The New Sound of Music - BBC (1979)

The New Sound of Music is a fascinating BBC historical documentary from the year 1979. It charts the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and onto the concepts of musique concrete and electronic music development with voltage-controlled oscillators making up the analogue synthesizers of the day. EMS Synthesizers and equipment are a heavily featured technology resource in this film, with the show's host, Michael Rodd, demonstrating the EMS VCS3 synthesizer and it's waveform output. Other EMS products include the incredible Synthi 100 modular console system, the EMS AKS, the Poly Synthi and the EMS Vocoder. Most of the location shots are filmed within the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop studios as they were in 1979. Malcolm Clarke demonstrates the Synthi 100, also known as the "Delaware", Michael Rodd demonstrates musique concrete by tape splicing and manipulation and Paddy Kingsland demonstrates tape recorder delay techniques (also known as "Frippertronics"). The Yamaha CS-80 analogue synthesizer is demonstrated by both Peter Howell and Roger Limb. The EMS Vocoder is also expertly put to use by Peter Howell on his classic "Greenwich Chorus" for the television series "The Body in Question". Dick Mills works on sound effects for Doctor Who using a VCS3 unit, and Elizabeth Parker uses bubble sounds to create music for an academic film on particle physics. Peter Zinovieff is featured using his computer music studio and DEC PDP8 computer to produce electronic variations on classic vintage scores. David Vorhaus is featured using his invention, the MANIAC (Multiphasic ANalog Inter-Active Chromataphonic (sequencer)), and playing his other invention, the Kaleidophon -- which uses lengths of magnetic tape as velocity-sensitive ribbon controllers. The New Sound of Music is a fascinating insight into the birth of the world of recorded and electronic music and features some very classic British analogue synthesizers creating the electronic sounds in this film. The prime location for these demonstrations is the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where much creativity and invention took place during the period the workshop was in operation in the latter part of the twentieth century. Electronic music today is used everywhere, and many musicians gain inspiration from the past, as well as delving into the realms of sonic structures and theories made possible by the widespread use of computers to manipulate sounds for the creation of all kinds of musical forms.

John Cage - In Celebration of his 65th Birthday

Morning Concert - 05.09.1977

Charles Amirkhanian

John Cage (Los Angeles, 1912 - New York, 1992) was undoubtedly the 20th Century composer who did the most to change the definition of the word “music”. In this program dedicated to Cage's work, which first broadcast on the composer's 65th birthday, Charles Amirkhanian presents a selection of his music which will attempt to dispel the popular notion that Cage’s philosophy of music is more interesting than the actual substance of his compositions. In the second half of the program Cage is heard answering a number of questions from a concert audience, in which he address the role of chance operations in his compositions as well as his opinions about the role of beauty in art.

Entrevista a Conlon Nancarrow

04.1977

Charles Amirkhanian

In April of 1977 Charles Amirkhanian journeyed to Mexico City to talk with composer Conlon Nancarrow (Texarkana, 1912 - México D.F., 1997), who had settled there after a self-imposed exile from the United States, following the harassment he experienced over his involvement with the Communist Party, and his fighting in the Spanish Civil War. The two discussed the mechanics of composing for the player piano, a process of manually punching literally thousands of holes in long rolls of paper. Nancarrow also relates his association, or lack there of, with other composers, his dissatisfaction with the lack of temporal control in the electronic music of his day, and his experience studying counterpoint with Roger Sessions. Sounding very relaxed and genial, Nancarrow also goes into some detail about how he composes and describes some of his later works.

Quién es Carmelo Bernaola?

Carmelo Bernaola

Quién es? - TVE
01.01.1977

Programa dedicado al compositor Carmelo Bernaola (Vizcaya, 1929 - Madrid, 2002).

Mahler rehearsals with Leonard Bernstein (1971-1976)

A documentary by Humphrey Burton and Horant H. Holfeld.

Rehearsals from the DG DVD recordings of Bernstein's complete Mahler set.

