Roland Kayn

Roland Kayn (born 3 September 1933 in Reutlingen, Germany; died 5 January 2011 in Nieuwe Pekela, Netherlands) was a composer of electronic music. He is known for his lengthy works of cybernetic music. From 1952 to 1955 he studied composition and organ at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. From 1956 to 1958 he studied with Boris Blacher and Josef Rufer in Berlin. After 1960 he lived in Rome and then in Venice. In 1964 he co-founded the free improvisation group Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Beginning in 1970 he worked at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, (which later moved to The Hague) and lived in the Netherlands until his death in 2011. In 1995 he created the label Reiger-records-reeks to release his own works. His 14-hour composition A Little Electronic Milky Way of Sound (2009) was released on 16 CDs in October 2017 by the Finnish label Frozen Reeds. Since May 2020, the Kayn estate has released a recording every month on the digital distribution platform Bandcamp. At the current rate, they estimate that it will take 20 years for his complete catalog to be released. Since 2017, releases have been restored and mastered by Jim O'Rourke. 1977 – Simultan (Colosseum, 3 LPs) 1977 – Elektroakustische Projekte (Colosseum, 3 LPs) 1981 – Makro I–III (Colosseum, 3 LPs) 1981 – Infra (Colosseum, 4 LPs) 1984 – Tektra (Colosseum, 6 LPs) 1994 – Keyboard-Works 1 (Reiger-records-reeks, 2 CDs) 1995 – Works for Orchestra / Ensemble (RRR, 2 CDs) 1995 – Cybernetic Music (RRR, 2 CDs) 1997 – Cybernetic Music II (RRR, 1 CD) 1996 – Cybernetic Music III (RRR, 2 CDs) 1997 – Electronic Symphony I–III / Equivalence Sonore II–III (RRR, 2 CDs) 1998 – Electronic Symphony IV / Frottage – Minimax (RRR, 2 CDs) 1998 – Electronic Symphony V / Emissioni trasformati I–II (RRR, 2 CDs) 1999 – Electronic Symphony VI–VII / Frottage II (RRR, 2 CDs) 2000 – Electronic Symphony VIII–X (RRR, 2 CDs) 2000 – Gärten der Lüste / Cybernetics II / L’innominata (RRR, 2 CDs) 2003 – Ultra / Redunancy TR / Megaphonie (RRR, 2 CDs) 2004 – Requiem pour Patrice Lumumba / Interations / Composizione AD / Prismes Reflectes (RRR, 2 CDs) 2005 – Etoile du nord / Ghyress für Ilse-Emily Kayn (RRR, 2 CDs) 2006 – Invisible Music / Hommage à K.R.H. Sonderborg (RRR, 2 CDs) 2017 – A Little Electronic Milky Way of Sound (Frozen Reeds, 16 CDs) 2019 – Scanning (RRR, 10 CDs) 2024 – The Ortho-Project (Frozen Reeds, 15 CDs) 2025 – Elektroakustische Projekte & Makro (RRR, 5 CDs) 2020 The Man and the Biosphere Music for the Isle of Man Made in the NL After the Sixties and Beyond Sound-Hydra November Music Dino Concerto A Pan-Air Music 2021 Electronic Symphony I–III Matego I–II Electronic Symphony IV Accumulation Electronic Symphony V Xutus Electronic Symphony VI & VII Spectral Reflets du Spectral Extensity Zone Senza Silenzio Remake A Remake B Transit Cybernet AS & TLS Agila An Algorithm MA 71 2022 Impactions The Art of Sound Triades Contra-Compositie De-Compositie Atix Reversioni Comprimati Abstracta Mutenaces Cyber Panoramical Music Sonority ERT Audiogenic Events 2023 Otron Yellowings Conglomerations Rathan Ghyress Actual Basic Elements Oktrol Constellations Decares Sorales I Sorales II Superficies Residual Sounds La Ranar 2024 Hybriditys Demodulations Athary NLX TLS Random Distributions Electronic Stabile Areals Textures Les Characées Break Rotations Metaphysis Configurations 2025 Canthara Dispersions Sezarytes Othyrsis La Manerale Osmotic Sounds TLX The Segmentry Fields Kalamarho Cyrales Extary I Extary II 2026 Easy Music Les Variales Les Spirales Raccan Pericycles Cascades Réafférances "Biography". kayn.nl. Retrieved 19 October 2017. Spekle, Roland (5 July 2011). "Roland Kayn – Tektra". rolandspekle.nl. Retrieved 19 October 2017. Frere-Jones, Sasha (21 September 2017). "The Sound of Cybernetics: Roland Kayn And the Voice of Electricity". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017. "Monumental late piece by composer Roland Kayn set for debut release". The Wire. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017. Dayan, Levi (14 November 2022). "Rediscovering the Work of Roland Kayn, Overlooked Electronic Music Pioneer". Bandcamp Daily. Bandcamp. Retrieved 8 May 2023. "Austen Interviews Jim O'Rourke". The Needle Drop. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2023. Dayan, Levi (9 December 2022). "An interview with Jim O'Rourke". Unknown Rhythms. Retrieved 8 May 2023. Official website Roland Kayn at Bandcamp Roland Kayn discography at Discogs Roland Kayn discography at MusicBrainz