ELSE MARIE PADE (1924 - 2016)

The interview is by Jacob Kirkegaard and is in Danish. It took place via phone in 2014.

Else Marie Pade is considered the pioneer of electronic music and musique concrete in Denmark. During WWII she was part of a female resistance group figthing the German occupation of Denmark. She was captured by Gestapo and forced into a concentration camp. After the war she dedicated her life mainly to composing electronic music. In the 50s she visited Pierre Schaeffer in Paris and in the 60s participated in numerous courses at Darmstadt under supervision of Karl-Heinz Stockhausen. Over the following decades she worked at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation where she compsed her works with the help of her beloved radio technicians.
In this interview she talks about inspiration, drive, gender issues and the spiritual, as well as how she practically developed her works.

Released on December 2nd, 2020, the date where Else Marie Pade would have turned 96.
This interview is part of the TOPOS digital series and the catalogue number is Topos-201202
All rights reserved, 2020

 

Photos by Jacob Kirkegaard, 2012