Artist	Song
Clara Rockmore	Saint-Saens: The Swan, The Art of the Theremin (1987)
Miles Davis	In a Silent Way/It's About That Time, In a Silent Way (1969)
Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony Orchestra	Morton Feldman: Cello and Orchestra, Coptic Light (1995)
Morton Subotnick with the California E.A.R. Unit	The Key to Songs, for two pianos, viola, cello, percussion and computer generated sounds (1986)
Wendy Carlos	Timesteps (excerpt), "A Clockwork Orange" Original Soundtrack (1972)

Comment:

This mix represents the continuing soundtrack to Mark Prendergast's book The Ambient Century. The comments below are derived from Prendergast's book (the notes on Clara Rockmore are in part from All Music Guide) and are taken from the second broad section which deals with the emergence and development of electronics in the world of composition.
Leon Theremin was born in 1896 in St. Petersburg. He invented the Theremin, an electronic instrument comprised primarily of an aerial which was not controlled by touch, but rather by waving one's hands. Theremin's friend, Clara Rockmore, a classical violinist, became its leading virtuoso. She developed a formidable technique on the inherently microtonal instrument; in her hands, the theremin was capable of playing almost in equal temperament.
In the early 1960's, while artists such as Ornette Coleman began experimenting with Free Jazz, Miles, in contrast, stood back and refined the melody down to a sound that was termed "The Cool." This new Ambient jazz would define jazz for all time and lead directly to Miles' work of the 1970's wherein he explored the fusion of jazz with rock music.
Often seen as the quiet man of American music, Morton Feldman created a body of work which provided an important bridge between Serialism and Minimalism, Impressionism and Ambience. He did this through delicate sounds of subtle and hushed stillness.
Subotnick is one of the great electronic pioneers. Born in Los Angeles in 1933, and seeing the rise of the RCA synthesizer system in New York, he wanted to make electronics more accessible to actual played music.
Carlos' 1968 electronic exploration "Switched-on Bach" made her one of the most famous electronic musicians in history. She is also one of the better known transexuals, as "Bach" was created when she was a man named Walter. After a 1972 operation, she became Wendy, began to explore various parameters of Ambient music and contributed to motion picture soundtracks.

Feedback: