Chapter 11 Electronic Music Performance Instruments (1920– 40).

Episode 150

Chapter 11 Electronic Music Performance Instruments (1920– 40). Works Recommended from my book, Electronic and Experimental Music 

Welcome to the Archive of Electronic Music. This is Thom Holmes.

This podcast is produced as a companion to my book, Electronic and Experimental Music, published by Routledge. Each of these episodes corresponds to a chapter in the text and an associated list of recommended works, also called Listen in the text. They provide listening examples of vintage electronic works featured in the text.

The works themselves can be enjoyed without the book and I hope that they stand as a chronological survey of important works in the history of electronic music. Be sure to tune-in to other episodes of the podcast where we explore a wide range of electronic music in many styles and genres, all drawn from my archive of vintage recordings.

There is a complete playlist for this episode on the website for the podcast.

 

Playlist: ELECTRONIC MUSIC PERFORMANCE INSTRUMENTS (1920– 1950)

 

Time

Track Time

Start

Introduction –Thom Holmes

01:35

00:00

1.     Luigi Russolo, “Serenata” (1924). Mechanical noise-intoners and orchestra.

02:01

01:38

2.     Leon Theremin, “Deep Night” (1930). The inventor playing his own instrument.

01:48

04:16

3.     Orchestra Raymonde, “Romantique” (1934). Song featuring the Electronde, an instrument based on the Theremin made by Martin Taubman.

02:55

06:06

4.     Edgard Varèse, “Ecuatorial” (1934). Scored for chorus, small orchestra, organ, and two Ondes Martenots. Performance under the direction of Pierre Boulez in 1983.

12:11

09:00

5.     Paul Hindemith, “Langsames Stück und Rondo für Trautonium” (1935). Oskar Sala played the Trautonium.

05:29

21:02

6.     Olivier Messaien, “Oraison” (1937) for Ondes Martenot and orchestra.

07:43

26:34

7.     John Cage, “Imaginary Landscape No. 1” (1939). Radios and turntables playing test signals.

08:37

34:14

8.     Slim Galliard Quartet, “Novachord Boogie” (1946). Featured the Hammond Novachord organ/synthesizer.

02:57

42:50

9.     Lucie Bigelow Rosen, “That Old Refrain” (1948) for Theremin and piano.

03:25

45:48

10.   Miklós Rózsa. “Subconscious” from Spellbound (1948). Musical score for the Alfred Hitchcock film featuring Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman on Theremin.

02:07

49:14

11.   Clara Rockmore, “Valse Sentimentale” (Tchaikovsky) (1977) for Theremin. Later performance of the famous Thereminist from the 1930s-1940s.

02:07

51:22

 

Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes.

My Books/eBooks: Electronic and Experimental Music, sixth edition, Routledge 2020. Also, Sound Art: Concepts and Practices, first edition, Routledge 2022.

See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation.

For a transcript, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

Original music by Thom Holmes can be found on iTunes and Bandcamp.