From time to time a question arises in our field –whether explicitly formulated or not–: what does culture? There’s no answer.
Not only because of the breadth and complexity of the subject but because, as we well know, in these matters one can be wrong even when being right.
The truth is nomadic and without a doubt that is always what helps us
Many times, the vertiginous changes -with their joys and their misfortunes- question us about what was the modern culture, and whether it is still possible to produce a new, or surprising, or unexpected cultural event.
This question is an antidote to homesickness for the older ones, and an encouragement or challenge for the younger ones.
There is something always very mysterious about cultural events, and a big premiere is.
They often have a powerful effect on those who attend, those who find out even if they don’t participate, or those who don’t even hear about them.
We are facing an important moment: the presentation of TERRETEKTORH and NOMOS GAMMAfrom Iannis Xenakis, on May 22 at CEDEM 2a neighborhood sports center homemadeperformed by students of the System of Children and Youth Orchestras of the Ministry of Education of the City of Buenos Aires and the Buenos Aires Student Orchestra, dependent on the Department of Artistic Education of the Ministry of Culture of the City, directed by Pablo Druker.
Who will come to the concert? Why? The question of always is resignified.
If, as expected, the “Xenakis impact” occurs… how will this story continue?
The success and repercussion that the presentation of these same works has just had on March 18 at the Philharmonie de Paris (bastion of music in one of the cultural capitals of the world) reinforces the audacious character of our project.
Produced far from the usual places where this type of music is usually heard and close to many people who can appreciate or enjoy it, even if they don’t know it yet.
Choosing a program builds a framework. It is always a great challenge that what one has been doing in one way, find another way.
This requires attention to both the circumstances that make it possible and those that hinder it.
In today’s Argentina, everything invites you to be cautious.
Prudence, a conservative mode, is usually thought of –reasonably– in an appreciative moral sense, very close to moderation.
The opposite of prudence, in this sense, is not imprudence but recklessness.
Far from this, the presentation of Xenakis in the suburbs is certainly the product of recklessness, one of the possible routes to new experiences.
We are abandoning caution, moderation or caution for a moment.
If there aren’t any in Xenakis’s music, why wouldn’t we take advantage of that impulse to continue the movement?
Who was Xenakis?
Iannis Xenakis like his music, was a bit beastly.
He was born in 1922, and his centenary is celebrated this year. He was a member of the Greek resistance against the Nazis in World War II. Since then, he has lived with half of his face disfigured as a result of a grenade explosion. He fled to Paris where he was a collaborator and assistant to the famous architect Le Corbusier.
Composer Tireless, he confronted the Parisian musical establishment of the time and produced unique and incomparable music.
His music produces an immediate effect that shakes like a natural phenomenon. It always keeps close the experience of sound in nature.
In this sense, it is extremely “easy” music to appreciate.
By straying from convention to boldly pursue his own quest, Xenakis found a way to democratize the musical experience.
In “Terretektorh” he seeks to provoke a sensation similar to what can occur in the middle of the forest or in a storm. In “Nommos Gamma”, the imposing force of the percussion generates a rhythmic and explosive sound. Perception remains alert.
Continuing the “Cagean” concern, Xenakis also democratizes the scenic space: during the performance of “Terretektor” and “Nommos” the audience and the orchestra sit together surrounding the conductor. They share the same space.
There are few events that equal all the people who participate in them.
It sometimes happens with extreme weather events like when it’s 40º, or when it rains four days in a row.
Something similar is going to happen at this concert in which fortunately we are all going to participate in an unprecedented experience.
Whether it’s for those who have never heard music like Xenakis’s, or for those who have never played a concert with members of the public sitting next to them, or for those who have never organized a similar event in such an unusual setting.
It is about the irruption of something new and unknown in a known environment.
We all have an amazing reserve of heterogeneity, although we often forget it. We can use that when facing or causing circumstances different from those we are used to.
It is also a way of promising the future.
-Martín Bauer is a musician, composer and cultural manager.
presentation grid
BUENOS AIRES PROVINCE
-TERRETEKTORH / IDMEN B by IANNIS XENAKIS
Immersive concert for a large orchestra with the audience seated between the musicians. MAY 22 17H CEDEM2 de Caseros (February Three)
-DRUMMING by STEVE REICH
Minimalist percussion. JULY Lanus.
-LE NOIR DE L´ÉTOILE by GÉRARD GRISEY
Outdoors, for 6 percussionists surrounding the public. SEPTEMBER Vicente López.
BUENOS AIRES CITY
-WELT-PARLAMENT by KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN Experimental opera for a cappella choir surrounding the audience. SEPTEMBER.
-EXPERIMENTUM MUNDI by GIORGIO BATTISTELLI Musical theater for sixteen workers, a narrator, four female voices and a percussionist. OCTOBER.
-SEVENTA BALCONIES Outdoor site-specific theatrical performance. OCTOBER NOVEMBER.
-SPEECH SYMPHONY by BAR-DEM DUO (Switzerland) Performance of sound poetry for two soloists and an “orchestra” of translators/performers. NOVEMBER- Xirgu UNTREF Space.
-INDOORS! by DIANA SZEINBLUM Contemporary dance. NOVEMBER- Slaughterhouse Fair.
-TIMBER by MICHAEL GORDON Minimalist percussion. DECEMBER- Santander Foundation Hall.
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by Martin Bauer
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