Inventing memory: Documentary and imagination in acousmatic music.

Abstract

The potential for sound recording to act as a surrogate for memory is evaluated in terms of its use in the composition of acousmatic music. Adapted from the writing of Walter Benjamin, sound recording of real-life events is regarded as presenting an 'aura of experience.' Discussion of acousmatic compositions by Jonty Harrison, Hildegard Westerkamp, John Cousins and Rachel McInturff preface an evaluation of the author’s own electroacoustic-radiophonic work ‘Ricordiamo Forlì’. The latter integrates historic recordings from the Italian Campaign of 1943-45 with contemporary recordings and digital sound transformations to evoke the true story of love between an 8th Army soldier and an Italian woman.