# Electroacoustic Music Listening Group Selection Thread



## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Dear Talk Classical,

Ok, I think I will launch a new thread, for the discussion of electroacoustic art music of the 20th and 21st centuries. This thread here is to assemble a list of weekly listening suggestions to focus the discussion, as TC has done with string quartets, music from 1980-2000, etc.

Here are the ground rules. In general, these are not up for debate.

1. The selection must contain an electroacoustic source as a _significant_ component of the composition. "Electroacoustic" means something requiring electricity as a means of sound production. This includes analogue (tape) or digital media playback, or electronic instruments such as a theremin or digital keyboard.

2. The selection must be firmly in the "art music" tradition. No electronica. No EDM. No popular music genres or sub-genres. No ambient music. Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, etc., are out.

3. The selection may include electroacoustic sources combined or blended with purely acoustic instruments or voices, e.g. instrument(s) or voice(s) with fixed media playback, or altered via live signal processing.

4. The selection may be exclusively electroacoustic, e.g. _musique concrète_, a "tape piece," or computer music.

5. The selection must be readily available for quality listening via Internet streaming or commercial physical media.

6. The person making the selection should be prepared to introduce the piece for the week and lead the discussion.

Ok, let's hear your suggestions! When we have enough (say, at least ten) contributions within say a week, I'll launch the listening discussion thread.

Thanks for participating!

Your pal,

Knorf


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

My selection is Ensembles for Synthesizer by Babbitt (1964)


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I'm in.

I'd like to nominate Luigi Nono's _La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura_.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Now this will be fun. I will need a day or so to come up with a choice.

Question: does "fixed media playback" include visual media? In other words, do works with a video component count?

If yes, can said media itself be altered live?

Just thinking of my options.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Including video is fine.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Is there anything we can do about accessibility? Or should we limit the discussion to pieces on YouTube. Can we upload music?

When you say “art music” - does this include music with lots of improvisation?


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

This is splendid. I'd like to participate, and to nominate _Nadir_ by Christos Hatzis.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> When you say "art music" - does this include music with lots of improvisation?


If it's jazz I would prefer to not include it. Otherwise I don't see a problem.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Knorf said:


> If it's jazz I would prefer to not include it. Otherwise I don't see a problem.


I was thinking of the Evan Parker Electroacoustic Ensemble, that sort of thing.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I nominate "Epitaffio" for orchestra and magnetic tape by Arne Nordheim


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I will pick something in the next few days. I'd like to pick a work that's fairly new and one that I don't know so that I can maximize my exploration into this genre. Right now I'm looking at composers Natasha Barrett, Paula Matthusen, Fausto Romitelli.

I admit that I am a newbie in this genre so there's that.


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## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I nominate "Epitaffio" for orchestra and magnetic tape by Arne Nordheim


Damn! That was the piece I was going to nominate! :lol:

I nominate «Solitaire». Also by Arne Nordheim.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Mandryka said:


> I was thinking of the Evan Parker Electroacoustic Ensemble, that sort of thing.


I think of Evan Parker as jazz based. I don't dislike jazz, in fact I like it a lot, but that goes down a very different path.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Then I choose Richard Barrett's Anaphase from Life Form.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Can I have Black Sabbath?


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

Merl said:


> Can I have Black Sabbath?


Merl, that's a yellow card. You're in the book.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> Then I choose Richard Barrett's Anaphase from Life Form.


I liked this. An interesting little piece.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

My choice is:

Enno Poppe: _Rundfunk_ for nine synthesizers (2015-2018)

Like a lot of Poppe's music -- but especially this one -- this piece is a complete and total acid trip. You're gonna either love it or hate it.

I was considering Simon Steen-Andersen's _Run Time Error_, a site-specific video installation performance, but decided it was too short.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I’ll pick Natasha Barrett: Reality and Secrets no. 2 (18’00). Acousmatic hybrid higher-order ambisonics. (2010)


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

My favorite pieces of this kind are ones that I imprinted from, off early LPs. This would include Henri Pousseur's _Trois Visages de Liege,_ Milton Babbitt's _Philomel_ and _Ensembles for Synthesizer,_ John Cage's _Fontana Mix,_ Karlheinz Stockhausen's _Song of the Youths,_ and Luciano Berio's _Differences.

_I think that the discussion should initially focus on "classic" works of the genre.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

millionrainbows said:


> My favorite pieces of this kind are ones that I imprinted from, off early LPs. This would include Henri Pousseur's _Trois Visages de Liege,_ Milton Babbitt's _Philomel_ and _Ensembles for Synthesizer,_ John Cage's _Fontana Mix,_ Karlheinz Stockhausen's _Song of the Youths,_ and Luciano Berio's _Differences.
> 
> _I think that the discussion should initially focus on "classic" works of the genre.


The problem with all that modernist music is that it's soooooo old fashioned! Microphonie I anybody? I thought of choosing it and came across this old film which I hadn't seen before


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

If I add in my own selection, we're only at 9. I'm not sure interest is sufficient to sustain this thread, if I'm honest. Thoughts?


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I think a few of you know a lot and most of us know a little. Maybe alter the selection process so you include a handful of classics and works that illustrate different types of electroacoustic music.

Maybe restart the whole process and ask “who would be interested in the forum” and at the same time garner ideas about selecting works.

After all is said and done, I think if you don’t get at least a dozen people interested, I don’t think I’d do it.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

I could certainly sprinkle in a few classics that I choose myself. I don't have the most exhaustive knowledge of this genre, but I do know a fair amount.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Alright, can I have metallic percussion, avant-garde music with power tools and shouted German vocals? It's pretty out there.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I might participate, but the only one I know is Stockhausen. I am now at work, so I will try to find work to nominate later


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## Ich muss Caligari werden (Jul 15, 2020)

Merl said:


> Alright, can I have metallic percussion, avant-garde music with power tools and shouted German vocals? It's pretty out there.


Merl, if you're thinking _Einstürzende Neubauten_, I suspect they don't count ("popular music genre"), but I could be wrong. Don't want you to have two yellow cards! (Wish I could contribute to this thread; I know nothing, though am much interested...)


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Ich muss Caligari werden said:


> Merl, if you're thinking _Einstürzende Neubauten_, I suspect they don't count ("popular music genre"), but I could be wrong. Don't want you to have two yellow cards! (Wish I could contribute to this thread; I know nothing, though am much interested...)


Good spot, it is Einsturzende Neubaten but I'd hardly describe stuff like 'Steh auf Berlin' as 'popular music'. :lol:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

*Bernard Parmegiani - Espèces d'espaces*

BTW, is spectralism (Tristan Murail) electroacoustic music?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

^ I believe it depends on the instrumentation and recording technique.


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