- Edgar Varèse
- Iannis Xenakis stochastic music
The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music (1968) - Beaver & Krause
The Nonesuch Guide to Electronic Music (1968) - Beaver & Krause
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Part of the enjoyment of the web is tracking down stuff you know absolutely nothing about. Of course it helps having good guides, and I stumbled on this via Simon Reynolds blissblog who refers to an excellent survey on this scene by the stupendous woebot.
Discogs says:
Variously called electronic music, modern classical, contemporary classical or experimental music this collection was originally released as a 2-LP boxed set as in introduction to and survey of electronic music, circa late 1960s. All work realised on the Moog Series III Synthesiser.
Wikipedia on Nonesuch:
Nonesuch Records is currently allied with Warner Bros. Records even though it is an Elektra Records subsidiary. Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records in 1950, founded Nonesuch in 1964 to license European classical music. He sold Elektra and Nonesuch to Kinney National Company in 1970. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonesuch_Records
Nonesuch also released Silver Apples of the Moon.
See also: art music - experimental music
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