Constraints and Freedom: A Conversation with Georg Katzer

This interview sheds light both on a composer and on a hitherto overlooked field, the evolution of electroacoustic music in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly called East Germany). This latter focus is vital insofar as little of it, if anything at all, is included in established histories of electroacoustic music. These typically take Cologne, Paris, or New York, together with the associated institutions and composers, as starting points, with nary a word for the GDR or elsewhere. The composer Georg Katzer was a key personality in this era. In this conversation he discusses the genesis of electroacoustic music in the GDR, the influences of studios from other countries, the development of the electronic musical instrument known as the Subharchord, establishing a studio (under conditions which, despite adversity, also gave rise to results of a distinctive charm), formal affiliations with international organizations, and much more.