Oskar Sala Trautonium early electronic instrument avant 1961 Balanchine Gassmann

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34

Electronic Works Created by the Oskar Sala Sound Studios-- Oskar Sala: Five Improvisations On Magnetic Tape (196?) / Remi Gassmann: Electronic Music to the ballet Electronics (1961) label & cat. no.:Westminster WST 14143 pressed in:USA date:1961 format:LP Vinyl: vg+ (looks barely used, couple faint scuffs and 1 tiny pressing imperfection bubble)
Cover: vg+ (minor wear, bottom seam has 1" center split)

description:
Original 1st stereo pressing of these pioneering experimental synth works performed by Sala on the Trautonium early electronic microtonal keyboard instrument, with compositions by Sala and ballet composer Remi Gassmann (Sala's partner on the soundtrack to Hitchcock's The Birds). The music on this disc is nothing short of amazing, extending the range of the polyphonic version of the Trautonium with further studio processing and tape-manipulations. Sala's own compositions are a set of brief studies ranging from atmospheric microtonal drones and melodies to rhythmic, percussive ditties betraying a sort of demented pop/jazz influence, all beautifully drenched in noise and reverb. Gassmann's sidelong piece is larger in scope and was made to accompany a performance by the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine; the composer writes, "in this work, electronic sound, the virtuoso possibilities of the electronic instrument, and the further manipulations and techniques of the electronic sound studio, are for the first time inextricably bound together." The Trautonium was invented in 1930 by Freidrich Trautwein and manufactured by Telefunken, and was further developed by Sala in 1952 with the addition of polyphonic capability; it attained a unique sound quality by means of subtractive synthesis, allowing a precise control of subharmonic frequencies. The performer plays the instrument by pressing wires against metal contact rails, adjusting knob- and pedal-operated filters, and controlling a "percussion unit".

artist info from album notes etc.:
Sala studied composition under Hindemith, worked with Trautwein to develop the Trautonium, created the soundtrack to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, and worked with Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. • Other composers who wrote for the Trautonium were Paul Hindemith (who also learned to play the instrument), Paul Höffer, Harald Genzmer, and Julius Weismann. • This record needs to be heard by anyone interested in early electronic instruments and composers like Edward Artemiev and the Synthesizer ANS, Robert Moog, Donald Buchla/Morton Subotnick, Clara Rockmore and the Theremin, John Eaton and the Syn-Ket, Olivier Messiaen and the ondes Martenot, the Ondioline, Raymond Scott, Bruce Haack, Henry Cowell, Hugh Le Caine, Percy Grainger, Herbert Eimert, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Bulent Arel, Otto Luening, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Edgard Varese, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tom Dissevelt, Dick Raaijmakers, Pierre Schaeffer, Luc Ferrari, Francois Bayle, Pierre Henry, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Gershon Kingsley, Tod Dockstader, etc., as well as microtonal instrument builders like Harry Partch, Ivan Wyschnegradsky, Easley Blackwood, Alvin Lucier, Terry Riley, Alois Haba, and Julian Carrillo.

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