Film and Sound, not Film with Sound

Throughout the poem, pictures were depicted on the interior walls of the pavilion. These pictures were in all black and white. They were very abstract, not seeming to have anything to do with the other photos. The pictures also seemed to be synchronized with the sounds that were projected through the speakers. So that each picture had a certain sound to with it, and each time that picture appeared, so did that sound.


Here are a few examples of the pictures that were shown. 

In his book "Music: An Appreciation," Robert Kamien explains that Corbusier seemed to have assigned thematic sections to the film:

Below is his analysis of the thematic sections to their corresponding sounds.  

0 - 60"	Genesis
61 - 120"	Spirit and Matter
121 - 204"	From Darkness to Dawn
205 - 240"	Man-Made Gods
241 - 300"	How Time Moulds Civilization
301 - 360"	Harmony
361 - 480"	To All Mankind

The sequence of sounds in Varèse's composition:

0"	1.	a.	Low bell tolls. "Wood blocks." Sirens. Fast taps lead to high, piercing sounds. 2-second pause.
43"		b.	"Bongo" tones and higher grating noises. Sirens. Short "squawks." Three-tone group stated three times.
1'11"		c.	Low sustained tones with grating noises. Sirens. Short "squawks." Three-tone group. 2-second pause.
1'40"		d.	Short "squawks." High "chirps." Variety of "shots," "honks," "machine noises." Sirens. Taps lead to
2'36"	2.	a.	Low bell tolls. Sustained electronic tones. Repeated "bongo" tones. High and sustained electronic tones. Low tone, crescendo. Rhythmic noises lead to
3'41"		b.	Voice, "Oh-gah." 4-second pause. Voice continues softly.
4'17"		c.	Suddenly loud. Rhythmic percussive sounds joined by voice. Low "animal noises," scraping, shuffling, hollow vocal sounds. Decrescendo into 7-second pause.
5'47"		d.	Sustained electronic tones, crescendo and decrecendo. Rhythmic percussive sounds. Higher sustained electronic tones, crescendo. "Airplane rumble," "chimes," jangling.
6'47"		e.	Female voice. Male chorus. Electronic noises, organ. High taps. Swooping organ sound. Three-note group stated twice. Rumble, sirens, crescendo (8 minutes and 5 seconds)."

The film-sound medley was not just a film being played with sound, and therefore is not film WITH sound but film AND sound. Or rather, pictures, themes, and sounds. The pictures were a separate entity from the sound that was played, but when the two joined came together to make a theme.

Ummm....Can you notate that for me?

If the "music" that the audience hears is sounds, is it notated? 

It is indeed! Below is the notation for Poème électronique. 

I admit my analytical skills are not proficient enough to really analyze this notation, as I would have thought it was a map of the Grand Canyon. But it is interesting that it is notated and that someone can, perhaps, make a replica of the poem. 

The sounds were played through approximately 425 speakers, that were placed in various places throughout the pavilion.  This created a sense of "surround sound" for the listener, an aspect of that was not introduced until this point.

Is this music?

 Is this music? Would you buy this record? The music for the piece was composed by Edgard Varese. He was a french composer who spent the later half of his life in the United States. He is noted for his use of, and experimentation with timbre and rhythm, a culmination which he called "organized sound." He is also known as the "father of electronic music. " You can recognize him below by his long, parachute-y hair. 

While the audience entered and left the pavilion Iannis Xenakis' composition Concrèt PH was heard. 

Once the audience was in the pavilion they heard Varese's composition, which consisted of sirens, honks, machine noises, voices, bongo sounds, chimes, etc.  These sounds were based on spatialization, which is the "use of the localization of sounds in physical space as a compositional element in music, in sound art, and in sound editing for audio recordings, film, and video. " This means that the sounds seemed to come from a certain sound source instead of just a stereo so that the sound almost felt 3 dimensional.  To really implement this idea of spatialization, the sounds were synchronized with a film/photos.

 

Physically, what is this?

Philips Pavilion, where one was to experience the poem, was designed as a celebration of the technological progress made after World War II. Philips, an electronics company in the Netherlands, commissioned Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, who is also known as Le Corbusier, to build the pavilion, that would eventually house this spectacle.  Le Corbusier was a Swedish architect and painter, who was known for his "modern architecture." 

Le Corbusier envisioned that it would be a "poem in a bottle," which is thus reflected in its architecture.  The "building" is comprised of nine hyperbolic structures or paraboloids to create the a-symmetrical,  cylindrical, almost cone-like shape.

Interestingly enough, Pringle chips are an example of hyperbolic paraboloids. 

What is Poème électronique?

Poème électronique is a experiential piece written by Edgard Varèse for the Phillips Pavilion of the 1958 Brussels World Fair. 

Ok, so now we know when and why the piece was written but does that tell us what the piece is? You tell me! It will be different for everyone.  Please watch the piece below, so that you will know what I am discussing later on. 

Now that we are on the same page, I will discuss the various aspects that comprise Poème électronique, try to define what the piece is as a whole, and discuss the impact that it had electronic music after it's premiere.