2. “The Joy of Precision”: Mechanical Instruments and the Aesthetics of Automation

Abstract

On the evening of July 25, 1926, an unusual concert took place in the small Black Forest town of Donaueschingen, Germany. Presented as “original compositions for mechanical instruments,” the event featured three pieces by Ernst Toch, six “Polyphonic Études” by Gerhart Münch, and two works by Paul Hindemith, all written especially for a model of piano called the Welte-Mignon, which played automatically by means of a pneumatic mechanism activated by a spinning paper roll. The finale was an experimental stage performance called the Triadic Ballet, with costumes and choreography by the Bauhaus teacher Oskar Schlemmer and accompaniment for mechanical organ by Hindemith. A contemporary account captured the strange scene as the music began: