15 - Welcome to Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta's home page · KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions...
Transcript of 15 - Welcome to Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta's home page · KOELLREUTTER - the music revolutions...
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John Cage also participated in that great event oftheBiennaleofSãoPaulo.ThefilmmakerRodolfoNanihadintroducedusverybriefly.
On the last day, when I was convinced that therewould be no opportunity to talkwith John Cage, AugustodeCamposrealizedwhatwashappeningandprovidedme,byhispurelypersonalinitiative,abriefmomentalonewithhim.
Afewmonthslater,JohnCageinvitedmetocollaboratewithhim,withDavidTudorandwithMerceCunninghaminNewYorkCity.
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Then,LucianaandImovedtoEurope,firsttoPortugal,and in another fewmonths Iwas collaboratingwith RenéBerger in Switzerland – he also became a great friend forlife.
In Locarno, where I would fix residence in 2003, Icollaborated with René Berger and Rinaldo Bianda at thecelebrated Locarno Video Art Festival, together with NanJunePaik,FrancisFordCoppola,EdgarMorin,DanielCharlesand Basarab Nicolescu among many others in 1980s and1990s.
In 1990 I started collaborating with the BaronessDurini,inItaly,inseveralprojectsfortheTriennaleofMilanandtheBiennaleofVenice,butalsoattheartandculturemagazineRISKArteOggi.
In 1989 I participated in the parallel launching ofthewww world wide webbyTimBerns-Lee inLocarno. In
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1993,alwaystogetherwithRenéBerger,wemadethefirsttelevision transmission through Internet and in that sameyear,stillwithRené,butalsowithEdgarMorin,IparticipatedintheformationofthefirstuniversityinInternet.WithJohnCageandMerceCunningham therewere concerts aroundtheworld,butalsoothermusicaleventswithmyworks,andlectures, exhibitions... In that period various of my audiocompactdiscsandbookswerelaunchedindiversecountriesanddifferentlanguages.
Those novelties seemed to encourage even moreKoellreutterineachoneofourmeetings.WithmymovetoEurope,theybegantohappeneverytimeIwenttoBrazil.
− YouwillbeoneoftheonlyamongmystudentswhowillcontinuelivingoutsideofBrazil.Notbecausethereorherearebetterorworseplaces.Theyaredifferentplaces,justthat.Butisthewayyouare.Whenapersonmoves,changinghisplace,hismusicalsochanges-he
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becomesanotherperson.IfyouarelivinginNewYork,forexample,yourmusicwillreflectyourexperiences.ThesamewillhappenifyoustayinEurope...
To him change was something essential foreverybody.
− Moving to a different country gives anotherdimension to the musician. He is forced to livedifferent realities. He is obliged to question himselfmorefrequently.
Westartedregularlytalkingbyphone,butingeneraltheywereshortconversations–webothneverhadthehabitoftalkingforlongminutesonthetelephone.
Ialwayscalledhim,andovermanytimesatleastonceamonth,toseehowhewas.
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Koellreuttersmokepipe,butneverevercigars.Ialsosmokedpipe,evenbeforetohaveknownhim–Iwasveryyoung and sometimes Iwas criticized for smoking pipe atthatage.
HansJoachimKoellreutter-photobyEmanuelDimasdeMeloPimentainSão
Paulo,1999
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Influenced by friends at school I started smokingcigarettes when he was very young, at nine years old. Ismokedhidden.WhenIwaseighteen,Iarrivedtosmokefourpacksaday,whichamountedeightycigarettes!Thatwouldbemydestruction!Iswamandwasaflutist–incompatibleactivitieswiththecigarette.
Thebestfriendofmyfather,righthandinhiscompanyfordecades,andaverygoodfriendofmine,alsoaGerman,likeKoellreutter,butborninHeidelberg–hisnameisAlfredGerardSchwarz–wasalsoflutistandhasalwaysbeenaloverofthepipes.
Tosmokeapiperequiresaspecialknowledge,afewsteps without which the person may even cause seriousinjury in the tongue. In relation to health, pipe hasmanyadvantagesover cigarettes–becauseyou cannot take thesmoketothelungsandthesmokeusuallydoesn’thavesomanychemicals.
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Thus, AlfredGerard Schwarzwas a big influence onmetostartplayingtransversalfluteandhewasmymasterintheartofpipe,teachingmeevenhowtocurethemwiththemostvariedflagrances.
Pipesmokershavetheirsecrets,whichrangefromtheformofthepipestothetypesoftobacco.
