Electronic Panorama Available for Free

A rare electroacoustic set of recordings from the 60’s is now free to download:

In 1970, Phillips released a 4 record box set of electronic music called Electronic Panorama. The idea was to showcase modern electronic music from four cities known to be centers of this art form. The cities are Utrecht, Warsaw. Tokyo, and Paris. The set is long out of print and very rare. Earlabs has made available all four recordings online. Tracks on all 4 albums represent the state of the art in electronic music in the 70s. The less advanced electronic and systems did not seem to hinder the composer from creating works as imaginative, or more so, than anything created today. The composers of that era were often experimenting with textures of sound and frequencies. Some works involve electronic distortions of natural sounds and voice . I will name each recording and give a few examples of what I consider notable pieces.

On Utretch, Jaap Vink’s “Screen” start things going with a dronish composition setting up screens of sound. Milan Stibilj’s “Rainbow” derives its sound from water drops. Iranian composer Mashayeki combines electronics and Iranian folk songs into a multi-layered jewel titled “Shur”

Warsaw features a rare electronic work by Krzysztof Penderecki in which he manipulates a tape of two voices. Andrzej Dobrowolski’s contribution is a duet of two oboes, one acoustic and the other distorted on magnetic tapes.

The electronic music of Japan has always been of interest to me. The four tracks on Tokyo make this the best of the four albums. Moroi’s “Shosanke” is my favorite as a theme originally played on trumpet is transformed in 6 variations by both traditional Japanese instruments and electronics.

Paris is my second favorite and it features a few of the more known names in electronic music. Luc Ferrari has one work represented but I really like the collaborative track between Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer. Francois Bayle’s “Solitioude” uses a collage technigue that includes tape samples of Soft Machine’s guitarist David Allen. Could this be the first known sampling of rock music in electronic music? Just a thought.

These four albums may be the most challenging music I’ve yet to feature on this site. But If you are the least interested in experimental electronic music, this is a must hear. All tracks are available in VBR MP3.