Last week on Saturday night, I – along with a bunch of bored humans throughout Europe – watched the Eurovision. It was not good, but let’s be honest that what we watch it for; nice dose of old-school kitsch.
After this remarkably low-brow Saturday night – I did watch the Hangover movie before, so it’s not the first one – I decided it would be a good idea to go to the Southbank Centre on Sunday afternoon for an event titled Ligeti and Electronics.
We got treated to a lecture on the beginning of electronic music and the original experimenters – with Ligeti at the centre – back in the 50s in Germany from Royal College of Music lecturer Michael Oliva.
So turns out, Ligeti is from Hungary – makes total sense when you see his first name, György. Once he escaped communist Hungary – back in the days, cool kids did not like communists – he went to Cologne in Germany. And there, with his new buddies – including Stockhausen – he tried his hand at electronic music.
Now, have you ever seen any film by Hayao Miyazaki? Yes – if not, do watch them, they’re great – well then imagine he made a horror movie. And this is what early experimental electronic music sounds like – which I discovered I am quite fond of; I say 12 points for Hungary with Ligeti.
I don’t usually go to not-course-related lectures, but I think I should and you should too. We’d learn lots of new things; and the best part is that you can find a bunch of those for free. Music and discovering new things for free – count me in!
If you want to get your ears acquainted with the wonders of 50s electronic and early surround technology, here’s the playlist of last week’s event.
What We See From The Cheap Seats 