Osaka Expo ’70: The promise and reality of a spherical sound stage

Sean Williams

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

The West German pavilion at the 1970 World’s Fair in Osaka included a spherical auditorium with sound and lighting technology designed at the TU Berlin. Stockhausen's music was played live by a group of musicians every day of the Expo, alongside pre-recorded music of Boris Blacher, Erhard Gro\ss kopf, Eberhard Schoener, Gerd Zacher and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

This paper uses technical designs, interviews, sketches, and correspondence to illuminate the experiences of this project from different perspectives and to connect Stockhausen’s theory and practice of using space as a compositional element with the practical realities afforded by the auditorium and the technology used in its design.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 27 Nov 2015
EventInsonic - Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
Duration: 26 Nov 201528 Nov 2015

Conference

ConferenceInsonic
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityKarlsruhe
Period26/11/1528/11/15

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Electronic music
  • spatial audio
  • electroacoustic
  • Stockhausen

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