Poême électronique - Edgard Varêse & Le Corbusier

this piece was commissioned for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Sound by Varêse and images by Le Corbusier.



More information can be found here.

What I find especially useful for inspiration in designing the sound for Broken Bottles is the sparseness of the composition. I like the fact that each sound introduced is presented on its own, one after the other, so that each sound has its own moment in time to be digested.

I also love the fact that the sounds are not overt in their intention to match exactly what the images portray. When watching it, it gives me freedom to interpret the sounds and images to start to project my own emotions on to the piece.

I also appreciate the similarities between the idea of this piece being an electronic "poem in a bottle" and Gary McQuiggin's idea of Broken Bottles being a "film poem".

The piece was designed to be heard throughout the Philips Pavillion at the World's Fair, on 350 speakers, mapped over the whole architecture of the building. The strong use of sound and architecture resonate with me, as I'm currently attempting to establish a relationship between the sounds that I am composing with, with the strong images of architecture within Broken Bottles.