Civilización o Barbarie
Civilización o Barbarie is a tape cycle by the Argentine composer Bernardo Mario Kuczer from 1984.
construction
The cycle consists of 18 independent tape pieces, which can be played individually or in open, variable grouping with other pieces of the cycle. The total duration of the 18-part cycle is around two and a half hours, but with all versions is well over three hours.
Structure of the overall cycle
Although all 18 pieces and their various versions belonging to Civilización o Barbarie are on the one hand viewed as completely independent, individual pieces, on the other hand the cycle as a whole contains various groups of works and group works, which can also be arranged as cycles within the overall cycle as follows :
The Peripéteia cycle:
| piece | Duration |
|---|---|
| Peripéteia IIa, IIb ', (IIb' '), IIc, IIe' ', IIf | IIa = 2'20 '' |
| Peripéteia III | 3'33 '' |
| Peripéteia IV | 12'41 '' |
| Peripéteia V | 8'00 '' |
| Peripéteia VI | 6'25 '' |
| Peripéteia VII: Iña'K | 3'14 '' |
| Peripéteia VIII: Periplo | 11'40 '' |
The group: "... de la mémoire" :
| piece | length |
|---|---|
| Une mémoire la vie | 10'08 '' |
| Finale, ou la mémoire pulsante | 9'39 '' |
| Cri de la mémoire fermée | 15'00 '' |
The pieces: "Ejercicio de aire" :
| piece | length |
|---|---|
| Version: (2 / c + c / 2 × 2) | 8'36 '' |
| (1C + st) | 8'36 '' |
| (1b) | 8'47 '' |
| (C / 2 + 1 × 10) | 16'00 '' |
A cycle of individual pieces that only belong to the overall cycle :
| piece | length |
|---|---|
| Contre-rime | 10'36 '' |
| one other desert | 9'32 '' (16'37 '') |
| Him'l | 7'19 '' |
| Dream line | 7'57 '' (9'30 '') |
| Escenas-Miró | 7'57 '' |
| get the black | 5'45 '' |
| ... and silence next to it | 6'16 '' |
Work history and reception
The first public, actual premiere of some works from “Civilización o Barbarie” took place at a studio concert of the Darmstadt Summer Courses in 1984.
For this cycle, Kuczer was the first Latin American composer to be awarded the Kranichstein Music Prize.
In a report on the Darmstadt summer courses in 1984, published in the monthly magazine "Le Monde de la musique" No. 72 from November 1984, the Franco-Belgian musicologist Harry Halbreich wrote :
- “However, the evening had to end in the company of the Argentine Bernardo Kuczer, who lives in Germany, and his apocalyptic electroacoustic pieces, which are summarized in an enormous cycle under the name 'Civilización o Barbarie'. I confess that I escaped. But two days later I was able to listen again to this extraordinary music of a crazy visionary, skinned alive, bloody shreds of flesh with a tremendous power of expression, which paradoxically is reproduced with a simple tape! "
In 1986, for the following event of the Darmstadt Summer Course, Kuczer was invited to perform a second concert with works from the tape cycle.
Civilización o Barbarie was later proposed by Klaus Huber , one of the three jurors, as the personal choice of the jury for the World Music Days of the International Society for New Music , which took place in Cologne in 1987.
Although between 1984 and 1999 several works of the cycle were performed in various concerts and festivals in Europe in "group form" or individually as part of mixed concerts, a substantial number of the pieces have not yet been premiered.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The invitation to organize a concert in Darmstadt came about after Kuczer had played some of his tapes to Brian Ferneyhough in May 1984. Then he wrote a letter to the IMD (Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt), which read: "... I am of the opinion that these pieces ... are in part of great interest ..." and later: "... I hold him (ie Kuczer) for an important composer in this field ... ". The letter is in the IMD archive.
- ↑ The title Civilización o Barbarie is based on a similarly named book by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento .
- ↑ Original French: Il fallut néanmoins terminer la soirée ... en compagnie de l'argentin fixé en Allemagne Bernardo Kuczer et de ses apocalyptiques pièces électro-acoustiques groupées dans un immense cycle intitulé "Civilización o Barbarie". J'avoue avoir fui. Mais deux jours plus tard, j'ai pu réentendre à un niveau sonore un peu plus supportable ces musiques extraordinaires de fou visionnaire, d'écorché vif, lambeaux de chair saignante d'une prodigieuse puissance expressive réalisés, paradoxalement, avec un simple magnétophone à cassettes!
- ↑ IGNM World Music Days 1987, general program book, page 13, printing and publishing house Vienand Cologne
- ↑ IGNM World Music Days 1987, general book program, page 15, printing and publishing house Vienand Cologne