LikeAlfredGerardSchwarzandme,alsoKoellreutteronly smoked straight pipes – the so-called Italian ones.But while I especially enjoyed black Cavendish tobaccos,his preferred tobacco also was his personal trademark:Revelation.
However, apparently because it contained somesubstance condemned by health services, the tobaccoRevelationstoppedtobemarketedinseveralcountries.OnlyinSwitzerlandIcouldfindit.Ipassedtoregularlybringthat
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tobaccotoKoellreutter,whowaitedanxiously.
WhenwemetandIgavehimthepacketoftobaccohesaid,laughing:
− Thankyou!It’smysalvation!
Later,alreadylivinginEurope,Ialsostartedsmokingcigars.Once, still in theearly1990s, inoneofmy trips toBrazil,Iaskedwhyherefusedtosmokecigars.
− Becauseitdestroysthelips.Aflautistshouldneversmokecigars.Theysoftenthelips.Ontheotherhand,pipeissupportedbyteeth,leavingfreethelips,andsotheyarenotaffected.− But,TomJobimsmokescigars!Andheisanexcellentflutist.− Thereisabigdifferencebetweenanexcellentflutistwhodoesn’t live fromconcertsandotherone livingfromthem.Ifhewereaflutistofconcerts,heshouldnotsmokecigars.Inanycase,donotforgetthatTom
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usesaspecialmouthpieceforcigars.Withit,hecanholdthecigarinhisteethandnotwithhislips.
In fact, themouthpieceusedbyTomwasownedbyVilla-Lobosbefore, itwasagift from theviolinistArmindaD’Almeida,DonaMindinha,widowofthecomposer.
Again,IaskedhimhowTomJobimwas,howhewasasaperson,inwhatonlytheintimacyoffriendspermitstoknow.LikeChicoBuarquedeHollanda,Tomhadalsostudiedarchitecture.
Koellreutter was the first professor of Tom Jobim,whenhewasonlyfourteenyearsold.
TomstudiedwithKoellreutterduringtheyears1939and1940,whogavehimmanyoftheprinciplesthatwouldcoin the bossa nova, twenty years later.When one couldimaginethatGermanyis,insomeway,presentintheroots
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ofbossa nova?!
Manytimeshetoldmethathewantedtointroduceweboth,andalsotooneofhisstudentsinIndia,whoregularlywrotehim.Unfortunately,Ididnotpersonallyknowanyofthem.
Koellreutterreplied,smiling:− Tom Jobim is a different man. He likes to drinkwhiskeyandtoplaypiano.Helovestobewithpeople.Heisnotaclosedmusician,acomposerwhogoestohis desk towork,who closes himself inside a roomandisseparatedfromotherpeople.Heenjoystobewithpeople,playingallthetime,likeanamusement.Heisaveryinterestingperson.Afriendofhisfriends.Youpersonallyknowhim.Ihavealwaysspokenaboutyoutohim.WehavemetmanytimesinRio.
In all those years, each time I was in Brazil, I took
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Koellreutterforlunch.
OurlunchesregularlyhappenedevenbeforeImovedto Europe. In early 1980 one of our favorite placeswas arestaurantcalledFiorella, intheneighborhoodofBrooklin,inSãoPaulo,coincidentlywhereIwasborn.
Itwasveryfarfromhishome,buttherestaurantwasspectacular.
In fact, Fiorella was a restaurant installed in a verycomfortableancienthouse,withexcellentvegetariancuisine.Inallitsspacesthereweremanyplantsandartworks.Itwasamagicalplace.Therewereseveral rooms,eachoneverydifferentfromtheothers,givingthefeelinglikewe’reinourhomes.Everyonewhoworkedtherewerecollegestudents.Therewasno signoranykindof indicationon the street.Actually,onlywhoknewwentthere.
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Manyyearslater,whenIalreadylivedpartofmylifeinNewYorkCity, Iwouldknowtherethepersonwhohadcreatedthatmagicalplace:MartinPenrose,avisualartist,withvery interestingworks. I toldhimaboutour frequentlunches at his restaurant. He was delighted to know thatKoellreutterlovedsomuchtobethere.
To be at Fiorella was like being in another world.Everythingwascoveredbycontemporaryart,plants,flowers,withverycomfortablechairsandanexcellentcuisine.
Werealwayshadleastonebottleofcoldwhitewine,frascati,fromItaly.
We passed hours talking about the most variedsubjects.Once,wespokeformanyminutesaboutthestateofmemorybeyondtheSchwarzchild boundary indirectiontoablack hole singularity.Howwouldmemorybe insucha condition? Would it be disintegrated by gravity force?
