7th September 2007 10:30am

Dr. Warren Brodsky

Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Joseph Schillinger: Music Sciences or Musical Science Fiction.

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Joseph Schillinger (1895-1943) is a cult figure among music theorists. He composed over thirty pieces including the first known work for an electronic instrument and orchestra (1929), and is best known as the teacher of George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Vernon Duke, Oscar Levant, Charles Previn, and Carmin Coppola. Aspects of the Schillinger System have been so pervasive that they constitute a hidden and unacknowledged undercurrent on American popular music from the 1930s. Unfortunately, Schillinger’s music and theories suffered a bizarre and almost total eclipse after his death. However, Schillinger was a music-scientist receptive to new technologies and experimentation. He helped solve the problem of artistically coordinating sound track with film track, patented inventions that pioneered the rhythm box and color organ, and co-developed the first electronic synthesizer with Theremin (manufactured by RCA in 1930). His treatise describing the mathematical basis of art was heralded by Einstein and Russell. Schillinger systematically applied his theories to music (composition & orchestration), art (painting & model-making), design (architecture, graphics, textiles & fashion), dance (movement & choreography), photography, and cinematography. His written works, methodologically arranged and preserved in their original looseleaf binder form, were published posthumously. His personal notebooks and manuscripts, which have not been available for scrutiny, are filled with evidence about the developing world of 1930s Americana.
The presentation outlines Schillinger’s biography with musical recordings and movie snippets from his own personal library. The presentation will reveal his thoughts and discoveries as configured and annotated daily in his personal notebooks. Finally, the presentation will list contentions against his legacy and provide a framework to which these disputes can be resolved.



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