EMP 2 presents two remarkable purely electronic compositions: Glasperlespil I & II (Glass Bead Game I & II). These works draw inspiration from Hermann Hesse's novel, The Glass Bead Game (1943), as well as a childhood toy that Pade treasured into adulthood, revealing her boundless inventiveness.
The toy, a frame with 12 by 12 compartments, allowed for the creation of endlessly intricate patterns with differently coloured glass beads. Pade's pieces reflect this concept, utilizing twelve 12-tone rows, each with 12 tones, and blending them in endless permutations throughout the works.
EMP 2 is released by Dacapo Records with liner notes by Jonas Olesen and art work by Studio Tobias Røder. The works are digitized by Hans Peter Stubbe Teglbjærg. Learn more and listen here.
Find the score for Glasperlespil I & II and many other works by Else Marie Pade here.
The new release is the second volume in the EMP Series, a collaborative effort between Edition·S and Dacapo Records. The series offers a fresh, exclusively digital perspective on Pade's extraordinary music, featuring numerous works that were previously unavailable or unmentioned in Pade's literature. These include 80 reel-to-reel tapes and a wealth of compositions and recordings from her tenure as an employee at DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation), which were discovered following her passing in 2016.