Poème électronique

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Poème électronique (English Translation: "Electronic Poem") is a piece of electronic music by composer Edgard Varèse. Varèse composed the piece with the intension of creating a liberation between sounds and as a result uses noises not usually considered "musical" throughout the piece. It was written for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.

1 The Performance
2 Scoring
3 External Links
4 Bibliography

[edit] The Performance

“

Poème électronique is the first, electronic-spatial environment to combine architecture, film, light and music to a total experience made to functions in time and space. Under the direction of Le Corbusier, Iannis Xenakis' concept and geometry designed the World's Fair exhibition space adhering to mathematical functions. Edgard Varèse composed both concrete and vocal music which enhanced dynamic, light and image projections conceived by Le Corbusier. Varèse's work had always sought the abstract and, in part, visually inspired concepts of form and spatial movements. Among other elements for «Poème électronique» he used machine noises, transported piano chords, filtered choir and solo voices, and synthetic tone colorings. With the help of the advanced technical means made available through the Philips Pavilion, the sounds of this composition for tape recorder could wander throughout the space on highly complex routes.^[1]

”

For the performance, 425 loudspeakers, placed at specific points in Le Corbusier's Philips Pavilion and were triggered to sound at specific intervals (as a result, the performance never sounded exactly the same in any specific location).

[edit] Scoring

Tape Studio

(8 minutes, 5 seconds)

0 s	1.	a.	Low bell tolls. "Wood blocks." Sirens. Fast taps lead to high, piercing sounds. 2-second pause.
43 s		b.	"Bongo" tones and higher grating noises. Sirens. Short "squawks." Three-tone group stated three times.
1 min 11 s		c.	Low sustained tones with grating noises. Sirens. Short "squawks." Three-tone group. 2-second pause.
1 min 40 s		d.	Short "squawks." High "chirps." Variety of "shots," "honks," "machine noises." Sirens. Taps lead to
2 min 36 s	2.	a.	Low bell tolls. Sustained electronic tones. Repeated "bongo" tones. High and sustained electronic tones. Low tone, crescendo. Rhythmic noises lead to
3 min 41 s		b.	Voice, "Oh-gah." 4-second pause. Voice continues softly.
4 min 17 s		c.	Suddenly loud. Rhythmic percussive sounds joined by voice. Low "animal noises," scraping, shuffling, hollow vocal sounds. Decrescendo into 7-second pause.
5 min 47 s		d.	Sustained electronic tones, crescendo and decrecendo. Rhythmic percussive sounds. Higher sustained electronic tones, crescendo. "Airplain rumble," "chimes," jangling.
6 min 47 s		e.	Female voice. Male chorus. Electronic noises, organ. High taps. Swooping organ sound. Three-note group stated twice. Rumble, sirens, crescendo (8 minutes and 5 seconds)."^[2]