Henk Badings (1907-1987).
This edition of Electronic Frequencies presents a selection of electronic works by Henk Badings.
Badings studied mining engineering at the Technical University of Delft and graduated with honors in 1931. Aside from receiving instrumentation lessons from Willem Pijper in 1930, Badings was a self-taught composer. His electronic works form only a small part of his entire body of work, which also includes opera, film music, symphonies, vocal music, chamber music pieces, and works for wind orchestra.
According to musicologist Leo Samama, Henk Badings is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. Samama praises him as “a versatile artist who effortlessly transitions from serious concert music to the style of the great American wind bands, from electronic music to educational collections, from extensive and dramatic choral works to works for amateur orchestra. His musical style, lyrical and somber, heroic and exuberant, dramatic and effective, remains ever-present and leaves its mark on every score. What Badings wrote between 1930 and 1960 is internationally renowned.”
The majority of Badings’ electronic works were written between 1956 and 1961. During that time, he collaborated with pioneers such as Dick Raaijmakers and Tom Dissevelt at the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium. Badings conducted research on electronic sound sources and the relationship between tempo and duration, making use of computers as well.
With electronic tools, Badings experimented with a 31-tone system, dividing the octave into 31 tones. He composed several works for the 31-tone organ, known as the Fokker organ, which was built by Adriaan Fokker in Haarlem. His electronic opera ‘Salto Mortale’ (1959) received recognition at the music festival in Salzburg.
An remarkable composition in tonight’s selection is the Capriccio for violin and electronic accompaniment from 1959, which was the first work in the Netherlands to combine the playing of a traditional instrument with electronic parts on tape. And another standout track is Dialogues for Man and Machine 1958 in which you can hear vocal art by Ramses Shaffy who later became better known as a chansonnier and songwriter. Incidentally, this piece recycles earlier work by Badings.
His last electronic work is Kontrapunkte from 1970. He continued composing until two years before his death in 1987.
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Tracklist:
00:00 – 00:43 | Electronic Frequencies Intro
00:44 – 09:32
Genese, Music for Five Audio-Frequency Oscillators – Slow Movement (1958)
Album: Genese, Music for Five Audio-Frequency Oscillator
Label: Philips – 835 056 AY – 1960
09:33 – 13:14
Introduction / Dance / Dance of the Destructive Forces (1958)
Album: Henk Badings – Electronic Ballet Music “Cain And Abel”
Label: Philips – ABE 10073 – 1958
13:15 – 20:31
Capriccio for Violin and Two Soundtracks (1959), Joke Vermeulen, Violin
Album: Badings – More Electronic Music By Badings
Label: Basta – 30-9172-2 – 2009
20:32 – 24:00
Ragtime (1958)
Album: Henk Badings – Evolutions
Label: Cacophonic – 4CACK-A – 2013
24:01 – 44:23
Dialogues for Man and Machine (1958), Ramses Shaffy, voice
Album: Badings – More Electronic Music By Badings
Label: Basta – 30-9172-2 – 2009
44:24 – 50:28
The Woman of Andros – Guest Meal (1959)
Album: Badings – More Electronic Music By Badings
Label: Basta – 30-9172-2 – 2009
50:29 – 54:05
Conflict / Reprise (Arioso) (1958)
Album: Henk Badings – Electronic Ballet Music “Cain And Abel”
Label: Philips – ABE 10073 – 1958
54:05 – 59:59
The Woman of Andros – Farewell Chrysis (1959)
Album: Badings – More Electronic Music By Badings
Label: Basta – 30-9172-2 – 2009
