Joseph Schillinger (1895-1945), was a man way ahead of his time. In the 1930’s he wrote that in the not to distant future, old school orchestra instruments will be all but forgotten museum peices. The author of The Schillinger System of Musical Composition and The Mathematical Basis of the Arts maintained that sonically the instruments in the orchestra are flawed. The combination of these instruments was simply just the best they had available to cover all frequencies and were totally inadequate. He was a friend of Lev Theremin and he wrote the first piece for the Theremin. He was also involved in the conception of the Rhythmicon, an early drum machine. He foresaw instruments that could create any frequency and timbre electronically. He believed that technology would render the antiquated orchestral instruments of the completely obsolete.
He was right.
Schillinger also believed that, using the principles set out in his System of Musical Composition and The Mathematical Basis of the Arts, that music could be described in new ways.
He used these principles to paint music.
