The Origins of Electronic Music – A hands-on workshop with the forefather of synthesizers at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Germany
In the evening, when the university closes, the trautonium comes to life …
No, in this case it’s not a Hollywood flick, but pure reality.
But the trautonium, the original synthesizer from 1930, does have something to do with Hollywood: Do you know Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller »the birds« (1963). Do you know why this film frightens you so much?
This question is answered by Peter Pichler, today the only trautonium player who performs live on stage with this very complex instrument. with this very complex instrument, to students and other interested people at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne on Friday the 25.03.2022 from 19.00.
Electronic music is ubiquitous nowadays and is not questioned, especially by young people. questioned. But where does it actually come from? Who had the idea and why? Peter Pichler will bring not only a replica of a small trautonium from the series production of Telefunken, but also the big one – two manual Mixturtrautonium. He will present the instrument, its history and extraordinary sound possibilities, play some pieces from different genres live and set some film sequences to music live. Afterwards, all guests will have the opportunity to play the trautonium themselves.
… and when you go home, you will know why Hitchcock’s thriller scared you so much. You will, among other things, see and hear this film with different eyes and ears in the future.
Peter Pichler,
artist and musician from Munich, meets Oskar Sala as a young man, is absolutely fascinated and works out the art of playing the trautonium. Due to his classical education he is able to explore all facets of the instrument. He is currently probably the only artist in the world to perform the complex compositions created specifically for trautonium live on this forefather of techno and also scores films live on the instrument. In 2019, for the first time in its 90-year history, he took the trautonium out of Europe on a concert and lecture tour of Australia.
Registration formless to karl.ludwig@on-cologne.de