The Orchestra as a Resource for Electroacoustic Music On some works by Iannis Xenakis and Paul Dolden

Abstract

Iannis Xenakis' tape work Hibiki-Hana-Ma (1970) was composed only using extended recordings of orchestral passages. In this paper some analytical remarks are proposed concerning the studio techniques Xenakis adopted and how they reflect in the resultant sonorities. I shortly discuss, too, Below the Walls of Jericho (1988-89), a tape work by Canadian composer Paul Dolden, made of hundreds of instrumental lines layered together like a huge kind of orchestra. In considering these two works, I am interested in questions like: what makes this music "electroacoustic", rather than "orchestra music that was eventually recorded"? The answer leans on a number of observations concerning (a) perceptual/cognitive phenomena ("emergent sonorities" and "timbral residues" as due to variations of sonic density), and (b) technological devices adopted in the compositional process. A relevant implication is finally discussed: the notion that a clash or encounter takes place in this music between different musical technologies understood as cultural institutions - namely the "orchestra" and the "electroacoustic studio". Besides some common elements, the two works under examination in actuality reflect contrasting views of music technology in the creative process.