Morton Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic mu… Read Full Bio ↴Morton Subotnick is one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music and an innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive computer music systems. Most of his music calls for a computer part, or live electronic processing; his oeuvre utilizes many of the important technological breakthroughs in the history of the genre.
The work which brought Subotnick celebrity was Silver Apples of the Moon. Written in 1967 using the Buchla modular synthesizer (an electronic instrument built by Donald Buchla utilizing suggestions from Subotnick and Ramon Sender), this work contains synthesized tone colors, striking for its day, and a control over pitch that many other contemporary electronic composers had relinquished. There is a rich counterpoint of gestures, in marked contrast to the simple surfaces of much contemporary electronic music. There are sections marked by very clear pulses, another unusual trait for its time; Silver Apples of the Moon was commissioned by Nonesuch Records, marking the first time an original large-scale composition had been created specifically for the disc medium - a conscious acknowledgment that the home stereo system constituted a present-day form of chamber music. Subotnick wrote this piece (and subsequent record company commissions) in two parts to correspond to the two sides of an LP. The exciting, exotic timbres and the dance inspiring rhythms caught the ear of the public -- the record was an American bestseller in the classical music category, an extremely unusual occurrence for any contemporary concert music at the time. It has been re-released on Wergo cd with The Wild Bull.
The next eight years saw the production of several more important compositions for LP, realized on the Buchla synthesizer: The Wild Bull, Touch, Sidewinder and Four Butterflies . All of these pieces are marked by sophisticated timbres, contrapuntal rich textures, and sections of continuous pulse suggesting dance. In fact, Silver Apples of the Moon was used as dance music by several companies including the Stuttgart Ballet and Ballet Rambert and The Wild Bull, A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur and The Key to Songs, have been choreographed by leading dance companies throughout the world.
The work which brought Subotnick celebrity was Silver Apples of the Moon. Written in 1967 using the Buchla modular synthesizer (an electronic instrument built by Donald Buchla utilizing suggestions from Subotnick and Ramon Sender), this work contains synthesized tone colors, striking for its day, and a control over pitch that many other contemporary electronic composers had relinquished. There is a rich counterpoint of gestures, in marked contrast to the simple surfaces of much contemporary electronic music. There are sections marked by very clear pulses, another unusual trait for its time; Silver Apples of the Moon was commissioned by Nonesuch Records, marking the first time an original large-scale composition had been created specifically for the disc medium - a conscious acknowledgment that the home stereo system constituted a present-day form of chamber music. Subotnick wrote this piece (and subsequent record company commissions) in two parts to correspond to the two sides of an LP. The exciting, exotic timbres and the dance inspiring rhythms caught the ear of the public -- the record was an American bestseller in the classical music category, an extremely unusual occurrence for any contemporary concert music at the time. It has been re-released on Wergo cd with The Wild Bull.
The next eight years saw the production of several more important compositions for LP, realized on the Buchla synthesizer: The Wild Bull, Touch, Sidewinder and Four Butterflies . All of these pieces are marked by sophisticated timbres, contrapuntal rich textures, and sections of continuous pulse suggesting dance. In fact, Silver Apples of the Moon was used as dance music by several companies including the Stuttgart Ballet and Ballet Rambert and The Wild Bull, A Sky of Cloudless Sulfur and The Key to Songs, have been choreographed by leading dance companies throughout the world.
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Silver Apples of the Moon
Morton Subotnick Lyrics
No lyrics text found for this track.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
如月
曲號：124
曲名：月亮上的銀蘋果
作曲家：莫頓. 薩波尼克
A. 風格源頭：在60年代接近尾聲時，已經有很多作曲家在電子音樂這領域做。此時的電子樂器還是單音的，必須與其它已錄制的旋律結合才能製作音樂。
B. 有趣之處：營造出的飄浮的效果，彷彿失重狀態一般，還有冰冷的音色，似乎是茫茫太空的死寂與荒涼的寫照。
C. 作曲年代：1967年
D. 價值感：相比60年代中期之前的電子計算機音樂，《月亮上的銀蘋果》已經達到了前所未有的成
熟。
E. 風格形式：通過電子計算機發出的各種無規律的、出乎意料的音響，勾勒出一個超現實主義的幻
想世界。
F . 本樂曲的重要性與影響：是第一個依靠電壓控制制作的作品，獲得了廣泛的注意，也是第一個特別為錄音而準備的作品，在合成器上實現。
G. 作曲的對象與可能的社會背景：1969年，人類第一次登上了月球，開創了世界歷史的新紀元，然而人類的想像力卻比這更早就登上了月球，並且想像中的月球遠比真實的月球更富有詩意。
。
Catperson1013
When I was a freshman in high school, in 1969, our music teacher -- she was a religious sister, but I forget her name -- introduced us to electronic music by playing this record. Now, forty-two years later, because the title stayed in my memory all these years, I am able to hear it again on You Tube! Truly amazing to be able to hear it again for the first time in more than four decades!
Omega Lamda
@Mr. Melody TM wtf naw, Subotnicks got this in ‘33 OK!
angry asian dad
Must have blown your damn mind.
Circling Our Fate
I'm so sorry you had to hear this once, let alone twice.
Ruben Araiza Porras
@Mr. Melody TM Silver Apples son muy buenos.. tengo ese CD y lo disfruto al igual que este trabajo de Morton Subotnik... Que interesante historia de esa monja.
Anakrony
Somewhere in a parallel universe this is pop music. The world was never ready for this incredible sound.
Hello Everything
@Mr. Melody TM #CONGRATULATIONS for making me #CRINGE
purplenumberF
two entirely different genres, approaches, and results simply using the same kind of simple oscillator sound & yeats reference, dude
Mr. Melody TM
Nice try. Highly #OVERRATED. Listen to the group #SIVERAPPLES from 1967 with their home-brew electronic sounds and you will be delighted way beyond this #MORTONSUBOTNICK #COLUMBIAPRINCETON BS.
Enrique I. Moreno
This piece remains profoundly relevant today, after decades of newer electronic and computer music. It clearly has the freshness of discovery and the playfulness of first encounters --and a certain unapologetic clumsiness in trying to find its own form. It also has an ungracious ending, as if implying that this could go on forever, but let's just finish and go home now, which--by the way--points to the greatest stumbling block of the entire genre, namely, that the vast majority of pure electronic art music suffers from the"never-ending" syndrome. Yeah, they wanna be art music, but they end up joining the Harts of Space (an old radio show where they would play slow ambiance electronic "space" music that could go on for hours). The old Castilian adage: "lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno" (if something is good and brief, then it is twice as good) applies in the negative with clockwork regularity to 99% of this repertoire, and so, with the piece lasting 4:22:00, Subotnick taps on the outer limits of what his own form can contain.