Karl-Birger Blomdahl knew at an early stage that the Mima-sections of the opera would be made up of electronic music. Towards the end of the 1950s, electronic music was widely discussed in Sweden. Blomdahl knew that electronic music would create a new tonal world, but there were conflicting opinions concerning the genre. Blomdahl was an avid fan and saw that electronic music was the music of the future.
In 1959 there wasn’t a electronic music studio in Sweden. The sounds for Aniara were produced in a basic studio at the Swedish Radio with the assistance of two sound engineers. The only tools used were a tape recorder, the radio effect archives, a control panel and some sinus tone generators.
When the Mima first emerges in the opera, it’s with the sounds of the cosmos, as if other spacecrafts are passing by outside the Aniara. In the second section the sounds were developed using a combination of recorded heartbeats and crystal items such as bowls, lamps and glassware. For the third and final Mima tape Blomdahl wanted high and bright tones and recorded Margareta Hallin’s voice as the role of The Blind Poetess. The voice was then copied and duplicated in different speeds to create a dreamlike tone fabric.
The Mima Tapes – 01
The Mima Tapes – 02
The Mima Tapes – 03