Entrevista a Charles Dodge

Ode to Gravity - 03.12.1975

Charles Amirkhanian

Charles Amirkhanian interviews composer Charles Dodge (Iowa, 1942). Dodge specializes in composing computer speech music. He discusses how he composes and the pieces played on the program.

Entrevista a Virgil Thomson

DAY AT NIGHT - 18.03.1974
CUNY tv / James Day

CUNY TV's restoring of the classic public television program, "Day at Night", which aired from 1973-1974. In this episode, host James Day talks with composer Virgil Thomson (Kansas, 1896 - New York, 1989).

CUNY TV is proud to re-broadcast newly digitized episodes of DAY AT NIGHT, the popular public television series hosted by the late James Day. Day was a true pioneer of public television: co-founder of KQED in San Francisco, president of WNET upon the merger of National Educational Television (NET) and television station WNDT/Channel 13, and most recently, Chairman of the CUNY TV Advisory Board. The series features fascinating interviews with notable cultural and political figures conducted in the mid 1970's. (Taped:03/18/74)

Entrevista a Claude Ballif

31.12.1973

KPFA-FM / Charles Amirkhanian  

French composer Claude Ballif (Paris, 1924 - Poissons, 2004) is interviewed in his Paris home by Charles Amirkhanian (recorded on December 31,1973). Ballif wrote music of enormous strength and clarity. Like his compatriot Messiaen, his music is the result of his deep involvement in Catholicism, a fact which he discusses in the interview. Little known in the United States at the time of this recording, Ballif had produced a highly original and very unified series of works dating back to the mid-1950s. He was a professor of music at the Reims Conservatory and the product of the exciting and turbulent post World War II years of the Western avant-garde which saw the rise of such musical metaphysicians as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. But Ballif’s vision was a wide one, and he has shown himself open to a variety of influences stemming from his contact with such widely disparate musicians as John Cage, Boris Blacher, and the quarter-tome composer Ivan Wyschnegradsky, who had worked with Ballif on microtonal theory. Although Ballif’s English is not perfect, he speaks with such intensity and purpose that his meaning is almost always clear, and as such should not prevent anyone from enjoying this interview with a remarkable composer. A selection of Ballif’s music is also heard.

Entrevista a Aaron Copland

DAY AT NIGHT - 20.12.1973
CUNY tv / James Day

CUNY TV's restoring of the classic public television program, "Day at Night", which aired from 1973-1974. In this episode, host James Day talks with composer Aaron Copland (New York, 1900 - New York, 1990). They discuss how Mr. Copland became one of the most distinguished American composers in the world, themes and influences which he used to create some of his most memorable works, how his creations have adapted over the years to reflect the changing times, teachers that influenced him as well as important aspects of composition.

CUNY TV is proud to re-broadcast newly digitized episodes of DAY AT NIGHT, the popular public television series hosted by the late James Day. Day was a true pioneer of public television: co-founder of KQED in San Francisco, president of WNET upon the merger of National Educational Television (NET) and television station WNDT/Channel 13, and most recently, Chairman of the CUNY TV Advisory Board. The series features fascinating interviews with notable cultural and political figures conducted in the mid 1970's. (Taped: 12/20/1973)

Entrevista a Pierre Boulez

21.10.1973

KPFA-FM / Charles Amirkhanian  

Charles Amirkhanian interview the French, avant-garde, composer, and conductor, Pierre Boulez (Montbrison, 1925), following the world premiere performance of his revised (3rd version), “explosante-fixe,” at the Donaueschingen Music Festival on October 21, 1973. In this relatively brief interview Boulez offers his perspective on American composers such as Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, Steve Reich, and John Cage, all of whom he had at least heard of and generally respects, although he admits that his own approach to avant-garde orchestral and electro-acoustic music differs from that of his American counterparts. Boulez also discusses the, just presented, third version of his “explosante-fixe,” which is scored for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, harp, and electronics, and describes the type of preparations and rehearsals that were necessary for it performance. Amirkhanian then plays a slightly abbreviated recording of the very same performance, which featured the first chairs of the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the composer.