Around the same time as Philips was establishing the first Dutch studio for electronic music, Walter Maas, director of the Gaudeamus foundation for contemporary music, took steps that led to the founding of the Contactorgaan Elektronische Muziek (Electronic music contact organization), or CEM. From the outset, Gaudeamus has played a major role in researching and developing new technological possibilities for composers all over the world.
TIMELINE: GAUDEAMUS AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC HISTORY
‘... each sound, each structure is a promise…’ – Gottfried Michael Koenig
Festivals and international collaborations 1982 – 1996
1982 – 1991
Prize winners of the Concours International de Musique et Art Sonore Electroacoustique de Bourges are programmed annually during the Gaudeamus Music Week.
1984
The Association PEM – Producers Electronic Music (founded in 1970) is revived by Gaudeamus. PEM will be the Dutch Section of the CIME – Confédération Internationale de Musique Electroacoustique.
1989
Festival Modèles Sonores: the early years of electronic music.
1994
Festival BEAST – The acousmatic experience, with the Birmingham Electroacoustic Sound Theater
1994/95
NAEM: “A research and plan for the establishment and realization of a Dutch Archive for Electronic Music”, by Alcedo Coenen on behalf of Gaudeamus, Donemus, Geneco and Vereniging PEM.
1996
International Rostrum of Electroacoustic Music (in collaboration with UNESCO / IMC, NOS, STEIM) with a.o. the Cineac Sonore in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
2002: The Future of the Electric Muse
In 2002 the PEM foundation (Producenten Electronische Muziek) publishes a manifesto pleading for more investment in the future of electronic music in The Netherlands. Gaudeamus is co-author.
Read the manifesto (in Dutch) here
2006: Gabriel Paiuk
In 2006, Gabriel Paiuk wins the Gaudeamus Award with his electronic installation Res Extensa.
Festivals and international collaborations 1997 – 2020
1997
“Klankspeeltuin” (Sound playground) in collaboration with CEM during Gaudeamus Muziekweek.
2000
Festival Terza Prattica (in collaboration with the PEM)
2000
Release of PEM-CD “Dutch electronic music in the year 2000”
2001 – 2002
Prix Ton Bruynèl: programming winners during Gaudeamus Muziekweek
2006
Live Electronic Festival
Henk Heuvelmans, Gordon Mumma, Lin Jinn, Wu Jubei, Michel Waisvisz
2012/2013
Wave Field Synthesis: programming during Gaudeamus Muziekweek of the WFS-equipment i.c.w. the The Game of Life Foundation
2016
International Computer Music Conference i.c.w. HKU – Music & Technology
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BASED ON ‘WALTER MAAS & THE CONTACTORGAAN ELEKTRONISCHE MUZIEK: A LIFELINE FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN THE NETHERLANDS’ BY KEES TAZELAAR
From the outset, Dutch electronic music found itself in between two principal European trends: the musique concrète introduced by French radio in 1948 and the German elektronische Musik that emerged from 1951 onwards at the Cologne broadcast station. The first real Dutch electronic music studio was built in 1956, not by a broadcasting company but, remarkably enough, by the acoustics department at Philips Research Laboratories as part of a research program. Around the same time as Philips was establishing the first Dutch studio for electronic music, Walter Maas, director of the Gaudeamus foundation for contemporary music, took steps that led to the founding of the Contactorgaan Elektronische Muziek (Electronic music contact organization), or CEM.
LIGETI’S POÈME SYMPHONIQUE: THE PREMIERE IN 1963
On 13 September 1963, during the final concert of the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, the legendary piece ‘Poème Symphonique’ by Hungarian composer György Ligeti premiered, commissioned by Gaudeamus. A piece for 100 metronomes that are switched on simultaneously in different tempi, resulting in a polyrhythmic jungle.
Lecture: Development of electronic music in The Netherlands
Kees Tazelaar and Laura Agnusdei on the subject of the history of electronic music and developments in the contemporary field.
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