Finding Aid for Sever Tipei Music and Papers, 1944-2019 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Title: Sever Tipei Music and Papers, 1944-2019

ID: 12/5/78

Primary Creator: Tipei, Sever (1943-)

Other Creators: Beauchamp, James W. (1937-2022)

Extent: 15.15 cubic feet

Arrangement:

Organized in five series:

Series 1) Computer Music Project Administrative Records is arranged chronologically.

Series 2) Sever Tipei Personal Papers constists of two subseries: Subseries 1) Adiministrative Papers, including grant applications, conference presentations, and faculty appointments, organized chronologically; Subseries 2) Sheet Music, Scores, and Concert Programs, organized alphabetically by title.

Series 3) Coursework and Instructional Materials consists of two subseries: Sub-series 1) Sever Tipei's Course Materials, organized by course number; Sub-series 2) James Beauchamp's course materials and articles. Course files are arranged numerically by course number, with remaining course content following original order at the end of each sub-series.

Series 4) Performance Recordings and Digital Audio Tapes (DAT) is arranged alphabetically by title.

and Series 5: Computer Music Project Technology is unarranged.

Date Acquired: 06/28/2021

Subjects: Beauchamp, James (1937-2022), Brün, Herbert (1918-2000), Cage, John (1912-1992), Composers, Compositions-Music, Computer Music, Computer Software, Course Materials, Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Hiller, Lejaren (1924-1994), Illiac Computers, Illinois Arts Council, Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), International Computer Music Conference, Martirano, Salvatore (1927-1995), Music, School of, Music-Theory, National Endowment for the Arts, School Records, Xenakis, Iannis (1922-2001)

Formats/Genres: Correspondence, Experimental Music, Musical instruments, Posters

Languages: English

Consists of sheet music, audio recordings, correspondence, administrative records, concert programs, course files for both Sever Tipei and James W. Beauchamp, data discs, and Putney VCS3 Synthesizer, documenting the work of composer and music theorist Sever Tipei and his work with the University of Illinois' Computer Music Project (CMP).

Sever Tipei (1943- ) was born in Bucharest, Romania on November 1, 1943. He earned degrees in piano performance and composition from the Bucharest Conservatory (now National University of Music at Bucharest) in 1967. In 1971 he began a program in aesthetics at the University of Paris. After he immigrated to the United States in 1972 he began his DMA in composition at the University of Michigan, Tipei graduated in 1978 at which point he applied for and received US citizenship.

After graduating in 1978, Tipei earned a position in the Composition area at the University of Illinois' School of Music. He became a full professor in 1992. In 1993, alongside James Beauchamp, he established the University of Illinois' Computer Music Project. MP1, his program for computer-assisted composition in use between 1973 and 1998, was the first such program to be implemented on a supercomputer ( NCSA 's CRAY X-MP), in 1986. Sever Tipei also had a Faculty Appointment (visiting scientist) at the Argonne National Laboratory between 1994 and 2003.

In collaboration with Hans Kaper, Senior Mathematician (now retired), at Argonne Tipei worked on developing an Environment for Music Composition (EMC), that included software for composition, sound synthesis, automatic music notation, and visualization of music in a virtual environment. Tipei and Kaper have also pursued the sonification of complex scientific data. A more recent project, DISSCO, a Digital Instrument for Sound Synthesis and Composition, available on Github.com represents a unified approach to composition and sound synthesis. In 2021, he retired from the School of Music, but continues to teach courses in informatics as an affiliate faculty member in the School of Information Sciences.

Beauchamp, James (1937-2022)
Brün, Herbert (1918-2000)
Cage, John (1912-1992)
Composers
Compositions-Music
Computer Music
Computer Software
Course Materials
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department
Faculty
Faculty Papers
Hiller, Lejaren (1924-1994)
Illiac Computers
Illinois Arts Council
Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM)
International Computer Music Conference
Martirano, Salvatore (1927-1995)
Music, School of
Music-Theory
National Endowment for the Arts
School Records
Xenakis, Iannis (1922-2001)

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Sever Tipei

Acquisition Method: Gift