Buon Natale 1967 e Felice Anno Nuovo / Merry Christmas 1967 and Happy New Year by Pietro Grossi, 1967

Buon Natale 1967 e Felice Anno Nuovo / Merry Christmas 1967 and Happy New Year

Pietro Grossi

1967

Music/Sound

1 disc (7-inch, 45 rpm, mono) in die-cut folding card sleeve

Accompanied by promotional letter to Hans Åstrand.

The Listening Room

Description

This gramophone record from 1967 features a 4-minute, 30-second track generated and performed by a GE-115 computer. A promotional Christmas gift distributed by General Electric, the record is a remarkable relic from an era when major corporations supported avant-garde artistic experiments, which they understood to be effective marketing tools.

The record was produced by Olivetti-General Electric in Italy, where the pioneering electronic music composer Pietro Grossi was invited to develop his research on the GE-115 mainframe. With technical support from OGE staff member Ferruccio Zulian, Grossi and the team at his electronic music studio, the Studio di Fonologia Musicale di Firenze, devised programs for the computer to play classical music and generate original compositions.

The GE-115 experiments led to multiple records and live demos. According to the letter which accompanies it, this particular record—a 7-inch, 45 rpm disc with mono audio—was distributed to a small group of General Electric associates in Sweden.

GE-115 Computer Concerto by Pietro Grossi, 1967

GE-115 Computer Concerto Pietro Grossi1967 Sound

Computerchoreographie: strukturbild Aplomb by Otto Beckmann, 1967

Computerchoreographie: strukturbild Aplomb Otto Beckmann1967 Print

Random War by Charles "Chuck" Csuri, 1967

Random War Charles "Chuck" Csuri1967 Print

IEEE Spectrum October 1967 by A. Michael Noll, 1967

IEEE Spectrum October 1967 A. Michael Noll1967 Ephemera

Psalm of Peace Roman Verostko1967 Painting

Studies in Perception I (Reclining Nude) by Ken Knowlton, 1967

Studies in Perception I (Reclining Nude) Ken Knowlton1967 Print

Sun City Eduardo Paolozzi1967 Print

Red-Blue Structure by Zdeněk Sýkora, 1967

Red-Blue Structure Zdeněk Sýkora1967 Print