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March 02, 2023
OSKAR SALA & THE TRAUTONIUM
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1
München
Start: 6:30 p.m
Closed event!
The event begins with a greeting from the head of the research institute, Prof. Dr. Helmuth Trischler. Three new publications on Oskar Sala will then be presented: the seminal work "Oskar Sala als Instrumentenbauer" by Peter Donhauser, the facsimile of a unique report by Oskar Sala on the early history of the trautonium from 1936, by Silke Berdux, the curator of the musical instruments department and Peter Donhauser, as well as the findbook to Oskar Sala's estate, which is located in the archive of the Deutsches Museum.
The musician and Trautonium specialist Peter Pichler will provide musical accompaniment to the event and talk to Peter Donhauser and Silke Berdux about his Trautonium and how it is played.
January 14, 2023
TRAUTONIUM & FILM:
A VOYAGE TO THE MOON
Orgelpark
Gerard Brandtstraat 26
1054 JK Amsterdam
Netherlands
Start: 8:15 p.m
Peter Pichler sets music to the film "A voyage to the moon" (1975) by Manfred Durniok live at the Mixturtrautonium.
The film was commissioned by NASA from original film material with different scenes from the various US moon flights, some of which were never shown, and was set to music by Sala exclusively with Trautonium sounds. The film was hardly ever shown.
November 23, 2022
THE TRAUTONIUM
Memory work. On the institutional history of the Berlin University of the Arts
Concert Hall of the Berlin University of the Arts
Hardenbergstrasse / corner of Fasanenstrasse
Start: 8:45 p.m
Admission free
Lecture and concert as part of the series of lectures on institutional history at the UdK Berlin. Peter Pichler talks to Christina Dörfling and Jan Thoben about the origins of the trautonium in the university's radio testing center in the 1930s. He then gave a concert on the original synthesizer, which explored the instrument's most diverse, then groundbreaking, sound possibilities.
06 October 2022, Leiden NL
"The Birds" by A. Hitchcock
Hooglandse Kerkgracht 17a
2312 HS Leiden
Netherlands
Start: 8:15 p.m.
Peter Pichler accompanies Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" live at the Mixturtrautonium at the invitation of the Leidse Salon as part of a series of concerts on the theme of "The Birds in Music".
Background: "The Birds & The Trautonium"
Alfred Hitchcock had almost finished filming his new horror film The Birds (1963) and still couldn't find a sound that he found frightening enough. One day, however, William Russel, his sound director, burst into his office in complete disarray and yelled, "Hitch, we've got our sound!"
He had received test recordings of Oskar Sala's Mixturtrautonium through his agent in the USA, Remi Gassmann. Hitchcock later said in an interview that at that moment he thought the pressure was just too much for Russel and he'd finally snapped.
However, Hitchcock was very quickly taken by the possibilities of the new electronic instrument and commissioned Oskar Sala in Berlin to do a test recording of the scene in the attic within three weeks - the most intensive sound scene in the film.
Oskar Sala met the taste of the director and got the job.
Hitchcock never specified how a sound should sound. Rather, he very aptly and concisely formulated the effect that the setting of a certain scene should have on the audience as an objective. This was of course a nice challenge for the artist and composer Sala, giving him all the freedom he needed.
Of course, the cooperation between the USA and Germany turned out to be quite complex, if only because of the logistics. The film tapes had to go to Mr. Sala's studio so that he could cut the sound in sync with the film. In addition, there was the unpredictable customs duty and, in general, a different approach to work on the different continents. In short: It was a hot ride! The audio tracks were only finished after several days and nights of work at the very last minute before Hitchcock's visit to Berlin.
Hitchcock traveled with Bernard Herrmann, who was engaged as a sound consultant for this film, to Oskar Sala in Berlin for four days for final corrections and approvals and later said "All I did was listen for four days and bring in one or the other change. After that I retired to St. Moritz to relax.”
In this, his most avant-garde film in particular, Hitchcock explored the limits of what was possible: by casting the leading role with a then completely unknown actress, with unknown visual effects and also with revolutionary electronic noise compositions on the mixturtrautonium.
07 October 2022, Arnhem NL
Journey to the origins of electronic music
Bonifatiuskerk
Huissensedijk 10
6842 AK Arnhem
Start: 7:30 p.m
Admission free - donations requested
Peter Pichler and Imelle Dohle, singer from Arnhem, play classical works for Trautonium as well as works from their past together in their post-punk avant-garde band "Blackmail"
A special evening at the beautifully situated Bonifatius Church in Emden, Arnhem.
