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Show Musician composes electronically For Vladimir Ussachevsky, one of the fathers of electronic music and this year's composer-in-residence at the University, a tape recorder provides pro-vides a medium to create compositions directly in sound. "The composer uses individual notes or musical passages for his sound materials which can be manipulated on the tape recorder. The major concept of electronic music is that any sound in the world can serve as sound material for the composer." said Dr. Ussachevsky. Creating new sounds from electric generators is a new way of composing; electronic music must be thought of as a new branch of music," he said. Dr. Ussachevsky was born of Russian parents in 191 1 in Hailar, Manchuria, China. He received his primary and secondary education in Russian Gymnasium in Manchuli, China. In 1931 he came to the United States where he received his B.A. from Pomona College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. In 1947. he joined the faculty at Columbia University. He now has the rank of professor of music. Prior to 1951 Dr. Ussachevsky wrote a number of compositions for conventional instruments, ranging from piano pieces to a large work for orchestra and chorus. In 1951 he started experi menting with tape-recorded sounds. He became a major contributor to the electronic revolution in music. "My first experiments were simple transpositions of low and high sounds made by changing the speed of the tape recorder. Being trained as a composer, I approached the sounds changed on the recorder as material for composition. My experiments experi-ments resulted in an unconventional method of composing. Conventionally, a composer started with instruments and ended with a recording. Now, we start with a recording and finish with a recording," said Dr. Ussachevsky. Some of Dr. Ussachevsky's experimental works were included in a program of his compositions at the Composers' Forum Concert in 1952. The next seven years, a period of collaborations with Otto Luening, resulted in three joint woks for tape recorder and orchestra, a score for Orson Welles' production of "King Lear" and several tape pieces. "Sonic Contours," "Piece for Tap Recorder" and "Linear Contrasts" comprise the best known works from this period. Dr. Ussachevsky, who has lectured at more than 150 colleges and universities all over the world, will present a lecture-demonstration Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Union Ballroom. |