Poème Électronique is an 8-minute piece of electronic music by composer Edgard Varèse, written for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. The Philips corporation commissioned Le Corbusier to design the pavilion, which was intended as a showcase of their engineering progress. The pavilion was shaped like a stomach, with a narrow entrance and exit on either side of a large central space. As the audience entered and exited the pavilion, the electronic composition Concret PH by Iannis Xenakis (who also acted as Le Corbusier's architectural assistant for the pavilion's design) was heard. Poème électronique was synchronized to a film of black and white photographs selected by Le Corbusier which touched on vague themes of human existence.
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Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris Director · Iannis Xenakis Production designer
First release April 16, 1958 · Produced in Belgium · Original title Poème Électronique
Production
Belgium
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Poème Électronique
Original language
French
Spoken on screen
French
Release dates
Belgium · April 16, 1958
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
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