first & second versions
At the invitation of Marc Monnet, Mauricio Kagel performed at the Festival du Printemps des Arts a new
version of ACUSTICA, a work composed between 1968 and 1970. This recording offers not only a new look
at the piece by its composer, nearly three decades after the original event, but also two versions which
allow the listener to grasp the differences between the interpretations.
ACUSTICA is a challenge to traditional instrument-making, and probably also to the electro-acoustic
composition of its era. It takes a collection of objects - combs, tissue paper, compressed-air cylinder,
plastic tubing, miniature window, record player, conveyor belt, chalumeau, bucket of water, ratchet,
inflatable balloon, loudspeaker, bicycle bell-bar, nail violin, walkie-talkie, humming-bird, etc. - along with
magnetic tape, and a few acoustic instruments (trombone, panpipes), to produce a work of electronic
music.
The musicians must get used to playing these objects musically and know their actions by heart. They do
not look at one another. Each musician chooses the moment of his or her action, and may intervene
spontaneously at any point in the course of the piece . . . In an ideal world, music would be invented on
the spur of the moment.
Kagel’s conviction that ‘music is a naturalistic art’ is materialised in Acustica through everyday objects. ‘By
latching onto small elements of reality and rearranging them, by redefining the role of players or the
function of equipment, Kagel offers possible interpretations of reality, but also enshrouds it, leaving us
uncertain in the face of meaning’s blank spaces.’ Werner Klüppelholz “Although each performer is responsible for choosing the placing of each action, Kagel’s instructions are precise. The effect is intended to be as much visually as aurally theatrical. Even in sound-only format, however, this eclectic cacophony remains an exhilarating, glorious celebration of the act of making sound.” Sunday Times, 20th July 2008 *** “Composed between 1968 and 1970, Acustica, for experimental sound-producers and loudspeakers, is one of Mauricio Kagel's radical and extraordinary works, in which his constant search for ways of escaping from the restraints and conventions of traditional musical performance took him into a world of exotic instruments and almost surreal invention.” The Guardian, 25th July 2008 *** “There are two performances here...which show how the elements of performer choice and "controlled randomness" result in the same musical modules appearing in different orders and contexts. The result is a flamboyant aural experience, vividly recorded.” Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, 6th September 2008 | 
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