Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special Collections

Electronic Music at Brandeis

The Robert D. Farber University Archives houses sound recordings of lectures, events and musical performances held at Brandeis University. This exhibit is comprised of some clips of performances recorded at Brandeis.

With funding from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., the University Archives has preserved a collection of pioneering electronic music recordings. These recordings have been reformatted from reel-to-reel tape onto CD. Many of the works were recorded at the former Brandeis Electronic Music Studio and date from the early period of American electronic music (1958-1968). Prominent composers such as Alvin Lucier, Ernst Krenek, Luciano Berio and John Cage were invited to the Brandeis campus to compose and perform their works. Many of the recordings are one-of-a-kind or represent the only known copies of particular versions of compositions because of the unique improvisional elements they contain.