Poème électronique

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

The Performance

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

coring

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. "Airplane 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)." [Roger Kamien, "Music: An Appreciation". page 528. Copyrght © 1988, 1984, 1980, 1976 by McGraw-Hill.]

External links

* [http://images.google.com/images?q=Philips+Pavilion&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images Philips Pavilion]
[http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/refmovie.php?mov=7&play=audio Listen to Poème électronique (Audio File)]
Watch video of Poème électronique
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC3OXai7W9I

Bibliography