Side I

Viewed from one angle, electronic music was an experimental activity. This is what we present in this first part of the book: a quest for unusual music made possible by electronic instruments.

Introduction to the First Chapter

Evolution of electronic music is a very murky field. As we will soon see, there isn't a clear perspective of what was actually happening and no single history of electronic music. What must be noted on the beginning however, is that panoramic view of XX century reveals four principal generations of widely listened orchestral composers: “tonalists” among last classical composers such as Stravinsky, Ravel, Messiaen and Copland; movie music composers of the next generation: John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Maurice Jarre, Jerry Goldsmith and others; the third generation composers – and the focus of this book – were mostly dealing with electronic orchestration, most notably Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and Andreas Vollenweider; and the latest current generation are techno and modern ethnic-inspired musicians, such as FSOL, Robert Miles, Prodigy, Adiemus, Enigma, Enya and many others.

We will now, in the first chapter, try to offer what I believe to be a true story of inception of electronic music.