Sound in Z: Experiments in Sound and Electronic Music in Early 20th-Century Russia - Smirnov, Andrey (London Sound & Music Koenig, 2013)
Sound in Z supplies the astounding and long-lost chapter in the early story of electronic music: the Soviet experiment, a chapter that runs from 1917 to the late 1930s. Its heroes are Arseny Avraamov, inventor of Graphic Sound (drawing directly onto magnetic tape) and a 48-note scale; Alexei Gastev, who coined the term bio-mechanics; Leon Theremin, inventor of the world's first electronic instrument, the Theremin; and others whose dreams for electronic sound were cut short by Stalin's regime. Drawing on materials from numerous Moscow archives, this book reconstructs Avraamov's Symphony of Sirens, an open-air performance for factory whistles, foghorns and artillery fire first staged in 1922, explores Graphic Sound and recounts Theremin's extraordinary careercompiling the first full account of Russian electronic music.
Keywords: 20th Century (1901-2000); Music history; Electronic music; Russia