In the 1950s and 60s, the new sounds of electronic music emerged from academic laboratories in Europe and the United States. The motivations were self-consciously experimental, artistic, and technical.
In Cologne, Germany, one great innovator was the powerful theorist and teacher KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN. One of his surprising early discoveries was that unlike acoustic instruments, abstract electronic sounds seemed to create the impression of cosmic space. "In my imagination," Stockhausen said, "I can fly anywhere—to the stars—use the music as a flying device, to unify with the cosmic forces. I think it's important that...we are instruments ourselves, and that cosmic vibrations create sounds through us." It was the beginning of what we now call Electronic Spacemusic.
Today, inexpensive instruments and recording software allow anyone to create electronic music, and the sounds of space are all around us — in music and film, games and video. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, another cosmic-electronic journey, on a program called STARSCAPES.
Music is by VANGELIS, MICHAEL STEARNS, DAVE LUXTON, JIM OTTOWAY, JONN SERRIE, and JAJA (JANA ROCKSTROH).
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