Politics and Aesthetics in Electronic Music: A study of EMS – Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm, 1964-1979

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Abstract

This book is the first to explore the history of the Swedish electronic music studio EMS. EMS was established in 1964 with the intent to create an international center for research in sound and sound perception, and to build one of the world’s most advanced hybrid studios. The principal creators of the studio were rooted in Swedish modernism, and had the EMS-project shaped in accordance to the social democratic cultural policy of the time. This enabled the project to achieve continuous financial support, e. g. to purchase a computer in 1969. The construction of the large studio was a complicated and prolonged process. While the building was underway, many composers worked in EMS’s principle provisional studio, where they among other pieces created the so-called text sound compositions. Over time this studio was worn, and the composers asked for new analog equipment. The board of directors opposed the composers’ whishes because they preferred to continue the original stake at digitally controlled analog apparatus and the planned research project. On these grounds many disagreements and conflicts occurred.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
PublisherKehrer Verlag
Number of pages272
ISBN (Print)978-3-86828-582-6
Publication statusPublished - 15 Dec 2014
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Softcover with CD

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