L' art bruit (1994)
(Solo for two (percussionist and assistant))

To write this introduction, I turn to the sketch diary of the piece, in which I used to casually and unsystematically record everything that went through my head during the work. It is not a secondary activity, but for me an indispensable supplement to the actual composing. On the one hand, the notes serve as an outlet for the ongoing brain storming, on the other hand, they become a directory of all those labyrinthine detours that are apparently necessary to express musical contexts in sound. Only my intention to write a drum solo was clear from the start. But I soon imposed a few restrictions on myself, which were to help determine the choice of instruments and the scenic dramaturgy. For example, I avoided all those melody instruments that had become classical, such as the xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel and vibraphone, but instead used many of the traditional sound generators that have been part of the art of percussion since the beginning: small and large drums, cymbals, triangle, bells, tambourine and tam-tam. I was also guided by the idea that rhythmic emphasis through colored sounds is characteristic of the original function of percussion.

However, just as music cannot be described by a comprehensive, universally valid definition, the diversity of percussion today cannot be narrowed down by unambiguous accompaniment formulas and typical timbres. Today, percussion is a truly multicultural synthesis of disparate sound worlds. In this area of music, noise rhythms have long been transformed into melodies and these in turn into purely rhythmic sequences. When it comes to percussion, opinions can confidently differ. Every use of an instrument of indeterminate pitch contains as much music as one is prepared to perceive.

I only knew one thing about the visual presentation of the work: the concert podium was to remain as empty as possible. The usual, often unmanageable collection of chrome-plated stands, holders, fittings and instruments should give way to the greatest possible transparency. An emptied room, I hoped, would have a positive effect on the listener's concentration and receptiveness. In the presentation of musical events, there is always an abundance of actions when playing percussion, which in any case contrast with what we know from other instruments. In order to realize this project, I have tried to limit the soloist's tasks to the direct operation of the instruments. The aim was to emphasize the familiar uniqueness of the percussion, the almost ritualistic incantatory character of many actions more than usual. The role of the player was to be realized most intensively by having an assistant, in the flesh but mute, take over all those operations that are otherwise entrusted to the mentioned stands, holders and accessories.

The two performers in L'art bruit therefore complement each other to form a single performer with four arms and just as many legs. Instruments that are – as they say in the jargon of the performing arts – “played out” are carried away and new ones brought to the front. The result is a pas de deux of precise movements that are only necessary for the progress of the instrumental playing.

I dedicated this work, a composition commissioned by KölnMusik on the occasion of Peter Ludwig's 70th birthday, to the collector of art brut, an art movement for which I have always felt gratitude and admiration.

But: from brut to bruit: vive la différence!

M.K.
(Translation by Edition Peters)