Various
Transitos Sonicos-musica Electronica Y Para Cinta
First compilation that brings together early electronic works by Peruvian composers.
Features works produced in international laboratories of prestigious centers such as the Instituto Di Tella,
Columbia-Princeton, and the Royal College of Music.
A unique aspect is the exploration between native instruments and electronic music.
This compilation offers a first overview of the early works of electronic and tape music created by Peruvians composers
between 1964 and 1984. This period marks a technical and aesthetic evolution that allows us to understand the
development of electronic music in the Peruvian context, from an initially internationalist model to a more situated
one.
The first phase occurs in the 1960s, when many composers migrated outside Peru in search of advanced training and access
to knowledge and infrastructure that the academic music scene in Peru could not provide. During these specialization
trips, Peruvian composers gained access to the languages of the international avant-garde of the post-war period. César
Bolaños traveled to Argentina, to the Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM) at the Instituto Di
Tella, where he produced an extensive body of work, including "Intensidad y Altura" (1964) for magnetic tape, the first
electronic work produced in the CLAEM electronic music laboratory. Similarly, Edgar Valcárcel was a CLAEM fellow and
also spent time at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York, where he composed, among other works,
"Invención" (1967) for magnetic tape. Enrique Pinilla also passed through there, composing "Prisma" (1967) for magnetic
tape. Alejandro Núñez Allauca was another CLAEM fellow, where he composed "Gravitación Humana" (1970).
However, several Peruvian composers faced the dilemma of how to continue these sonic explorations locally without
relying solely on specialization trips to access the infrastructure of major international laboratories. Due to the
inability to establish a laboratory for electronic music production in Peru during these early decades, given the weak
institutional framework of the academic music circuit and the absence of budget allocations for the National
Conservatory, it was rather private initiatives in recording studios that paved the way for the sustained production of
experimental pieces with electronic setups and media, largely oriented towards the production of music for film and
dance. This was accompanied by a notable interest in utilizing the sounds of native Peruvian instruments. This also
marked a shift from an internationalist model of electroacoustic music towards an openness to other types of sonic
experimentation
Composers such as Arturo Ruiz del Pozo, Luis David Aguilar, and Corina Bartra belong to this new period, which also
marks the emergence of an initial scene of experimental music and free improvisation. Ruiz del Pozo pursued a Master's
in Electronic and Film Music at the Royal College of Music in London, where he composed "Selvynas" (1978), part of his
series "Composiciones Nativas," concrete music pieces based on native Peruvian instruments. Upon returning to Lima, he
continued producing music for films using electronic sounds and setups. Luis David Aguilar also became involved in music
for film and television, composing, among other works, "Hombres de viento" (1978), the soundtrack for José Antonio
Portugal's film, which mixes native and Western instruments amplified and processed electronically. He would be one of
the first to have a private recording studio. Corina Bartra, after being part of various improvisation ensembles
alongside musicians such as Ruiz del Pozo and Aguilar, traveled to London where she took courses in composition and
electronic music, composing the mixed work "Aves en vuelo al sur" for voice, instruments, and tape in a private studio.
Sonic Transits: Electronic and Tape Music by Peruvian Composers (1964-1984) is part of the Essential Sounds Collection
series produced by Buh Records for Centro del Sonido, a website set up as a digital archive of Peruvian experimental
music and sound art.
The compilation has been curated by Luis Alvarado and is published in a limited edition of 300 copies in double vinyl
format. It includes extensive notes and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art and design by Gonzalo de
Montreuil.
Price
Genre
Format
LP - 1 disk
Release
27-09-2024
Label
Item-nr
1311186
EAN
2320105918900
Availability
Not in stock
Tracks
Title
Artist
1
INTENSIDAD Y ALTURA
CESAR BOLANOS
2
INVENCION
EDGAR VALCARCEL
3
PRISMA
ENRIQUE PINILLA
4
GRAVITACION HUMANA
ALEJANDRO NUNEZ ALLAUCA
5
SELVYNAS
ARTURO RUIZ DEL POZO
6
HOMBRES DE VIENTO
LUIS DAVID AGUILAR
7
AVES EN VUELO AL SUR
CORINA BARTRA