Fireworks by Dr Val Stephen

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.

In Fireworks, Stephen manipulates everyday sounds to create a dazzling display of sonic pyrotechnics as high-pitched electronic noises explode above a persistent background throb.