Course: English Electronic Music: Delve into the Digital Archives

Listening exercise Here’s something to contrast the previous example, Roberto Gerhard’s ‘Symphony No. 3 (Collages)’ for orchestra and magnetic tape. This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube. ‘Symphony No. …

Listening exercise So, let’s have a listen to some of Roberto Gerhard’s electronic music! Many of the final versions of Gerhard’s electronic works have been lost over time and now …

While the BBC Radiophonic Workshop might not have helped Gerhard establish his studio, it came to be vital in terms of commissions and external support for his music. The Workshop …

Listening exercise For this listening exercise, we will look at Roberto Gerhard’s composition ‘Libra’. This piece was the start of a series of works named after different zodiac signs, however …

Gerhard in context Unlike Stockhausen, Schaeffer, Varèse and other frequently referenced leading figures of electronic music, Roberto Gerhard was not exposed to new sound-manipulating technology through electronic music studios and …

The BBC Radio feature Following his death, Roberto Gerhard’s wife, Poldi, gave an interview Sasha Moorsom at the BBC, who produced an hour-long radio feature on Gerhard’s music, broadcast on …

Congratulations on completing the second week! I hope you’ve found the discussions and listening exercises engaging and that we’ve helped to illustrate how and why electronic music in England differed …

There has been a great attempt in recent years to try to document and publish electronic music in England. These publications cover artistic compositions, music for media of the time, …

Listening exercise Here’s a longer piece to sink your teeth into. Ernest Berk is a very different figure to that of Judd. As Ian Helliwell puts it, Berk was ‘one …

Listening exercise Fred Judd was one of the leading evangelists of electronic music in England. Judd worked tirelessly to promote electronic music as an art form in England, publishing 11 …

Listening exercise There are definitely more accessible works by Tristram Cary out there. After all, Cary earnt much of his living from composing film and television soundtracks and a significant …

The RCM Studio In 1966, Tristram Cary prepared a report discussing the feasibility for setting up an electronic music studio in London, outlining the functions of the studio, the equipment …

Listening exercise If you open a history book about electronic music, Dr Who is inevitably one of the first examples listed. The science fiction setting made it a natural fit …

Here’s a short listening exercise, probably the most well-known musical product from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the Dr Who main theme. Listen on UbuWeb The Dr Who Theme itself was …

Synthesising sounds We’ve mentioned sound synthesis in a more rudimentary form last week, when we mentioned the WDR’s interest in tools for generating electronic sound. In reality, in the early …