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Orwould itmaintain its integrity, despite the sopowerfulasymmetricforcesofthatenvironment.
Wedidnothaveanswers,neitherspecializededucationtohavethem.But,thereflectionswereveryinterestingandtheylaunchedustoconsiderationsaboutthenatureoftimeandorder.
Manyyearslater,whenStephenHawkingsdemonstratedthat, surprisingly, memory would be preserved in thoseconditions,IspokewithRenéBerger,inSwitzerland,aboutthesamesubject.Wewereamazedwiththerevelationthat,afterall,theUniverseseemstobeaformidableaccumulatorofmemory.
BothKoellreutterandRenéBergerlovedscience.Inacertainsense,everythingturnedaroundit.
With Koellreutter, however, the conversations were
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manytimesfocusedonthedifferentapproachesofEastandWesttoreality.
ButbeyondFiorella and the Japanese restaurants intheneighborhoodofLiberdade,wepassed,already in the1990,tobeattheJapaneserestaurantthatwasonthetopflooroftheHotelCaesarPark,atAugustaStreet.
InAugust1994,whenIwasinBrazil,wewenttohavealunchthere.IhadnotimetosayanythingandKoellreutteraskedme:
− Emanuel, when you will visit us again in Rio deJaneiro?Nexttime,IwillinviteyouandTomJobimforalunch.Youneedtoknowhimpersonally.Itisdone:inyournextvisittoBrazilwewillgoalltogetherforalunch.
The meeting was scheduled for December, when IwouldbebackagaintoBrazil.ButTomJobimdiedfewdays
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before,onDecembereightofthatyearand,unfortunately,wedidnotgettoknoweachother.
ThedeathofTomJobimdeeplytouchedKoellreutter,whohadatrueesteemforhim.
Aspeopledied,heexpressedmoreandmoreconcernabouthowandwheretolivetheendofhislife.
ThatlunchattheCaesarParkhotelwasabigsurprise.When I askedhimabout theMargarita, to knowhow shewas,Koellreutterwideopenedhiseyesandasked:
− But!Youdon’tknow?− No!Didsomethinghappen?Isshewell?− Margaritabecameawitch!− Awitch?-Iwasnotabletostoplaughing,Ithoughtitwasajoke.− It is serious. I’m not kidding. It is not awitch inthe folkloric sense. We recently arrived from an
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internationalmeetingofpeoplewhodealwiththesequestions, inan island inPacific.She isveryserious.Andthisisaseriousmatter.Manypeopledojustnottake it seriously.Doyou thinkweknoweverything?These meetings are about what the sciences, withwhich we are already used, cannot explain. Before,I was married to a famous opera singer, now I’mmarriedtoaspecialistontheunexplained. It isveryinteresting.
Iwasstunned.Icouldnotexpectthat.Ineverhadanypreconceptioninrelationtothesupernaturalworld,whichIalwaysconsiderednatural.InahumbleandSocraticwayIalwayswereveryawarethatIknownothing.
ButIcouldneverimaginethatonedaythegreatsingerMargaritaSchackwoulddevoteherselftothesupernatural.
IaskedhimabouthowthemeetinginthePacificIslands
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hadbeenandKoellreuttersaidwithgreatseriousness:− Very interesting. They discussed some veryinteresting things that make us be aware of howdeeplyweknownothing.
In that same year, Margarita opened in the city ofTiradentes,intheStateofMinasGerais,aninstitutioncalledAura Soma Center,dedicatedtotheuseofoilsandcolorsfortriggeringaprocessofselfknowledge.
Inthatepoch,mydaughterwasaboutfouryearsoldandIwaslookingforthebestwayIcouldgivehersomebasicmusical formation. Koellreutter was around eighty yearsold. Inoneofour lunches, Iaskedhimifhecouldgivemeanorientationaboutwhat Icoulddoabout it.Then, Iwasespeciallyattentivetomicrotonesand,consequently,tonotformathersoyoungmindaccordingtorigidtonalformats.Intuitively, she alreadywas veryoriented topiano, I amaflutist, and there is almost nomicrotonal freedom in the
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traditionalpianoorflute.− Stringmusiciansaremoresensitivetosmallchangesof pitch, to work with them.When you consider aflute,forexample,orevenworse,apiano,allsoundsare“closed”inarigidsystemofpitch.Youshouldnotputhertostudypianobeforefiveorsixyearsofage.Ontheotherhand,youshouldmakemusic,thatis,toorganizesoundswithher,usingthemostvariedobjects.Youcanuseanythingyouwant,toys,bells,piecesofwood,forks,paper...Thesoundsoftheobjectsneverfollowtotheclassictonalsystem.Whenshewillworkthedynamics,varyingtheintensityofthesounds,anditsdistributionintime,thenshewillbeawareoftheessentialnatureofmusic, that iseverywhere.But itmustexistanorderbehind.Youshouldpasshersomeprinciplesoforder.Andtheymustbeverysimple inthebeginning.
