Symphonic Songs

Following his seminal release Sand in 1977, Swedish experimental composer Ragnar Grippe worked on various art and performance commissions, often returning to Stockholm during the summer months to focus his efforts on his compositional practice. It was there at the famed EMS Studios where he began employing the Buchla synthesizer and the facilities multi-tracking capabilities as new instruments to map his mining of sound and movement.

During the late 1970's, Grippe formed a creative collaboration with choreographer Susan Buirge, specifically writing compositions for her works "Restes" and "Tamis", thus pushing Grippe to start working in a more intricate studio environment. In 1980, Grippe holed up at EMS Studios with the Buchla synthesizer and emerged with a new commission for Susan Buirge later formally titled Symphonic Songs and used in her avant-garde theater piece "Ci-Déla" which debuted in Paris in 1981. Symphonic Songs showcased Grippe's sound au courant, pushing dense against sparse, calm into cacophonous, using each track as it's own intersecting plane. Since it's live theater debut over 37 years ago, Dais Records releases for the first time Symphonic Songs, one of Grippe's most ambitious compositions to date.