Die Stücke der Windrose (1993)
( Westen )

If there were a point of the compass called Wosten or Eosten, I would have chosen it as the title of my piece. For the wind rose does not point to a single destination which one always reaches by the same course. It is similar to a guide which points to opposite destinations like the face of Janus. The subject of the composition Westen is the mutual give and take of two musical cultures, which first expressed itself in a profound Africanisation of North America and later, but only to a certain extent and in a much attenuated form, in the Americanisation of African music. Music of the Blacks? Of the Whites? Of the Whites-Blacks?

It has become increasingly difficult to find unambiguous answers to these questions, for the cultural identity of peoples is not focused on aesthetic considerations, but mainly, and quite virulently, on the social and political sphere. Perhaps it is an irony of the God of Revenge that from a musical point of view, the African slaves made the Americans into a primitive people. Measured in degrees of long-term influence at least, the blacks colonised the whites. This has always interested me, perhaps because the emphasis of purity in connection with the concept of culture has seemed to me to be often somewhat insipid and tasteless, even suspect. Only at that point do I become aware of the fundamental extra value of the overt and covert influences which reveal themselves visually and acoustically.

In August 1970, I submitted the outline of a television production which was not accepted for various reasons, but mainly because of the way the question was approached. The film bore the title of Weiß auf Schwarz ( = White on Black). I would like to present the plot of White on Black for the listener of Westen because it can help to clarify some of the thoughts and ideas outlined above:

“A music-cum-anthropological expedition from Europe arrives in Africa. The purpose of the research trip is to record the music and dance tradition of a black tribe, which has had little contact with the civilised part of the black continent due to its unfavourable geographical position. The whites are well-armed with presents - hand mirrors, marbles, pocket knives and transistor radios - which they hand out immediately on their arrival. After days of negotiation, the work can begin. The agreement provides for a careful procedure: at first the older people, then the younger ones, are to perform their songs and dances. Several weeks later, the blacks notice with horror that the number of unexplained deaths has suddenly started to increase. This is surprising because the people of this particular tribe normally live to an exceptionally old age and diseases and epidemics are unknown. The blacks gather around their medicine man and hold an animated discussion over the course of several days. They discover that the only ones who have died are those who had performed all the melodies they knew for the white men. An incensed crowd confronts the scientists, who, however, manage to calm them down by distributing more presents and promising to leave behind all the kitchen utensils and equipment.

The work continues, but the blacks’ behaviour has somehow changed. Now they seem to have much greater powers of memory than before. An undreamt of oral tradition spreads. The meetings become longer and longer, and the earlier simple and clearly defined folklore starts to become more comprehensive and complicated. However, the scientists are relentless when there is any repetition, calling a halt immediately and demanding new melodies. Afraid that if their fantasy dries up they will have to pay with their death, the blacks begin incorporating elements of western music which they have culled from records a sound engineer plays in his tent in the evenings. Gradually, an unnoticeable and unstoppable transition to a complete imitation takes place. Several weeks later, the researchers are satisfied and leave the village. They not only keep their promise to leave behind the kitchen equipment, but are also generous enough to give the blacks a record player and records as well. Years later a music-cum-anthropological expedition from Africa arrives in Bavaria........”

Westen, a piece commissioned by West German Television, is dedicated to my friend and editorial midwife Klaus Schöning, who in the many years of our work together has shown me that the art of the acoustic really can help to hear the grass grow.

M. K.