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ERHARD GROSSKOPF – SprachKlang · VoiceSound "Composing sound is something different than composing with sounds," said Erhard Grosskopf in a portrait program on Deutschlandfunk Kultur in March 2020. The electro-acoustic works published here had special conditions during the creative process between 1969 and 1972: analog studio technology and multi-channel, spatial sound projections. What these early electronic compositions by Grosskopf have in common is: spatialization, procedural character, language, electronic sound generation. After the founding of the first studios for electroacoustic music, the Instituut voor Sonologie of the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, founded in the 1960s by its long-time director, the composer Gottfried Michael Koenig, very quickly became one of the most renowned studios in the world, which used voltage-controlled studio technology at a high level . When the 35-year-old Erhard Grosskopf was one of six German composers commissioned to write a composition for the spherical auditorium at EXPO'1969 in 70, he wanted to dialectics Realize his electronics in the Utrecht studio, which he was also able to do. In the years that followed, 1971 and 1972, Koenig invited Grosskopf to work as a research assistant in Utrecht to study his compositions there process of change and Night tracks to be able to work out. Grosskopf's analogue tapes from the Utrecht period were digitized in 2020 by Kees Tazelaar, director of the Institute of Sonology, The Hague, where the former Utrecht studio is now based. dialectics Op. 9 (1969) In the spherical auditorium, Erhard Grosskopf adjusted the sound distribution of the seven audio tracks from dialectics himself and saved it on the free control track of two mechanically synchronized four-track perfo machines (Siemens »System Klangfilm«). Programmed in this way, the eight versions of Dialectics were performed throughout the 180-day exhibition period from March to September 1970. For the studio work in Utrecht, Grosskopf had an extensive score written in pencil by dialectics prepared, in which each of the seven sound tracks (A-G) is notated in detail in a system. The sound families consist of synthetic sounds, of diversely alienated instrumental sounds, of speech sounds and of three wind or string instruments (high, middle, low) played along with them. A printed edition of the score now also exists. The first version (5/8) on the CD is an electro-acoustic mix of the 7 original EXPO'70 tape tracks, for which Grosskopf had pre-recorded the instrumental parts with the individual musicians at Saarländisches Rundfunk. A live performance with musicians was commissioned by the clients for dialectics not planned in Osaka. Live performances of the work were given at various locations after EXPO'70. The instruction in the score for positioning in space stipulates that the instrumentalists form a widely spread triangle in space, each musician between two loudspeakers. The first live performance took place in the same year 1970 at NDR Hamburg, in the version for 3 wind instruments (1/8). The title dialectics was inspired by the "Congress of the Dialectics of Liberation" held in London in 1967. From the lectures published by David Cooper in 1968, Grosskopf extracted a thought from Stokely Carmichael: "They donate freedom - it means nothing - what they should do - is refrain from oppression", on which the composition dialectics heading towards the end. process of change Op. 12 (1971) process of change initially allows synthetic sounds and real voices from different language cultures to coexist. They are increasingly mixed, exchanged and transformed until a leap into a new sonic situation leaves the listener in the dark as to which sounds are natural and which are synthetic. These procedural changes happen in five stages, five sections. Each stage contains four bands of sound and three bands of speech. The changes in the third stage are exemplarily recognizable: the language layer appears only strongly alienated. Changes in pitch, timbre and amplitude of the sounds are voltage-controlled exclusively via the speech signals. In the final stage, this automatic genesis is broken. The traditional montage technique of tape editing comes to the fore, almost citing itself. The last step in the composition of the work was the distribution of the seven tape tracks to four channels, here too the movement in the sound space was decisive. process of change was awarded at the Prix d'Italia 1972. Night tracks Op. 14 (1972) Two parallel tape loops (loops) with identical speech sound material are started at the same time and are synchronous at the beginning. Due to the analogue tape machines, processes arise in which the word sequence shifts in time against itself: converges, runs synchronously, diverges, and although the real tempo of the word sequence remains the same, one gets the impression of tempo changes. With the exception of speech, all sounds are synthetically generated. Four sound processes were controlled by the speech loops. The duration of the organ-like sound reflects the shift in time. Durations, pitches, amplitudes and spectra of synthetic sounds were controlled by several shifted rows of words. The sixth sound process is the slow, perceptually aperiodic change in the partial tone composition of a bass tone, which Grosskopf, however, achieved with periodic means: each of the three filterings of a square wave is repeated periodically. Complex automatic circuits developed by Grosskopf in the Utrecht studio made it possible to dispense with any editing technology when running through the six processes. The word series spoken by the composer is inspired by the Chinese character SUN (the gentle, the wind, the wood). Book of Changes, I Ching: "Smell - work - daughter - waves - thighs - cock - an end - no beginning - change - 3 days - power - time - clarity - clouds - roots - wood - wind - sun". Martin Supper program: Erhard Grosskopf (* 1934) SpeechSound · VoiceSound [01] dialectics Op. 9 for magnetic tape and 3 instrumentalists (1969) 10:34 Commissioned by the FRG for the EXPO'70 in Osaka Instruments pre-recorded by Saarland Radio (SR) [02] process of change Op. 12 (1971) 18:07 Electroacoustic music, 4 tracks, magnetic tape Produced by Erhard Grosskopf at the Institute for Sonology, Utrecht, 1971 [03] Night tracks Op. 14 (1972) 19:25 Electroacoustic music, 4 tracks, magnetic tape Produced by Erhard Grosskopf at the Institute for Sonology, Utrecht, 1972 [04] dialectics Op. 9 for magnetic tape and 3 instrumentalists (1969) 10:35 Version 1/8, magnetic tape (4 tracks), flute, clarinet, trombone (live) Total playing time: 58:54 Eberhard Blum, flute [01 & 04] World premiere recordings
Press:
Hard cuts and scratchy, dry noises suggest that these are recordings from a time when electronic music still meant turning potentiometers, starting square and sawtooth generators and mechanically cutting magnetic tapes. And yet, in all three works, speech sounds and electronics are in dialectics three instrumental voices are also subtly interwoven. […] The recordings have become historical, but historically they are always extremely interesting. Dietrich Heissenbuettel
New music current […] This music originated in the late 60s, early 70s […] and it’s hard to imagine today, at a time when dealing with digital media is a matter of course and electronics are also a completely natural part of music and concert what it meant to work on electroacoustic music 50 years ago. One of the first to deal with it systematically is Erhard Grosskopf […] He was commissioned to write a composition for the spherical auditorium at the EXPO 1970 in Osaka. For this, but also for a few years longer, he worked at the Institute for Sonology in Utrecht. And the magnetic tapes with these works have now been digitized in the successor institute in The Hague. That still worked, but then this studio had to be closed as a result of Corona. But the digitized files could be mastered for the CD at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. The necessary communication worked - how could it be otherwise - digitally. And so we can finally hear it now, e.g. 'Dialectics' by Erhard Grosskopf, mixed from original tape tracks from EXPO'70 […] Andreas Goebel
Erhard Grosskopf called the half-century-delayed edition of his electro-acoustic compositions “SprachKlang” – “world premiere Recordings” proudly complements the label. The publication is truly a wonder of the world. […] Eleonore Buening
new music “SprachKlang · VoiceSound” is the name of the CD with music by Erhard Grosskopf, which presents a legendary moment in the development of electroacoustic music. This moment in history shows everything that is being composed today in a different light. It is a reference and therefore a special thanks goes to Wulf Weinmann's NEOS label, which has taken the trouble to clear all the rights and bring this jewel of history to the market, available to everyone. I suspect that the younger generation will jump on it. […] Margaret Zander |
