The research project «The Performance Practice of Electroacoustic Music – The Studio di Fonologia years» examined canonical works of the electroacoustic repertoire, that were realized at RAI's Studio di Fonologia between the 1950s and the 1970s. This project’s goal was to study selected pieces, identify challenges and problems and establish specific criteria for their performance today.
The preservation of knowledge about the evolution of electroacoustic music and the original technical conditions under which it was performed is an essential prerequisite for developing an adequately informed interpretation practice for electroacoustic music today. The archive of the renowned Studio di Fonologia RAI Milano contains a significant number of canonic electroacoustic works by composers Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono, Bruno Maderna und John Cage that were created there between the nineteen-fifties and seventies. They undoubtedly represent an important part of European musical culture in the second half of the 20th century.
This project’s goal was to study selected pieces, identify challenges and problems and establish specific criteria for their performance today. The discussion of the specific works always included a summary of their genesis, an overview and discussion of surviving sources, a discussion of esthetic aspects and of issues related to performance practice. Selected works were performed in concerts concluding each workshop.
A publication presenting the findings of the workshops in detail is currently being prepared at ICST. According to a preliminary disposition, it will include essays on electroacoustic performance practice in a historical perspective, performance practice involving electronics and instruments, editions, scores and reconstructions of electroacoustic music, composition, spatiality and changing formats, practical perspectives and performance concepts, performance and authoriality in electroacoustic music. It will also include a review of literature on electroacoustic performance practice, as well as a discussion of the source problem in electroacoustic music. A complete transcript of the workshop sessions, as well as illustrations and historical documents will be included on CD-ROM.
In September 2014, a further research project on electroacoustic performance practice will be launched at ICST entitled «Performance practice of electroacoustic music - a practice-based exchange between musicology and performance». It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Main project partner is the Paul Sacher Stiftung (PSS), Basel. While building on the methodology of the first project, it greatly expands the practical focus, bringing together teams of musicologists and musicians in order to develop and validate performance concepts.