Who was Oskar Sala? Google doodle honours electronic music pioneer on 112th birth anniversary

Oskar Sala has built the Quartett-Trautonium, Concert Trautonium and the Volkstrautonium.

Google is honouring German composer and physicist Oskar Sala on his 112th birth anniversary in its latest doodle. Born on July 18, 1910 in Greiz, Germany, Sala is best known for his work in the field of electronic music and for creating sound effects for TV, radio, and films on a musical instrument called trautonium. His most famous work includes the eerie bird sounds in Alfred Hitchcock's ‘The Birds’ and in Rosemary (1959).

Google honours Oskar Sala (Google)

Sala was immersed in music since birth as his mother Annemarie (1887–1959) worked as a singer, and his father Paul (1874–1932) was an ophthalmologist who fostered his musical talent, wrote Google in its post. At the age of 14, Sala began to create compositions and songs on instruments - the violin and piano.

Later, he mastered the trautonium which further inspired his studies in physics and composition at school. The electronic music composer studied physics at the University of Berlin to further expand his knowledge of mathematics and natural sciences.

The German composer and physicist has won several awards for his work, done several interviews, met numerous artists, and was honoured in radio broadcasts and movies. Sala, in 1995, donated his trautonium to the German Museum for Contemporary Technology.

He also built the Quartett-Trautonium, Concert Trautonium and the Volkstrautonium. Sala's Volkstrautonium was presented to the public at the Berliner Funkausstellung radio exhibition in 1933.