Peter Manning 1948–2022

Abstract

Peter Manning first established an international reputation with his book Electronic and Computer Music, originally published by Oxford University Press in 1985 and now in its fourth edition (Manning 2004). The book presents a detailed account of the technical and creative evolution of electronic music from its earliest days. Starting from Thaddeus Cahill’s 1897 patent application for the Dynamophone, it traces developments in North America and Europe and discusses a range of analogue techniques including tape manipulation and voltage-controlled synthesisers. Later chapters consider the digital revolution that followed, including developments in MIDI and digital workstations. In later editions, the sections on computer music were significantly revised and expanded to reflect the major and rapid transformation of the field. A distinctive feature of the book is the way it combines detailed historical information and thorough explanations of technical developments, often clarified by use of explanatory diagrams, with insightful accounts of the musical repertoire produced using this technology. The book was derived from Peter’s PhD thesis at Durham University in which he surveyed and analysed numerous contemporaneous texts documenting developments in minute detail.