"Contrary to the general belief, an artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs!"
- Edgar Varese
Topic:
MUSIQUE CONCRETE
There are three categories of Electronic music:
- Musique concrete
- Synthesizer music
- Computer music
Music concrete involves using the found sounds in nature, distorted in various ways, to create music. When performed Live, it becomes an exercise in mixing together unexpected sounds into some sort of musical structure. I am interested in creating a live form of Musique concrete using techniques similar to those used by one of the first composers who attempted to add noise to his compositions to break free from conventional music. I'm referring to Luigi Russolo who created an orchestra of
Bruituers (noise making machines) in conjunction with Balilla Pratella. Encased in large boxes, these made a variety of grunts and hisses that became part of his
'Art of Noises' concerts in Milan, 1914. He used his
bruituers to accompany traditional music and combine with it in new ways. After Russolo came Respighi, who used a phonograph playing sounds made by nightingales along with an orchestra in his
Pines of Rome in 1924. In 1927, Antheil was experimenting with noise in ballet, using car horns, airplane propellers, saws, and anvils, in the performance of his
Ballet Mechanique.
Using the techniques of Musique concrete will allow me to produce a unique sort of performance work that does not need to have structure in the normal forms. Though I intend to use a broad range of sounds overall, only certain categories of sounds will be used for each individual *Inclusion* (or movement). These sounds will totally relate to the "theme" of the *Inclusion*. Specific use of atmospheric background sounds will create the ambience that I intend for each of the environments that relate to each *Inclusion*. More rhythm and emotion will be added to the mix of background ambience by faster and more complex passages, using specific musical statements intended to carry the listener through a journey progressing from the various passages in each section of the main theme(s).
In a previous post I referenced the work of Edgar Varese. Because of the distinctive type of experimenting he did, his work significantly inspires my current efforts. In one of the very earliest multi-media performances ever created, his
Poem Electronique used four film projectors, eight projection lanterns, six spot lights, six ultra-violet lights, fifty electric lamps to represent stars, and hundreds of fluorescent lamps in various colours.
Because of recent increases in the use of digital technology, adding the 'found' sounds of Musique concrete into publically performed works is much simpler than it was years ago. Even popular musicians have been adding various sampled sounds into their music. Musique concrete is becoming reborn again in various new forms. Beyond the previous experiments lies unventured multi-media territory. This territory will be what the Phoenix Bird Multi-Sensory Symphony explores.
