Europe seen from the air
Symphonia Heroica (1962) is a sonic interpretation of a highly experimental and Dadaist-inspired poem by the Danish poet Johannes Weltzer. In the text Weltzer depicts various European countries and cities as observed from the air. The portayal is fair from idyllic: The poem maintains a bleak tone and draws a critical potrait of modern cities.
Pade has used classical electronic musical elements like sine waves and white noise to set the text to music. We also hear siren-like wails, serving as a illustration of the First World War, and beeping tones which sound like Morse code. The soundscape is abstract and atmospheric and Symphonia Heroica stands as a meticulously crafted and thoughtful creation.
Elektronic music for experimental theatre
Else Marie Pade created incidental music for one of the first performances at the theatre Aarhus Student Scene, an ambitious theatre aiming to present "the great works of world literature" and "experimental novelties" to the audience. Pade created a 12 minute work for the play Eha (The Prodigal Son) by the Russian author Arthur Adamov. On the new release, this work is presented both in the original version and a new reconstructrion made by Jonas Olesen (co-editor of the EMP Series), because the original reel-to-reel tape contains long and very abrupt pauses. But since the music for Eha forms the basis for her later work Etude 1 from 1962, there is a good basis for filling in the gaps.
Finally you can also hear the work Cayennepeber (Cayenne Pepper) from 1962, a short piece of incidental music for the play of the same name, written by the French poet René de Obaldia. The play takes the form of a dialogue between two convicts, but beyond this there is no real plot. Pade's purely electronic piece is, quite atypical for her, almost traditionally melodic! At the beginning, the French national anthem La Marseillase is heard and later, a series of other simple melodies are played with the same sound resembling an electric organ.