Oram, Daphne
Oramics (2cd)
Daphne Oram is best known for her design of her Oramics system, and also for co-founding the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1957, but until now the only easily available piece of music by her on CD has been the 8-minute long 'Four Aspects.' There was also a 7-inch EP from 1962 on HMV, released as part of the Listen, Move and Dance series that was specifically designed to help children dance. Although the short pieces on this record are very basic it could be argued that this is the first ever electronic dance record! Now for the first time is a survey of nearly all the major pieces that she produced since her departure from the BBC in January 1959 until her final tape piece in 1977. The two and a half hours of music on this 2CD set covers the whole range of Oram's post BBC output. All of the music is electronic with some occasional use of real instruments, especially small percussion and piano frame. There is also some use of musique concrète techniques. The works fall roughly into the following categories: works for TV and cinema advertising, film soundtracks, music for theatre productions, installations and exhibitions as well as concert pieces and several studio experiments.