The great label out of the United Kingdom, Cacophonic, has released another fascinating album. "Electronics" is music by composer Remi Gassmann, and this is music for a ballet called "Electronics" choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine in the year 1961. Gassmann worked with Oskar Sala, another composer, who had access to an early electronic keyboard called the Trautonium. Eventually, the duo was hired by Hitchcock to add aural effects for his "The Birds."
Never seen the ballet, which had moderate success in 1961, the music on this disc is wide-screen imagery through the ears. It's not musique concréte or even experimental. The music to me has orchestrational abilities, but a preference to sound that is electronic. At the time, many were exploring real live instruments or sounds from the world and then transforming them through electronic or tape manipulations. "Electronics" is a work that is entirely electronic, but does use tape manipulations with the original sound of machines. For the listener in the 21st century, these are unusual sounds, but I imagine for the viewer (of the Ballet) and listener it must have been revolutionary. An interesting document, and essential for those who are interested or collect electronic music. What I'm slowly finding is that there is a whole world of sound that was made from the 1940s to the early 1960s (and before & beyond of course) that is worth the time and effort to listen and acknowledge its importance.
