Description

In Beds and Brackets there is a piece within a piece: a statement about a punch from Nono. Shortly before his death, I was on …a composition competition jury with Nono. During these days he would sometimes hit the table with his fist in heavy, massive rhythms of the most elementary proportions. Quadruple Forte. These liberations stuck in my mind the entire time I was working on Statement. They were born entirely from the close range of doing and perceiving. Such proximity to the human sensory world is also the musical execution and listening model for the rest of the piece. The respective tones are called up from the 88-key keyboard based on movement designs, the distance dimensions and speeds of which, multiplied by the organs (weights) to be moved, characterize the tone and harmony. The horizontal, temporal progression of the piece temporarily confuses close-range perception through repetition. In the score, numbered brackets indicate the particular fragment of musical text that is to be inserted at a different point in the musical progression, as if it were sounding for the first time. So it’s not about psychological-dynamic progression, but about a live simulated repetition of the past, as if it hadn’t happened at all. Such horizontal movement designs tend to emphasize what is strange and explosive through repetition, rather than what creates coherence. Towards the end, the physical proximity argues, turning into “environment”: Isn’t there a radio, a television, a refrigerator? Isn’t there a wind outside? Isn’t there a car driving? Aren’t children playing there? Tapes are just a weak simulation! Ideally, the windows and doors of the concert hall should be opened and closed again. (Nicolaus A. Huber, 1990)