Tuesday 28 June 2011

A Scientific Agenda

I begin this blog with a desire to archive my musings, detailing those bursts of inspiration that capture my love for the new and exciting events in musical composition. Music that perhaps challenges our perception of what music should be, and how it should be created, has been prolific in the minds of contemporary composers.


Curious about the beginnings of electronic music, I began research into the so called 'father of electronic music', Edgard Varese and his electro-acoustic work Poeme Electronique.  Captivated by the extraordinary avand garde nature of the work, I began to delve into areas more specific, that of the new musical machine, that is the new musical technology of the 1950s.  Having consumed Russolo's Manifesto and explored the electronic inventions of Cahill and Theremin, it soon became apparent that scientific invention or technology was now central to a composers future.  The evolution of musical technology sparked a palpable science to composers, a new vehicle for artistic expression, and here my blog will begin.


Science and Music - A relationship epitomised by a few experimental and daringly creative composers, I am constantly in search of new music, new composers, new ideas.


This all began with Spanish-born composer, Dr Ricardo Climent, and his work Oxidising the Spectrum - The Microbial Ensemble (2004).  The work is fascinating even in theoretical terms, as Climent composed this work using microbes, he alternates their optimum conditions as he attempts to disturb the normal life cycle of the microbe, his changes result in a more erratic life cycle which in turn creates more interesting music.  Climent's website http://www.electro-acoustic.com/ and acoustmatic.org provides sounds clips and videos of the composition process. 

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