Prospectus

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Aesthetics & performance in electronic music

Course
2011-2012

Admission requirements:

Interested in electronic music

Description:

What is the place of electronic music in the world?While in the schools Electronic Music belongs to Modernism, in the world it belongs to everyone.
Practice
Electronic music is perhaps the only music to emerge without a performance practice.
Though this is no longer the case, basic issues remain in dispute. Is it possible to make
music without reference to the act of performance? We will examine problems of
instrumentation, performance and theater.

Theory & Technique
How has being digital changed our relation to traditional music theory? Is there a
theory for electronic music? Do we need totally new concepts, or is the break with the
past greatly exaggerated? What is the concrete connection between electronic and
modern western art music? What are the issues: the man machine interface, the
novelty of synthetic sound or the changes wrought by recording and digital media?

Social/Cultural Embedding
Is the purpose of music pleasure? Is listening a solitary activity? Human culture has
produced myriad uses and meanings for music from prayer and celebration to
synchronization and healing. What should we look for in this diversity towards our
invention of music? The paradigm of music creation has been under strain since the
invention of recording, now it is cracked. Distinctions like author, score, copy,
interpretation, do not always produce clear lines in the mind. Copyright is a legalistic
solution applied to an economic problem, but such constructions are in conflict not
only with utopian ideals of communication but also with music practice and creative
desire. This desire has never long been thwarted in the past so it likely will not in this
case.

Timetable

First and second term. Wednesday 12.45 – 15.00 hours, conference room. Course takes place at the Royal Conservatory, Juliana van Stolberglaan 1, Den Haag (near The Hague ).

Mode of instruction

Lecture and seminar

Assessment method

Blackboard

Reading list

Registration

Aanmelden is verplicht, via een inschrijfformulier aan te vragen bij Marten van der Meulen

Information

Kees Tazelaar or info@sonology.org.