What does PBM consist of? – A Guide to the Polish Music Library
SCORES
Continuing our presentation of the sheet music resources of the Polish Music Library, we would like to present some examples of electronic music, i.e. music that uses electric instruments and devices that electronically transform or generate sound. You can find such pieces by selecting the “electronic music” option in the “select topic” filter tab.
Electric instruments
One of the most popular electric instruments is the guitar (the construction of which can be found in our Pictures section here), used in popular music, but also by contemporary Polish composers, such as Paweł Mykietyn in his Wyliczanka for three voices and nine instruments.
Another popular electronic instrument is the analogue or electronic synthesiser. It can be found in Paweł Malinowski’s through the youth of these things for ensemble, electronics and objects, Sławomir Kupczak’s Pełnia for Rhodes piano, string orchestra and electronics, and in Marcin Stańczyk’s A due, where we can hear both a Fender Rhodes synthesiser and an analogue Moog P37.
A universal electronic instrument that can be programmed in any way is the MIDI keyboard. An example of its use can be found in Aleksander Nowak’s Breaking news.
Tape
It is a pre-recorded audio material that is played back during a live performance by the instruments playing their parts. It is interesting to see how composers record this tape. For example, Zygmunt Krauze includes a dynamic chart in his scores (see De ira, de dolore for electronic sound and eight instruments or Rivière souterraine 3 for solo piano, electronic sound and chamber orchestra). Andrzej Krzanowski, in Relief IX ‘Scottish’ for string quartet and tape, notes specific pitches on the stave, while Krzysztof Knittel, in De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine for mixed choir and tape, only includes information about the use of tape and dynamic markings.
Did you know that…
…in 1957, thanks to Józef Patkowski, the Polish Radio Experimental Studio was established in Warsaw – the cradle of 20th-century Polish avant-garde music, represented by, among others, Bogusław Schaeffer, Elżbieta Sikora (check out Lisboa, Tramway 28. Hommage à Fernando Pessõa for saxophones and tape) and Włodzimierz Kotoński. It was also there that he composed his famous Etiuda na jedno uderzenie w talerz [Etude for One Strike of the Cymbal] – a flagship example of Polish concrete music.
We encourage you to explore the sheet music resources and compare scores, compositional strategies and trends in 20th and 21st-century music.
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