Herbert Brün - Klänge Unterwegs und Anepigraphe, Über Musik und zum Computer (2022)

May 2022; long on the C.P. radar/wishlist (all but inaccessible until very recently) has been the replication-production of the original 1962/1971 LP/10" editions of storied German-American Electronic & Computer Music pioneer Herbert Brün's semi-Instructional releases, "Klänge Unterwegs Und Anepigraphe" (1961) & "Über Musik Und Zum Computer" (1971). Fate (and sympathy) have wrested their kind hands and copies of both were semi-permanently loaned to the C.P. P.T.B. with the express interest in seeing their contents reprised and disseminated in the now-familiar spec, and I'm glad to present this late-stage Creel Pone presenting Brün's work across the first three decades of his Compositional career, as it was originally issued during the vinyl era.

Taking up the majority of the first LP, "Klänge Unterwegs - Eine Komposition Und Ihre Herstellung Im Elektronischen Studio" (or "Wayfaring Sounds - a composition and its production in the electronic studio") is an extended meditation on both wanderlust and Composition, featuring narration and intent by Brün himself going over both the technical & aesthetic frameworks at play with tons of entirely fascinating sound-examples & fragments of the work in progress leading into the piece itself. In his words:

"Klänge Unterwegs" ["Wayfaring Sounds"] is the title of a composition for electronically produced sounds, and the heading of a collection of answers and comments to questions that most frequently arise in discussions about "electronic music". The record offers a brief introduction into the world of electronic sound as well as the compositions "Wayfaring Sounds" and "Anepigraphe". The supplementary text consists of various sections, in which I try to state my point-of-view on some of the questions that are brought up, time and again, by visitors that come to the studio or concerts and lectures. Music lovers, technicians and students of all faculties asked the most and the most interesting questions. In this way I have been able to deal with the subject more broadly, than would have been possible if I had confined myself to professional circles. It has become obvious that behind the simple question: "How does one produce electronic sounds?", usually lies hidden the more important questions, as to whether and how music can be created with electronic sounds. It is mainly this problem that I deal with here, and, therefore, I have called what I wrote "reflections more or less pertaining to the theme". The theme of all work in a studio for electronic music is music."

This set concludes with the 1957 piece "Anepigraphe," one of his towering early achievements. The first disc Continues in the somewhat narrative/instructional/demonstrative bent with the 1971 "Über Musik Und Zum Computer" set, casting examples of Brün's (then) recent work (much of which only appears here) as issued on a 10" record tucked into an issue of the "Orphica Critica" journal, featuring performances by Michael Ranta, AMM's John Tilbury, Neely Bruce, Percussion Group Cincinnati's William Youhass, & many others.

As something of an addendum to this vinyl-era Brün survey, I'm opting to include a replica of the original 1983 Private-Press "Compositions" set (complete with its 12-page booklet) across two discs; while much (but not all) of what's being presented here has appeared in the interim across a litany of regional surveys of his work, it's an incredible incentive to hear (and read about) the selection presented here in the early-80s as the Composer himself intended (the booklet alone is a must for any scholar of Brün's work). This separately-packaged double-disc set also includes a 1977 recording of the piece "More Dust" as issued on an Opus One boxed set dedicated to performances by the The Percussion Group Cincinnati as a "Bonus Track."