The history of electronic music is surprisingly long and deeply fascinating. Dutch station VPRO takes you on a journey back in time with the documentary ‘Poème Électronique’.
The VPRO documentary ‘Poème Électronique’ delves into the origins of electronic music, a history that reaches much further back than most people realize. In this documentary, part of OVT’s Het Spoor Terug, the curious Wisse Beets explores the boundaries of art, technology, and philosophy, seeking to understand the essence of sound and music. Unfortunately only in Dutch, but in case you master this language a ‘must’ for music lovers and history buffs.
Back to the 1950s
‘Poème Électronique’ explores the origins of electronic music, a story that predates what many might expect. Over a decade before Otis Redding famously sat “on the dock of the bay,” entirely electronic music was being composed and recorded in the Physics Laboratory in Eindhoven. This documentary takes listeners back to the 1950s, a time when composers were given the tools to write a new chapter in the history of music.
These new machines, initially not even designed for music production, enabled esteemed composers to experiment with sound and tone structure in a completely new way.
‘Poème Électronique’, Sunday, September 21, 11:25 AM, OVT, VPRO, NPO Radio 1. Also available as a standalone documentary in the ‘Het Spoor Terug’ podcast.
- Het Spoor Terug
- Poème Électronique
- Program maker: Wisse Beets
- Final editor: Katinka Baehr
vpro.nl/ovt
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Photo above © Koninklijke Philips N.V.: Philips Company Archives (unfortunately not accessible online).