Oskar Sala

Oskar Sala (18 July 1910 – 26 February 2002) was a German composer and a pioneer of electronic music. He played an instrument called the Trautonium, an early form of electronic synthesizer. Early life Sala was born in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany. Sala studied physics at the University of Berlin between 1932 and 1935. He helped to develop the “Volkstrautonium”, a Trautonium that Telefunken hoped to popularize. In 1935 he built a “Radio-Trautonium”, and in 1938 a portable model, the “Konzerttrautonium”. Oskar Sala was a soldier during the Nazi era. He was on the Eastern Front during World War II, where he was injured. Mixtur-Trautonium In 1948, Sala further developed the Trautonium into the Mixtur-Trautonium. Sala’s invention opened the field of subharmonics, the symmetric counterpart to overtones, so that a thoroughly distinct tuning evolved. Pioneering music therapist Maria Schüppel studied and worked with Sala during the 1950s. Sala presented his new instrument to the public in 1952 and would soon receive international licenses for its circuits. That same year, Harald Genzmer delivered the score to the first Concert For Mixtur-Trautonium And Grand Orchestra. In the 1950s Sala also b