Budapest, Saturday, 14 October 2000
Cyclist and pedestrian concert
(concerto)
on Paulay Ede Street, starting with the noon tolling of the church bells
[video]
People from big cities who come to street concerts continue the totally organised serial music of the noon tolling of the church bells aleatorically or, as an expression of their spiritual freedom, they renounce the musical sound itself and produce ‘noise music’.
We have a thing called art and we have a thing called communication, and sometimes their curves overlap and not one sound fears the silence that extinguishes it.
The walking bass, the jumping melody, the progression and the return make the musical world of cyclists and pedestrians, continuing each other’s sounds, a concerto.
The fascinating attraction of the street in a temporary state of a concert lies in its natural formation, while people are enriched by its novelty. New music is no longer called ‘modern’ by the ‘audience (and also the artists) of the century’ because it has transcended the world of late Romanticism.
notes
A new intellectual movement emerged in Europe in the middle of the 18th century. Its fundamental principle was rationalism and the freedom of the intellect. This period brought about the end of fiefdom between artist and employer in musical life.
The 19th century was a period of revolutions, the development of civil society and the emergence of capitalism in Europe. The dominant artistic trend of the time advocated the freedom of Romanticism, individuality and art.
The various artistic trends of the 20th century sought to follow the rapid pace of technological and scientific development, and the new music, dubbed ‘modern’, was perceived by people of the time as somewhat foreign and unusual since it had not yet transcended the world of late Romanticism. <>
An aleatory, which provides a wide range of random choices and improvisation, was created as a counter-effect to the totally organised serialism. The name comes from the Latin word aleo, which means dice and is a reference to the randomness of casting dice. Hence, the succession of musical structures is left to chance, just as it is impossible to know what side dice will land on. <>
Bruitism: translated into Hungarian as ‘noise music’, emerged during a search for a solution contrary to that used by Schoenberg. Adherents to this trend renounced the musical sound itself. They argued that people of the 20th century are surrounded by the din of the big city and machines, which they should draw on to create their own musical world. <>
Not one sound fears the silence that extinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound. (John Cage)
We have a thing called art and we have a thing called communication, and sometimes their curves overlap. (Nam June Paik)
The fascinating appeal of transitional states and zones lies in their natural formation. (Ken Friedman)
...novelty enriches people. (Ben Vautier)
Metaphorical and visual expressions are typically used in musical jargon, especially in journalism on music, which is suitable for bridging the distant semantic areas (words, language – sounds, music) that we encounter when talking about music. Musical jargon abounds in these (pacing bass, a jumping melody) but official terminology does not ignore this type of language either (run, return, cancel out, augmentation). These visual expressions are more understandable and expressive than words of foreign origin, which are impossible to explain in ordinary terms. <>