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109

Title “‘Avantgardistische Musik’ am Abgrund: Europäische Erstauffühurng von John Cage’s ‘Klavierkonzert’ in Köln,” Rhein Neckar-Azeitung
Maker Kurt Driesch
Date 30 September 1958
Type press clipping
Location Getty Research Institute, David Tudor Papers, 980039, box 62, folder 13

Like other reviews of the European premiere of John Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra in Cologne, Kurt Driesch’s review describes at length the various unusual sounds; the conducting that moves in the manner of a clockface; and the spectacle of David Tudor performing unusual techniques in and around the piano. Driesch claims that Cage’s Concert is better understood as instructions for “slapstick” (Klamauk) rather than as musical notes that result in music. He also goes into more detail about the cheering audience, suggesting that they are being polite, all too aware of not wanting to be embarrassed by acting scandalized in front of avant-garde music. Driesch then intriguingly notes that the audience that approved of Cage’s spectacle had scruffy hairstyles and appearances that defied gender norms.

Cite

Driesch, Kurt. “‘Avantgardistische Musik’ am Abgrund: Europäische Erstauffühurng von John Cage’s ‘Klavierkonzert’ in Köln,” Rhein Neckar-Azeitung, 30 September 1958. Getty Research Institute, David Tudor Papers, 980039, box 62, folder 13. In The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975, ed. Michael Gallope, Natilee Harren, and John Hicks. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2025. https://www.getty.edu/publications/scores/object-index/109/.