Cody Loyd Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Does anyone know of any books or essays that deal with electronic music (the formal electronic music of people like ligeti, varese and stockhausen) in a theoretical and analytic manner? It all sounds nice, but without a score it is hard to tell if things are pretty much random, or if there is some amount of theory and planning behind it. I find it hard to believe that its all just random, or guided by the ear and intuition, but I have not heard much about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardener Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I don't really know, and I don't have a book that exactly deals with all that, except some more general books on electroacoustic and computer music. (And one book containing essays by some composers like Ligeti, Boulez, Barlow, etc. on their own works - but that's in German). There are however lots of essays by some composers on their own pieces, which just aren't collected with others. Stockhausen for example, wrote in extreme detail about all his pieces. You will also generally find very accurate scores of his pieces. (Check out Studie II for example). Likewise there are quite enlightening texts by many other composers, although many of them don't go into analytical details. (But you still find detailed enough descriptions by Zimmermann, Xenakis, Var Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Loyd Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 I suppose I don't really need 'a book' about it.. I am just wanting INFORMATION :) Do you know where I could look to find some of these resources you mention? I'll google it for sure.. but any help would be of use. (my university library blows.. so thats not a decent option) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferkungamabooboo Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Well, treat it as if it were any other piece. What pitches are used? What rhythms are used? What timbres are used? In the absence of complexity -- how was the piece produced? How old is the piece, and what was the available technology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardener Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Does your university grant you access to archives like JSTOR or article/dissertation search engines like Project MUSE or ProQuest? You can find quite some intersting stuff there. Lots of universities grant you access to these, if you go online through a VPN client. In Stockhausen's case, look out for articles like "…how time passes…". Of course it's originally in German ("…wie die Zeit vergeht…"), but this one is so well-known that I'm sure there is an English translation of it. It isn't really specific on electronic music, but covers many of his main thoughts which apply to electronic music as well as to instrumental one. For starters, you could check out: An interactive score of Stockhausen's "Studie II". And here is an analysis of "Gesang der J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Loyd Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 thanks a ton.. Tragically I don't know enough of anything but english to actually read something informative. This is something that I should work on...... but really, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomOftheOpera Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Tuskle here on the board is into electronics, he might know something useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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