WGXC-90.7 FM
Experimental Composers: Oskar Sala
Mar 16, 2017: 1am - 2am
WGXC 90.7-FM: Radio for Open Ears
90.7-FM in NY's Upper Hudson Valley and wgxc.org/listen everywhere
http://www.wgxc.org/
wavefarm.org 1620-AM | Simulcast mid-6 a.m. and Saturdays on WGXC 90.7-FM.
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Produced by Clocktower Radio.
Oskar Sala, My Fascinating Instrument
Oskar Sala was a German physicist, composer and a pioneer of electronic music. He played an instrument called the Trautonium, a predecessor to the synthesizer. In 1929 in Berlin he studied piano and composition with composer and violinist Paul Hindemith. He also followed the experiments of Dr. Friedrich Trautwein, learning to play with Trautwein's pioneer electronic instrument, the Trautonium, adapting and mastering it. In the 40s and 50s, Sala (1910-2002) produced numerous electronic soundtracks for film directors including Rolf Thiele, Fritz Lang, and later the non-musical underscore for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. This 1990 recording documents the only independent release of his compositions for the instrument, and is introduced by John Duncan of Cross Radio.
"Experimental Composers" is produced by Clocktower Radio and broadcast in partnership with Wave Farm's WGXC 90.7-FM. Writes Clocktower Radio, "Performances from new and established musical innovators. The unfortunate and unintended messages that come attached to a title like Experimental Composers are many. Still it is one of the few labels to come out of the world of music that has not been co-opted by promoters, corporations, journalists, or lawyers. This one just seems to have anti-market goo on it. Hooray. It's also just bad English (as if to imply that these poor souls are themselves, in their flesh and blood, some kind of experiment and, perhaps, even expendable). And then there is the spectre of defying the wisdom of the great Edgar Varèse who said something like, 'I do not write experimental music. My experimenting is done before I make the music. Afterwards it is the listener who must experiment."
Oskar Sala was a German physicist, composer and a pioneer of electronic music. He played an instrument called the Trautonium, a predecessor to the synthesizer. In 1929 in Berlin he studied piano and composition with composer and violinist Paul Hindemith. He also followed the experiments of Dr. Friedrich Trautwein, learning to play with Trautwein's pioneer electronic instrument, the Trautonium, adapting and mastering it. In the 40s and 50s, Sala (1910-2002) produced numerous electronic soundtracks for film directors including Rolf Thiele, Fritz Lang, and later the non-musical underscore for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. This 1990 recording documents the only independent release of his compositions for the instrument, and is introduced by John Duncan of Cross Radio.
"Experimental Composers" is produced by Clocktower Radio and broadcast in partnership with Wave Farm's WGXC 90.7-FM. Writes Clocktower Radio, "Performances from new and established musical innovators. The unfortunate and unintended messages that come attached to a title like Experimental Composers are many. Still it is one of the few labels to come out of the world of music that has not been co-opted by promoters, corporations, journalists, or lawyers. This one just seems to have anti-market goo on it. Hooray. It's also just bad English (as if to imply that these poor souls are themselves, in their flesh and blood, some kind of experiment and, perhaps, even expendable). And then there is the spectre of defying the wisdom of the great Edgar Varèse who said something like, 'I do not write experimental music. My experimenting is done before I make the music. Afterwards it is the listener who must experiment."