updated 16 December 2020
© Jean-Louis Godefroid

André Stordeur

Belgian composer of electronic music born 1 March 1941 in Haine-Saint-Paul (Belgium); died 7 April 2020 in Brussels.

André Stordeur began his career as a jazz drummer in 1959, the year in which he became a member of a quartet led by John Van Rymenant. In the early 1970s, he shifted his focus to electronic music, which he discovered through the work of American composer Morton Subotnick. Stordeur went on to become a member of the Studio Voor Experimentele Muziek (S.E.M) Ensemble, founded in Antwerp by Joris De Laet, where he worked alongside composers Dirk Veulemans, Paul Andriaenssens, Karel Goeyvaerts, Lucien Goethals, and Serge Vostockt.

In 1973, he founded his own electronic music studio in Brussels, the Studio Synthèse. In 1977, he composed music for the film Office Baroque, a documentary about American architect Gordon Matta-Clark, directed by Eric Convents and Roger Steylaerts.

In 1979, he collaborated with Belgian composer Paul-Baudouin Michel at the Institut voor Psychoacustica en Elektronische Muziek (I.P.E.M.) studio (the electronic music studio at Ghent University) on the electro-acoustic work Phraséologie. In the same year, Igloo Records released the album 18 Days, containing works composed by Stordeur using an EMS Synthi AKS (a portable modular analogue synthesiser, released commercially in the early 1970s) and an SEM1 Oberheim (another type of analogue synthesiser from the mid-1970s).

In the early 1980s, Stordeur started composing exclusively on “Serge” modular synthesisers. Most frequently, he used a prototype Serge 1980, created especially for him by Serge Tcherepnin, founder of the Serge Modular Music Systems Company. Stordeur went on to become the official European consultant for this company.

In 1981, he composed the music for the documentary Du Zaïre au Congo [From Zaire to the Congo], directed by Christian Mesnil. In the same year, he studied at IRCAM with David Wessel while also teaching modular synthesis at the American Cultural Center in Paris. Subsequently, he travelled to the United States to study with Morton Subotnick.

Stordeur’s works are characterised by the presence of improvised elements and an exploration of sonic textures that are subsequently organised into experimental, abstract, and meditative compositions.

In 1997, he published The Art of Analog Modular Synthesis by Voltage Control: a guide to everything modular. From 1996 to 2005, he was the administrator of “The Analog Cottage,” a website dedicated to audio synthesis.

Record label Sub Rosa re-released his works in 2015.

He died in Brussels on 7 April 2020.


© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2020

Sources

SIte du compositeur ; site du label Sub Rosa

  • Electronic music / fixed media / mechanical musical instruments
    • elec Office Baroque music for magnetic tape composed for the film Office Baroque. Un projet de Gordon Matta-Clarke, directed by Eric Convents and Roger Steylaerts (1973-1977)
    • elec Aphrodisiac electronic music (1978-1979), 6 mn 57 s
    • elec C.C. 101.296 electronic music (1978-1979), 12 mn 16 s
    • elec Memories electronic music (1978-1979), 8 mn 46 s
    • elec My World electronic music (1978-1979), 7 mn 24 s
    • elec Nang Na Nang electronic music (1978-1979), 4 mn 57 s
    • elec Phraséologie electroacoustic composition in collaboration with Paul-Baudoin Michel (1979)
    • elec To You electronic music (1978-1979), 2 mn 41 s
    • elec Oh Well electronic music (1980), 35 mn 40 s
    • elec Chant 10a electronic music (1981), 16 mn 57 s
    • elec Du Zaïre au Congo electronic music for the documentary directed by Christian Mesnil (1981)
    • elec Clarinette solo electronic music (2000), 1 mn 55 s
    • elec Drone electronic music (2000), 13 mn 45 s
    • elec Karma electronic music (2000), 7 mn 52 s
    • elec Like Phil electronic music (2000), 5 mn 21 s
    • elec Nervous electronic music (2000), 7 mn 48 s
    • elec Raga electronic music (2000), 7 mn 54 s
    • elec Tablas electronic music (2000), 7 mn 25 s
  • 2000
    • elec Clarinette solo electronic music, 1 mn 55 s
    • elec Drone electronic music, 13 mn 45 s
    • elec Karma electronic music, 7 mn 52 s
    • elec Like Phil electronic music, 5 mn 21 s
    • elec Nervous electronic music, 7 mn 48 s
    • elec Raga electronic music, 7 mn 54 s
    • elec Tablas electronic music, 7 mn 25 s
  • 1981
    • elec Chant 10a electronic music, 16 mn 57 s
    • elec Du Zaïre au Congo electronic music for the documentary directed by Christian Mesnil
  • 1980
    • elec Oh Well electronic music, 35 mn 40 s
  • 1979
    • elec Aphrodisiac electronic music, 6 mn 57 s
    • elec C.C. 101.296 electronic music, 12 mn 16 s
    • elec Memories electronic music, 8 mn 46 s
    • elec My World electronic music, 7 mn 24 s
    • elec Nang Na Nang electronic music, 4 mn 57 s
    • elec Phraséologie electroacoustic composition in collaboration with Paul-Baudoin Michel
    • elec To You electronic music, 2 mn 41 s
  • 1977
    • elec Office Baroque music for magnetic tape composed for the film Office Baroque. Un projet de Gordon Matta-Clarke, directed by Eric Convents and Roger Steylaerts

Liens internet

(liens vérifiés en juin 2020)

Discographie

  • André STORDEUR, Complete Analog and Digital Electronic Works 1978-2000, 3 CD Sub Rosa, 2015, SR395.
  • André STORDEUR, Analog and Digital Electronic Music #2 1980-2000, 1 LP Sub Rosa, 2015, SRV427.
  • André STORDEUR, Analog and Digital Electronic Music 1978-80, 2 LP Sub Rosa, 2015, SRV377.
  • André STORDEUR, Serge Raga, dans « Serge Modular Music. Now, the second Millenium », 1 CD Egres, 2004.
  • André STORDEUR, 18 Days, 1 LP Igloo, 1979, IGLOO 3.

Bibliographie

  • André STORDEUR, The Art of Analog Modular Synthesis by Voltage Control: a guide to everything modular, cours en 10 parties à lire en ligne, 1997 (lien vérifié en juin 2020).