EMS Proceedings and Other Publications
Musical signification in acousmatic works: the case of Eduardo Polonio
Elena Hidalgo
Elena Hidalgo, University of Huddersfield
elena@elenahidalgo.com
Article
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Abstract
Eduardo Polonio (b. 1941) is considered one of the pioneers of electroacoustic music in Spain working since 1966 as a composer in the first sound laboratories in the country. From 1965 to 1969 he attends the Darmstadt summer courses coming into contact with the latest trends in contemporary music. In 1969 he realised an intensive course at Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges (IMEB) in France where he discovered the potential of electronic instruments. Besides composing and performing, he founded Alea Música Electrónica Libre, the first Spanish group of live electronic music. Today, he is also a teacher, festival organizer, co-founder of the Asociación de Música Electroacústica de España (A.M.E.E), creator of his own Diáfano Estudio de Música Electroacústica laboratory, and author of various writings for conferences, symposia, seminars, journal articles and books. Throughout his career as a composer he was awarded the magisterium of the Grand prix Internartional de Musique Electroacoustique in Bourges (France) in 1994 and the III prize of the Spanish Sociedad General de Autores y Escritores (SGAE) in 2002. This paper analyses the extra-musical signification processes in most important acousmatic works of the Spanish composer which are concert works most representative of each decade with similar musical style. Their sound materials are based on exploration of timbre qualities and have great evocative power of images, stories and concepts.