Radio Cologne Sound

“This volume, meticulously crafted and richly illustrated […], would fail in its aim—despite its scholarly rigor—to honor the studio as an integral and unifying ensemble of technicians and composers if it did not also include both past and present recollections from all those involved.”
– Markus Bandur (info-netz-musik)

Rarely has a radio institution left such a mark on music history in such a short time. Founded in 1951, the WDR Studio for Electronic Music quickly made headlines, at times transforming the city of Cologne into a metropolis of new music that attracted more than just composers. Radio Cologne Sound traces the studio’s eventful history through essays, audio recordings, images, and personal memories: from the golden ’50s and ’60s through periods of openness and stagnation to its late heyday. Three portraits are dedicated to the studio directors Herbert Eimert, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and York Höller. Additional texts shed light on the intense interplay between technology and aesthetics, teamwork in the studio, international influence, and the crucial question of performance practice: How does electronic music make it to the stage when the technology is long past its prime? At the heart of the book is the sound of “Radio Cologne”: 28 tracks across five CDs take us on a journey through half a century.

CD 1
1 Heinz Schütz Morgenröte (1952) 2 Karel Goeyvaerts Compositie Nr.5 met zuivere tonen (1953) 3 Gottfried Michael Koenig Klangfiguren I (1955) 4 Giselher Klebe Interferenzen (1955) 5 Karlheinz Stockhausen Gesang der Jünglinge(1955–56) 6 Franco Evangelisti Incontri di fasce sonore (1957) 7 György Ligeti Articulation (1958) 8 Herbert Brün Anepigraphe (1958) 9 Mauricio Kagel Transición I (1958–59) 10 Herbert Eimert Epitaph for Aikichi Kuboyama (1960–62)

CD 2
1 Johannes Fritsch Fabula rasa (1964) 2 Michael von Biel edition (1964) 3 Karlheinz Stockhausen Mikrophonie II(1965) 4 Peter Eötvös Mese (1968) 5 Mesías Maiguashca Listen (1969)

CD 3
1 Nicolaus A. Huber Aion (1968/72) 2 Henri Pousseur Lob des Langen Marsches (1972–73) 3 Winfried Jentzsch Cellomusik (1972/74) 4 Rolf Gehlhaar Fünf deutsche Tänze (1975) 5 Thomas Kessler Dialoge (1977)

CD 4
1 Iannis Xenakis La Légende d’Eer (1977–78) 2 York Höller Schwarze Halbinseln (1982) 3 Michael Obst Chansons(1986) 4 John McGuire Vanishing Points (1988)

CD 5
1 Youngi Pagh-Paan Tsi-Shin-Kut(1991/1994) 2 Jonathan Harvey One Evening… (1993–94) 3 Luc Ferrari Porte Ouverte sur Ville (1994) 4 Marco Stroppa Zwielicht (1994–99)

German and English

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