Electroacoustic Music: Analytical Perspectives

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Presents a valuable collection of detailed analyses of historically important electroacoustic works from the mid-1950s through the late 1980s. Electronic music, which first began flourishing in the 1950s and continues on in different technological forms to this day, has long been overlooked in the scholarly literature--possibly in part because it does away with traditional "scores" and notation. In this landmark collection, a group of distinguished composers and theorists who have actively worked in the field present detailed analyses of important electroacoustic works while also demonstrating some recent approaches to the analysis of the music of this medium. Included here are discussions of such significant works as Stockhausen's Gesang der Junglinge (1955/56) and Otto Laske's Terpsichore (1980), and overall, the collection aims to elucidate the overall sonic design of electroacoustic music, using its best examples as a lens through which to examine an unduly neglected genre. Demonstrating recent techniques in the analysis of electroacoustic music, the volume also considers various compositional approaches as well as computer applications that have become an irreplaceable tool in the composing of this music. So little has been written about this 20th-century art form that Electroacoustic Music: Analytical Perspectives is at once a fresh, bold step forward in musicology and analysis.

Reviews

"Of late, Greenwood Press has been publishing a number of interesting books....including the present and very compelling volume on electroacoustic music....The book is aimed at an audience of both professionals and students, with some essays accessible by undergraduates and others requiring a highly technical background....All of the essays in this volume are quite valuable....[A]nalysts, composers and instructors have a powerful new set of essays to work with as the slow work continues towards developing a critical literature about electroacoustic music."-Perspectives of New Music
"The essays in this book reflect a broad range of analytical approaches. This methodological heterogenity, and the solidness of each and every one of the essays, may very well come to distinguish this book as a milestone in scholarly research on contemporary music...[I]t is refreshing to come across a book that so nicely balances the language and technical expectations of music analysis with the composition-theoretical imperatives of the music considered. I would hope that this volume energizes further efforts along these lines."-Computer Music Journal
[a] welcome addition to electroacoustic serial studies.-Journal of the Music Library Association
Of late, Greenwood Press has been publishing a number of interesting books....including the present and very compelling volume on electroacoustic music....The book is aimed at an audience of both professionals and students, with some essays accessible by undergraduates and others requiring a highly technical background....All of the essays in this volume are quite valuable....[A]nalysts, composers and instructors have a powerful new set of essays to work with as the slow work continues towards developing a critical literature about electroacoustic music.-Perspectives of New Music
The essays in this book reflect a broad range of analytical approaches. This methodological heterogenity, and the solidness of each and every one of the essays, may very well come to distinguish this book as a milestone in scholarly research on contemporary music...[I]t is refreshing to come across a book that so nicely balances the language and technical expectations of music analysis with the composition-theoretical imperatives of the music considered. I would hope that this volume energizes further efforts along these lines.-Computer Music Journal
"a welcome addition to electroacoustic serial studies."-Journal of the Music Library Association
"[a] welcome addition to electroacoustic serial studies."-Journal of the Music Library Association

Author Bio

Thomas Licata is a composer and theorist who holds graduate degrees in composition and music theory from the University of Maryland and Brandeis University.