Otto Laske
Writings about Laske's Musicological and Compositional Work
Chadabe, J. (1997). Automata. In J.Chadabe, Electric Sound, chapter 10, 282-283. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Schüler, N. (1997). Otto Laske, in H.W. Heister & W.W. Sparrer (Eds.), Komponisten der Gegenwart, 11. Nachlieferung (1997). Munich, Germany: text + kritik.
Laske's first works (1964-70) were composed under the influence of Konrad Lechner, Renato de Grandis, & Karlheinz Stockhausen (Darmstadt) and, as for the contrapuntal writing, Avram David (Boston). Although all works composed during this period were created without the aid of a computer, Piano Pieces No. 1 & 2 were designed "top down," according to abstract principles. In the 1970's, electroacoustic works dominated. Use was made especially of Truax's POD program. However, many works of this period are only slightly influenced by thinking in terms of computer programs ( e.g., Quatre Fascinants). This changes with Perturbations for flute, clarinet, strings, piano, and percussion for which Koenig's Project One is used throughout. In the 1980's, wrote Laske music for tape as well as instrumental and vocal works, centrally employing Project One for all compositional media. A turning point is reached with Furies and Voices (1989/90), for which Truax's PODX is employed. In this way, the melodic-rhythmic configurations of Project-One based tape compositions of the 1980's were replaced by musical configurations yielding increasingly density- and tone-color based effects. This development continued into the 1990's. In this period, compositions are predominantly based on Laske's own poetry, as in the tape compositions TreeLink (1992) and TwinSister (1995), --compositions for the first time composed "bottom up," using the icon-based music system Kyma. However, for the String Quartet No. 3, Laske used Koenig's Project Two, returning to Project One for a piece for organ and percussion.
Most of Laske's instrumental works exhibit sophisticated color-intense contrapuntal writing. This characterization holds for his vocal writing as well. In his a cappella works (Kyrie Eleison, 1968; Nachtstücke, 1981 Des Menschen Seele, 1987), harmonic experiments are frequent. A primary interest in tone color is found in the tape pieces of the 1970's and 1990's, while works of the 1980's are often strongly contrapuntal. For Laske, music is primarily a medium of lyrical expression to which dramatic and epic elements remain subordinate. In all of its variability, his music has a highly personal character that is achieved by new technical means. It is music that strives for expressivity by way of construction, and such construction is implemented by way of dense coloristic as well as metric relationships.
N. Schüler (1995). Erkenntnistheorie, Musikwissenschaft, Künstliche Intelligence und der Prozeß: Ein Gespräch mit Otto Laske. Peenemünde, Germany: Axel Dietrich Verlag.
O. Laske (1993). A search for a theory of musicality. Languages of design 1.1, 209-228. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. (On the beginnings of cognitive musicology.)
Yavelow, C. (1991). Expanding Artistic Vision. In NEWCOMP: A Decade of Computer Arts. Newcomp, Inc. Needham, MA.
Batel, G. (1987). Zur Geschichte der Komputermusik. In G. Batel (Ed.), Computermusik. Laaber, Germany: Laaber Verlag, 49 f.
Roads, C. (1978). Composing Grammars. San Francisco, CA: International Computer Music Association.