In the 1950s, the avant-garde music scene in New York and the movie studios of Los Angeles might have seemed like opposite ends of a cultural spectrum. But they came together (and blew apart) when MGM hired Louis and Bebe Barron to write the score for the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. It was the first all-electronic score for a Hollywood film, but not everyone was ready for the future of film music. I talk with Louis’ son David Barron, composer <a href="https://dorothymoskowitz.com/">Dorothy Moskowitz</a>, University of Chicago associate professor <a href="https://music.uchicago.edu/people/jennifer-iverson">Jennifer Iverson</a>, and broadcaster and writer <a href="https://www.johncavanagh.co.uk/">John Cavanagh</a> about how the Barrons built a Rube Goldberg-style electronic music studio long before electronic music could be generated with the push of a button -- and why it took decades for their work to be fully appreciated. 
Thanks to Thomas Rhea (author of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xj2kgGOv_U">Electronic Perspectives: Vintage Electronic Musical Instruments</a>) for permission to use audio from his 1998 interview with Bebe Barron. You can learn more about the Louis and Bebe
Barron archive at <a href="https://forgottenfuturesmusic.org/projects/barron-archive">Forgotten Futures</a>.
Philip Shorey’s orchestra is <a href="https://curseofthevampire.com/en/tour/%20">touring</a> with his new score to the 1925 film The Phantom of The Opera. 
This episode is sponsored by Remi. Go to <a href="shopremi.com/IMAGINARY">shopremi.com/IMAGINARY</a> and use the code IMAGINARY to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

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