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.
Oskar Sala
A.Savin · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 18 July 1910
- Birthplace
- Greiz, German Empire
- Died
- 26 February 2002
- Place of death
- Berlin, Germany
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- composer · musical instrument maker · musician
- Fields
- classical music
- Education
- Königlichen Akademischen Hochschule für Musik
- Teachers
- Paul Hindemith
- Honours
- German Film Award
- Languages
- German
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q84647 · wikipedia · Oskar Sala
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 18 July 1910 • Birthplace — Greiz, German Empire • Died — 26 February 2002 • Place of death — Berlin, Germany
Early life
Early life
Sala was born in Greiz, Thuringia, Germany. He studied piano and organ during his youth, performing classical piano concerts as a teenager. In 1929, he moved to Berlin to study piano and composition with composer and violist Paul Hindemith at the Berlin Conservatory. He also followed the experiments of Dr. Friedrich Trautwein, at the school's laboratory, learning to play with Trautwein's pioneer electronic instrument, the Trautonium. On 20 June 1930 Sala and Paul Hindemith gave a public performance at the Berliner Musikhochschule Hall called “Neue Musik Berlin 1930″ to introduce the Trautonium. Later Sala toured Germany with the Trautonium; in 1931 he was the soloist in a performance of Hindemith's Concert for Trautonium with String Quartet. He also soloed in the debut of Hindemith student Harald Genzmer's “Concert for Trautonium AND Orchestra”. 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
Mixtur-Trautonium
• Illustration — Mixtur-Trautonium, 1952 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 built the Quartett-Trautonium.
Identity
Identity
Oskar Sala is recorded as composer, musical instrument maker and musician.
Oskar Sala 1996.
Photo:Peter Pichler · This image has been extracted from another file
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2002
Oskar Sala died at Berlin.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Greiz.
Birth place
Berlin.
Death place
Film work
In the 1940s and 1950s, he worked on many film scores. In 1958, he established his own studio at Mars film GmbH (4th incarnation) in Berlin. It was there that he produced electronic soundtracks for such films as Veit Harlan's Different from You and Me (1957), Rolf Thiele's Rosemary (1959), and Fritz Lang's Das Indische Grabmal (1959). He created the non-musical soundtrack for Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds. He received many awards for his film scores, but he never won an Oscar. He also did much work on German commercials, most notably one referred to as HB's little man. He was an honorary Senator of Berlin.
Legacy
On 18 July 2022, Google celebrated his 112th birthday with a Google Doodle.
Discography
• Trautonium-Konzerte • (Wergo WER 286 266–2) • Harald Genzmer's Konzert für Trautonium und Orchester (Concerto for Trautonium and Orchestra) (1938/39) and Konzert für Mixtur-Trautonium und großes Orchester (Concerto for Mixtur-Trautonium and Large Orchestra) (1952) • My Fascinating Instrument • (Erdenklang 90340) • Contains his own compositions, dating from 1955 to 1989 • Subharmonische Mixturen • (Erdenklang 70962) • Contains Paul Hindemith's Langsames Stueck für Orchester und Rondo für Trautonium (Slow Piece for Orchestra And Rondo for Trautonium), Sala's own compositions, dating from 1992 to 1995, and his soundtrack to Der Wuerger von Schloss Dartmore (The Strangler of Castle Dartmore) • Elektronische Impressionen • (Telefunken 6.40023 AP) • Hindemith's 7 Triostuecke für drei Trautonien (7 Triopieces for three Trautonien), Konzertstueck fuer Trautonium und Streicher (Concertpiece for Trautonium And Strings) written in 1931 and recorded in 1977. Also contains Sala's Elektronische Impressionen (Electronic Impressions), 1978. • Resonanzen • (1970, re-release 1994, Originalton West OW027) • Contains Suite für Mixtur-Trautonium und elektronisches Schlagwerk and Resonanzen: Konzertante Musik für Mixtur-Trautonium und Elektronisches Orchester.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Oskar Sala”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q84647: Oskar Sala
General reference · Wikidata
Literature
• Peter Donhauser (2007). Elektrische Klangmaschinen. Boehlau Vienna (in German). • Peter Badge (2000). Oskar Sala:Pionier der elektronischen Musik. Satzwerk, 100pp. • Pablo Freire / Audionautas (2011/2012). Oskar Sala. El último artesano. Parts 1234 (in Spanish)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Oskar Sala, revision 1327587413 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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