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Edwin
Armstrong was the inventor of the frequency modulation (FM) system. The
basis for almost all radio, radar, and television reception. His story
is one of genius, obsession, betrayal and tragedy. After inventing FM,
Armstrong had a vision of replacing the then inferior AM system with
the far superior FM. Unfortunately, the Radio Corporation of America,
under the advice of David Sarnoff, a twenty-fiveyear friend of
Armstrong's and president of RCA, had other plans. Even though they had
funded Armstrong's research, RCA decided it would be unprofitable for
them to switch from AM to FM. And so began the endless legal battles
over patents, between Armstrong and RCA. Even when RCA developed
television, which relied on FM for its reception and transmission, they
refused to pay Armstrong his rightful royalties. Twenty-three years to
the day after patenting FM, exhausted and out of hope, frustrated by
all the litigation, Armstrong put on his hat, coat, scarf and gloves
and walked out of his apartment window, 13 floors to his death. "I was
interested in creating a work specifically for radio both in subject
matter and production. The story of Edwin Armstrong, the inventor of FM
Radio suited itself perfectly to this context. The work can function as
a sonic journey through Armstrong's life, or as the title suggests, an
overture to an imgagined opera about Armstrong". Composition,
sample edting and performance by Robert Iolini Festivals:
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