I didwhathe suggestedwith Laura, and I believe it
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gave her an initial formation that opened her differentpossibilitiesindifferentfields.
Koellreutter always asked about Laura. Once I gavehimsomepicturesofher,andheputtheminhisapartmentinSãoPaulo,revealingagreatsensitivity.
Severaltimes,with increasing insistence,after1990,Koellreutter began askingmy opinions about towhere heshouldmoveagain.Towhatcountryheshouldgo,whereheshouldlivehislastyearsoflife.
Hewas,then,aboutseventy-fiveyearsold.- Youknow,Iwillnotlivemuchlonger.It’stime
tothinkaboutmywithdraw,togotoadistantplace. Iwant togo toaplace faraway fromeverything.Justdisappear.Whatdoyouthinkif Igoto live inPortugal? Iwould liketo liveclosertoyou.
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Formonths I searched to him information about allconditions,includinglegal,forapossiblemovetoLisbon.Buteverythingseemedtobeblocked.Afterall,itisnoteasytomakeachangeofthismagnitudeatseventy-fiveyearsold.
Notonly,evenbeforetheAura Soma Center,MargaritaandKoellreutterhadcreatedaninterestingculturalcenterinthecityofTiradentes,MinasGerais.TheylovedTiradentes.
Howcouldhimdistancedhimselffromallthat?
Atthesametime,wealsoagreedtomaketogetheramusicalcomposition.
Months passed, but he continued with the idea ofmovingtosomedistantplace.
− It’s true. This project of mine to move is verydifficult.Idon’tknowifIwillbeabletodoit.ButIfeelthatIshoulddiesomewhereelse.Iwouldliketospend
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mylastdaysonanisland...tolivemylastyearsonanisland.WhatdoyouthinkaboutMadeira?MargaritaandIreallyenjoytheislandofMadeira.Theweatherisgoodandthereisnoviolence.
In the following months, I tried to gather as muchinformationas IcouldaboutMadeiraIslandandespeciallyaboutthecityofFunchal.
IknowwelltheislandofMadeira,whereIhavegonesincemychildhood.But,knowingtheconditionsforamoveofanimportantcomposer,alreadyatanadvancedage,requiresadifferenttypeofinformation,muchmorespecific.
Duringthefirstyearsofthe1990s,heofteninsistedthathewantedsimplytodisappear,andmovetoanislandwasastrategythatseemedhimappropriate,asifhecouldjustevaporate,withoutpeoplenoticing.
− Iwillnotliveforever.Neitheryou.Thesethings
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relatedtodeatharetoodramatic...tooromantic.I’mnotadramaticperson.Inmycase,Iwouldlikesimplyto disappear. Living on an island would be a goodsolution.Asimplesolution.
It reminded me what had happened in Petropolis,whenhehadforgottentherazorinhisapartmentinRiodeJaneiro.
Koellreutterwasapersonextremelyattentive tohispersonal image. Even when he was over eighty years oldI never saw him unshaved, unkempt, or dressing a dirtycloth.
After the 1990s he started wearing very colorfulclothes.Alwaysthesamekindofshirtwithturtleneck,butnowinverystrongturquoiseblue,forexample. Oneofhisgreatpleasureswastolivesurroundedbyyoungpeople. Inthe1990s,hestartedtofrequentlymake
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references tooneofhis students,MauroMuszkat, and totheyoungvisualartistSaulodiTarso.
HehadadeepesteemforSaul,forMauro,butalsoforReginaPortoandmanyothers.Therearemanynamesanditisimpossibletolistallthem.Sauloneverwashisstudent,buthewasalwaysveryclosetohiminthelastyears.
Itwasas ifhewasautomaticallyrejuvenatedbythenewgenerations.Allaged,excepthim.Infact,hisgreatloveneverwastoteach,butalwaystolearn.Hewaswellawarethatwenevertaught,weonlylearn.
Alreadyinlate2010sImetthepianistMarceloBratkeinNewYorkCity.Hehadalsobeenhisstudentandremindedhimwithemotion.
Thestudentsaroundneverfelthimasanoldperson.