Electronic Music

[mahlerfan]

I think Richard B's point is that in the grand scheme of things, i.e. compared with the concert and record sales of some pop or rock artists, Mahler would be considered niche.

Thanks for the further explanation, but I don't think it follows that because Pop and Rock sales are larger than classical music sales, Mahler must be a 'niche composer'. Take the UK, we have 2 radio stations that play wholly or mainly classical music and we host the largest music festival on the planet, which programmes classical music almost exclusively. Add the many programmes of the orchestras up and down the country, the regional and niche festivals such as Huddersfield's and it is clear that classical music is a huge, significant part of the UK's musical/entertainment life. Within that, Mahler is probably only rivalled by Beethoven for concerts and new recordings. I don't think it's sensible to view Mahler as a 'niche composer'.

Edit: Using your rationale of 'the grand scheme of things' etc, wouldn't that make Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane et al 'niche composers'?

[Joseph K]

I'd say that describing Mahler as a 'niche composer' is a distorted view.

Only because you refuse to see things from a wider perspective that encompasses all types of music; the point being, classical music as a whole is 'niche'. Xenakis to me is not 'niche' but I don't really care about such concepts as niche or mainstream when they're used in a quasi-value-judgemental way such in the way you use them.

[RichardB]

it is clear that classical music is a huge, significant part of the UK's musical/entertainment life

Oh really? Why then does Radio 3 account for around 7% of the audiences listening to music on BBC radio (that is to say Radio 1, 2, 3 and 6)? That doesn't seem particularly huge or significant to me.

It would be nice to return this thread to its stated subject, though, rather than going over all this stuff for the umpteenth time.

[mahlerfan]

Oh really? Why then does Radio 3 account for around 7% of the audiences listening to music on BBC radio (that is to say Radio 1, 2, 3 and 6)? That doesn't seem particularly huge or significant to me.

What I said was .....


".......we host the largest music festival on the planet, which programmes classical music almost exclusively. Add the many programmes of the orchestras up and down the country, the regional and niche festivals such as Huddersfield's and it is clear that classical music is a huge, significant part of the UK's musical/entertainment life."

I may have this wrong, but I believe that 2 million people tune into R3 per week and over 6 million tune into Classic FM.

[RichardB]

Moving right on...

... here in The Hague we are putting on three concerts of electronic music this week. Last night's involved music composed and performed by students at the Institute of Sonology (to a capacity audience by the way), and tonight's has been programmed by a current visiting prof, Veniero Rizzardi from Padua, an expert in Luigi Nono and Miles Davis among others. Alongside two major works by Nono, we'll have the opportunity to hear music by Teresa Rampazzi (1914-2001), a pioneer in computer-generated music in Italy. I had never even heard of her before. There is still so much to discover. I see that some of her work is on Youtube (of course)... I will report back tomorrow.

[Joseph K]

Moving right on...

... here in The Hague we are putting on three concerts of electronic music this week. Last night's involved music composed and performed by students at the Institute of Sonology (to a capacity audience by the way), and tonight's has been programmed by a current visiting prof, Veniero Rizzardi from Padua, an expert in Luigi Nono and Miles Davis among others. Alongside two major works by Nono, we'll have the opportunity to hear music by Teresa Rampazzi (1914-2001), a pioneer in computer-generated music in Italy. I had never even heard of her before. There is still so much to discover. I see that some of her work is on Youtube (of course)... I will report back tomorrow.

Sounds interesting. I look forward to your report.

[RichardB]

Sounds interesting. I look forward to your report.

By the way Veniero has coauthored a whole book about Bitches Brew, so if you ever feel like working on your Italian...!

[Joseph K]

By the way Veniero has coauthored a whole book about Bitches Brew, so if you ever feel like working on your Italian...!

Oh, wow! That's as good a reason as any to learn a language.

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh, wow! That's as good a reason as any to learn a language.

The most beautiful language in the world, judging by Berio's readings from Dante on his own Laborintus II, and Daniella, my next-door neighbour.

[Bryn]

The most beautiful language in the world, judging by Berio's readings from Dante on his own Laborintus II, and Daniella, my next-door neighbour.

Edoardo Sanguineti, surely?

[Serial_Apologist]

Edoardo Sanguineti, surely?

Yes , your memory is much better than mine, Bryn. Thanks for the correction!

[Bryn]

Yes , your memory is much better than mine, Bryn. Thanks for the correction!

A work and recording I am very fond of.

[Serial_Apologist]

What is the title of this thread again? ... today is the birthday of the Croatian-French composer Ivo Malec (1925-2019) whose Triola ou Symphonie pour moi-même is for me one of the masterpieces of electronic music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQvnWj7TORM

Thanks for posting this, Richard. Although not an electroacoustic work, I thought this to be the best place to post it as a mark of appreciation for Malec. I first heard it in a Radio 3 broadcast around 1968, probably Music In Our Time, and it is a reminder of the excitement invoked by music of this kind, by others such as Penderecki, Serocki and Maderna as well as Malec, that had this then 22-year old on tenterhooks for each and every broadcast of new music, tape recorder at the ready! It's Malec's short orchestral work Sigma, of 1966.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBYKrM4gsb8

[RichardB]

Thanks for posting this, Richard. Although not an electroacoustic work, I thought this to be the best place to post it as a mark of appreciation for Malec. I first heard it in a Radio 3 broadcast around 1968, probably Music In Our Time, and it is a reminder of the excitement invoked by music of this kind, by others such as Penderecki, Serocki and Maderna as well as Malec, that had this then 22-year old on tenterhooks for each and every broadcast of new music, tape recorder at the ready! It's Malec's short orchestral work Sigma, of 1966.

That is a wonderful piece, as are many by Malec. Something that distinguishes his instrumental music is that it always sounds as if it was written by someone for whom the electronic domain is primary. Sigma is a good example of that.

So: the two pieces tonight by Teresa Rampazzi were really very interesting indeed (Fluxus and Quasi un haiku), very different in their sonic purity from Nono's chaotic frescos. But the highlight of the evening was Nono's A floresta... which is quite well known from its LP and CD releases, but when you have all the voices and instruments and electronic tracks on separate speakers, and a projected video showing the sung/spoken words and footage from various live performances synchronised as well as possible to the recording, it becomes an overwhelming experience, with its often violent sound-collages and passionately declaimed fragmentary texts against the Vietnam war and especially the end with its desperate shouts of "is this all we can do?" - afterwards I felt that maybe Nono's works of the 1960s, which in the interim came to be regarded somewhat (though not by me!) as quaint period pieces from a time when revolution seemed almost to be in the air, have become fresh and relevant again. Tomorrow we have Xenakis's Orient-Occident, which I guess nobody will be interested in , and music by Beatriz Ferreyra and Jean-Claude Risset.

[ardcarp]

Electronic music...who needs it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2BWrmNhyXU