in case you were waiting for just one more reason to subscribe to this swedish journal on new music, the next issue (coming out in a few weeks) will feature a lengthy article i wrote on a piece i prepared the performance materials for in 2009. i'm hoping the english (original) version will be published on the website. http://www.nutidamusik.com
Practicalities of a Socio-Musical Utopia degrees of "freedom" in mathias spahlinger's "doppelt bejaht" (studies for orchestra without conductor) by jef chippewa In mathias spahlinger's doppelt bejaht [double affirmation], premiered during the opening concert at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in October 2009, the collective musical reflections of the composer over the past 40 years or so converge in a particularly effective constellation for their exploration and presentation: a large body of musicians -- an orchestra of over 50 individuals -- without conductor. The work polarized composers, performers and public alike, and polemic discussions ensued, not because of the four-hour duration of the work, not because of concerns about the effectiveness or musical interest of the concepts explored in the work's 24 individual pieces, not because of the "open form" of the individual pieces, not even because the piece was to be performed without a conductor. The central point of contention in the discussions was in fact about whether the orchestral musician can be, wants to be, or even should be "liberated", an issue which arose from spahlinger's use of the term entfremdete Arbeit [alienated labour], a concept elucidated by Marx explaining the division of labour in industrialized society, in relation to the structure of the orchestra. Dry, heady and sometimes unfortunately superficial discussions about and reviews of doppelt bejaht were the result: pros that hardly talked about the work itself in practical or musical terms, or only as a footnote, and cons that sometimes did little more than focus on the composer's socio-political beliefs with an accusatory tone. Instead of contributing more fodder to this polemic, and perhaps unresolvable, double one-sided dialogue, here we step back from the fray to take a pragmatic look at what is actually involved in mounting this orchestral installation work for performance and what this implies for the "orchestral institution", before considering what this newfound freedom could possibly imply for the orchestral musician who is involved in the performance of such a work. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
