The Fear of Noise - On the Relationship between Music and Noise in Radiophonic Composing during the Weimar Republic

When the Nordische Rundfunk AG introduced the first sound organ in radio in 1927, it attracted a great deal of attention. The new machine, director Bodenstedt proudly reported, was capable of producing the most complicated noises like an organ with any register required. Sounds could now be rhythmized and musicalized comfortably. This instrument represents numerous attempts to redefine the relationship between noise and music in the context of the radio culture of the Weimar Republic. Camilla Bork traces various approaches and examines composing with sounds, especially with regard to Walter Gronostay’s musical radio play Mord (Murder, 1929).