Chapter 03, How Electronic Music is Composed.

Episode 141

Chapter 03, How Electronic Music is Composed. Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music 

Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes.

This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text.

The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings.

 

Playlist

 

Time

Track Time*

Start

Introduction –Thom Holmes

01:26

00:00

Pierre Henry, “Antiphonie” (1953). Early serial tape composition.

03:00

01:30

Edgard Varese, “Poème électronique ” (1958). Classic tape composition using montage.

08:08

04:30

Iannis Xenakis, “Concret PH” (1958). Modified and amplified small sounds.

02:41

12:32

Pauline Oliveros, “Sound Patterns” (1961. Electronically modified voices and electronics on tape.

04:00

15:12

İlhan Mimaroğlu, “White Cockatoo” (1966). Tape composition using abstract sounds applied to sonata form.

04:23

19:10

Karlheinz Stockhausen, “Telemusik” (1966). Tape composition using world music recordings; also a component for included for live performance.

17:38

23:30

Karlheinz Stockhausen, “Hymnen” (1966– 67). Classic tape composition.

29:53

41:08

David Tudor, “Rainforest IV” (1973). Sounding objects, transducers, and contact microphones.

25:12

01:11:12

Ruth Anderson, “Points” (1973– 74). Synthesis using sine tones.

05:33

01:36:22

Eliane Radigue, “Adnos I– III” (excerpt) (1973– 80). Minimalist drone music for synthesizer; the full length is over an hour.

33:52

01:41:46

 

Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.

My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.

See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.

For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.