The Orgasmic Opus by Dr Val Stephen
1967
The Orgasmic Opus by Dr Val Stephen
1967
Dr Val Stephen's (1919-1998) recordings are the first electronic music compositions by an Australian artist to be released internationally on a commercial record label. Stephen was a Melbourne anaesthetist who first encountered European experimental music in the late 1950s and built his own sound-generating equipment. Despite his self-described ‘amateur’ musician status, his tracks Fireworks and The Orgasmic Opus (both recorded in 1963) appeared on the American Folkways compilation album Electronic Music in 1967.
The Orgasmic Opus comically suggests a brief sexual encounter with a series of bleeps overlaying a burbling melody and ending in an explosive climax.
Dr Val Stephen's (1919-1998) recordings are the first electronic music compositions by an Australian artist to be released internationally on a commercial record label. Stephen was a Melbourne anaesthetist who first encountered European experimental music in the late 1950s and built his own sound-generating equipment. Despite his self-described ‘amateur’ musician status, his tracks Fireworks and The Orgasmic Opus (both recorded in 1963) appeared on the American Folkways compilation album Electronic Music in 1967.
The Orgasmic Opus comically suggests a brief sexual encounter with a series of bleeps overlaying a burbling melody and ending in an explosive climax.
- PerformerDr Val Stephen
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Dr Val Stephen
1960s
Sounds of Australia
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