Jobie Reviews Music 134: Symphony of Factory Sirens (song) by Arseny Avraamov. Requested by F63.

Symphony of Factory Sirens is a 1922 experimental song by Arseny Avraamov. It contains three* tracks, spanning 28 minutes and 9 seconds. The song makes use of elements that I believe only this track has ever used; factory sirens (obviously), seaplanes, locomotives, and many more bizarre “instruments”. The song is conducted in three parts, which are: “Anxiety”, “Boy”, and “Victory”.

The song delivers a very interesting atmosphere, with the first part of the song having a largely, as the title suggests, “anxious” tone. The sirens and overall ambience make for an atmosphere which only this song has been able to bring to the table. The second part of the song is more happy in nature, with actual choirs singing over the unique instrumentation.

The last part of the song follows in much of the same vein, with a noisy finale near the end. For a track produced 99 years ago, it’s probably one of the more complex compositions of the time. Everything moves in a specific way at a specific time, and, if sources are correct, everything has to be orchestrated in a careful manner.

Although this track is very unique, it does suffer from the fact that it has little replay value. This is one of those tracks where, although the track is good, you will likely not be putting it on repeat. Again, this isn’t because the track is bad. This is solely because if you listen to it once, there’s little chance you’ll want to listen to it again.

It’s very difficult to describe why this is though. My best guess is that it feels rather unpredictable and unique the first time around, but every subsequent time leaves you wanting to play something better. In other words, while this song is good, and features some of the most creative orchestration I’ve seen, I will likely never listen to it again.

Also, the parts where an actual choir plays are good as well. Everything in those sections is delivered with quality instrumentation and vocals. No complaints there.

My favorite part of the song is likely the second part, since it continues the nice atmosphere of the first but also contains actual vocals.

Overall, Symphony of Factory Sirens is a 99 year old track which really hasn’t been replicated in any way since its initial composition. No other songs deliver the same unique instrumentation, nor the same interesting atmosphere. Symphony of Factory Sirens is still worth listening to even 99 years later, which can be attributed to the largely experimental nature of the song. * Depends on how you look at it. It's either 1 track with several sections or 3 tracks.

Overall rating:

8/10

LINK TO SONG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq_7w9RHvpQ