Restoration of analogue tapes by Harrison Birtwistle & Justin Connolly

Peter Zinovieff (1933-2021) was a pioneer in the field of electronic music. He founded the Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969, which produced some of the most powerful early synthesisers, used by musicians of many genres. He also ran his own studio in Putney, London. The Putney studio was the most modern private studio in the world at the time, and in many ways a leader until its destruction by a flood.

Pianist Nicolas Hodges is particularly interested in the electronic music works by Harrison Birtwistle and Justin Connolly that were realised by Peter Zinovieff, as he worked with the estates of these two composers. His search for tapes eventually led Hodges to 15 Zinovieff recordings, scattered across several continents and in a state of disrepair – unboxed, mouldy and otherwise damaged, requiring urgent conservation. After recovering the tapes, Hodges personally met with musicologist Andreas K. Meyer to hand over the tapes in London. Meyer brought the tapes to New York, repaired and dried the tapes, and carried out archive transfers (352 kHz) on state-of-the-art equipment.

He was able to salvage the following recording, among others: Chronometer by Birtwistle: the only 8-track source and the first to consist of the original 2 uncoordinated 4-track tapes. Now the sound is significantly improved (for the first time without distortion) and there are 6 minutes more music.

Further archive transfers will be carried out during further restoration work after physical repairs and sound restoration: reduction of clicking and crackling noises, removal of dust on the tape head, elimination of wow and flutter, and remastering for research purposes and possible performances. Graphic scores will also be created from the new materials.

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is supporting the restoration of the analogue tapes of Harrison Birtwistle and Justin Connolly.

Further information:
hmdk-stuttgart.de