Three works of avant-garde electro-acoustic music by two Belgium composers. The first two selections, “Choir” and “Electronic Suite” are both musique concrète compositions by Louis De Meester. That is they are tape works drawn from sounds that naturally exist in the real world, as opposed to electronic music which utilizes sounds produced electronically. However each of these works, composed during the 1960s, seems to include some additional electronic processing or manipulation. The third work, “Rimes” by Henri Pousseur, is scored for three orchestral groups and pre-recorded electronic sounds. Pousseur is perhaps the best known of the young Belgium composers of the mid-20th century, and is considered a member of the influential group of avant-garde European composers that included Stockhausen, Boulez, and Berio. This program is therefore a prime example of the sort of experimental electro-acoustic music being produced in Europe during the post World War II period. The two works by De Meester are of particular interest since they were seldom performed, and perhaps never recorded except in this rare example. |
