# The Sound of Machinery



## Forss (May 12, 2017)

This is a question that intrigues me greatly, I must admit, and I cannot seem to make up my mind as to where (or when) it, the answer, originates: In which composer do we begin to hear the sound of machinery (with regard to classical music, naturally)? That is: is it possible to locate the beginning of machinery, or rather: _Industry_, in a single composer? My claim would be Brahms, or otherwise that he was the very last composer to precede machinery.

What would you say, and why?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I don't hear it in Brahms, nor in composers after him (like Mahler and Sibelius). 

An obvious answer is Honegger (Pacific 231, 1923) or Mosolov (Iron foundry 1926), but I guess these are too literal for your purpose.


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

This is probably not the earliest example (1925), but it's definitely an example.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I would say Stravinsky.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Here's a nice train from John Adams.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I would say Stravinsky.


Also, Prokofiev.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A more literal one from Steve Reich.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I don't agree with the relatively modernistic presumption. Machinery only requires two or more parts, and man was whistling or tapping long before Early Music.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Well a lot of baroque music makes me think of machinery because so much of that music has consistent quavers and semiquavers


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> I don't hear it in Brahms, nor in composers after him (like Mahler and Sibelius).
> 
> An obvious answer is Honegger (Pacific 231, 1923) or Mosolov (Iron foundry 1926), but I guess these are too literal for your purpose.


Those are good examples for me. Probably Luigi Russolo should be mentioned for his innovative ideas about noise, altough since works like "risveglio di una città" has been lost there's not a lot to listen.
Anyway I think that the idea of ST4 is fascinating. I've often thought the same listening for instance to the counterpoints of the Art of the fugue.


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## Eschbeg (Jul 25, 2012)

Here are a pair of perhaps too-obvious works from the 1920s. First, George Antheil's _Ballet mécanique_:






And then Gershwin's _An American in Paris_. "City" is not quite the same as "machinery," but you do hear cars and traffic in this one.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Luigi Russolo, historically significant for pioneering the art of noise music. Personally, I do not consider it as art.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

It seems to me a fellow named Haydn wrote a symphony titled "The Clock".


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## Forss (May 12, 2017)

Perhaps my sentiment was more... subtle: In which composer do we begin to hear the sound of machinery, as in: in which composer has Industry made its inevitable imprint, without the composer himself being aware of it?

The opening bars of Brahms' _Symphony No. 3 in F major_ comes to mind, but I understand that this might be a most personal opinion.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Lots of sewing machines in Vivaldi...


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Bearing in mind that the world was going through an industrial revolution (and still is), it would be no surprise that 'machinery' influenced some early 19th/20th century composers and has continued to inspire composers today. Technology moves on. As has already been said, it certainly inspired Haydn. One of my favourite pieces of 'machine'-inspired music is this.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

If the heart could be considered a machine, it's incessant rhythm certainly influenced a great many composers. Beethoven, allegedly, was said to have used his heartbeat as a rhythm-generator and it's been suggested that he had an irregular heartbeat that can be heard in certain pieces (esp. the String Quartets). Others have suggested that his deafness, the use of a metronome (as a visual and aural aid) and the use of poor hearing aids produced a 'rhythmic noise' in his head that provided a 'pulse' for his music. Whether or not you agree with it, it's an interesting set of assumptions.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

KenOC said:


> Lots of sewing machines in Vivaldi...


And typewriters in Scarlatti?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Pat Fairlea said:


> And typewriters in Scarlatti?


Perhaps you can borrow Leroy Anderson's one.


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