Music TheoryPrint

PA

Paul Dolden

Paul Dolden (born January 23, 1956, in Ottawa, Canada), is an electroacoustic music composer, currently living in Montréal, Canada. Paul Dolden began his career at age 16 as a professional electric

Paul Dolden (born January 23, 1956, in Ottawa, Canada), is an electroacoustic music composer, currently living in Montréal, Canada. Paul Dolden began his career at age 16 as a professional electric guitarist, violinist, and cellist. Since age 29 he has won over twenty international awards for his music which is performed in both Europe and North America. His approach to audio technology is to use it as a platform to launch otherwise impossible musical performances, thereby making his computer behave like a virtual orchestra. His compositions are characterised by a maximalist aesthetic in which hundreds of digitally recorded instrumental and vocal performances are combined in multiple layers. Dolden’s early works employed a unified approach to timbral and harmonic variation, but under the influence of postmodernism, his concerns shifted to include the juxtaposition and superimposition of disparate musical styles. His Resonance Cycle of works (1992–96) are an example of this. In his Twilight Cycle Dolden investigated contemporary new music-melody and dance rhythms, genres not normally associated with electroacoustic music. Dolden’s 2-CD set, L’Ivresse de la Vitesse (empreintes DIGITA

Era
21st Century
Lived
1956–present
From
Canada
Born in
Ottawa
Known as
composer, violinist, guitarist