Studio Dan

Walking through a Brave New World

8 Improvisations for Ensemble (2008-14)

Is there such a thing as political music? Music can communicate political messages, of course, in connection with language and images. But it can also become political itself, with the help of references to musical or acoustic symbols, clichés, and fashions of a society or system.

The early 21st century: major powers attack other countries under false pretenses or for irrational reasons, or they threaten wars of conquest; the world is shocked by terror attacks and there is a rush to accumulate weapons... – after all, the resources are dwindling! All this accompanied by developments that, meanwhile, have altered the foundations of our world and will continue to do so. Many developments play into the hands of autocrats, and dictators are coming back into style...

“Almost certainly we are moving into an age of totalitarian dictatorships..." (George Orwell)

The cycle Walking Through a Brave New World has a special place in my body of work, both stylistically and in terms of its content: in the societal themes it deals with and the associated use of jazz, rock and pop, world music, as well as kitsch, commercialism, and noise as an acoustic/musical reflection of our modern world. And further, through language, movement, and pantomime, and – last, but not least – the inclusion of improvisation.

An ironic look at our global consumer society and its future, both immediate and more distant. References to Aldous Huxley (Brave New World), François Truffaut (Fahrenheit 451), Frank Zappa ("Plastic People") und Bobby McFerrin ("Be Happy") have been chosen consciously; associations are entirely purposeful!

The title refers to Huxley's utopian novel Brave New World, in which the author portrays a society which, by means of permanent gratification, has lost the impulse to pose critical questions. In 1984, George Orwell describes three competing world powers who take turns making war on one another, retaining power with the help of brainwashing and complete surveillance.

It is common knowledge that Huxley's and Orwell's utopias have, in many respects, already been reached, or surpassed. Here at home, we have already become used to most of it. Global mass consumption and economic booms allow us to avert our gaze, to forget it. So that we stay silent. Happiness and mega-events everywhere! A never-ending party in the midst of war and famine surrounding us. For how much longer?

"Capitalism serves essentially to allay the same anxieties, torments, and disturbances to which the so-called religions offered answers...capitalism is probably the first instance of a cult that creates guilt, not atonement." (Walter Benjamin)

Every day, somewhere, courses are set, levers are pulled, claims to power are asserted and marching orders are issued, aspiring leaders maneuver themselves into position. It happens without us – but also to and with us!

"History teaches us that man learns nothing from history." Mahatma Gandhi, after G.W.F. Hegel

Plutonium City
Everyday life in Reactorville: atomic fission and fusion, the discharge of massive, even world-destroying energies, invisible, kept under control only with great difficulty, while children go to school next door, parents sit innocently in their offices, watching television in the evening...
Chaos and technical polyphony. Irradiated remains of music, performed by machines, collapse and lose themselves, detuned, become alien. An organ solo – ironic transfiguration and a little sadness.

Lonely Hacker on a Data Highway
Data races around the world in real time; who knows where it's headed! A digital yearning for foreign countries in the loneliness of the screen, adventure without leaving one's chair...a sentimental, melancholic road movie about digital hitchhikers, a slightly confused ballad of freedom and sterile happiness.

Plastic People
Machine music? Stereotypical gestures and exalted solos, between hard rock and squeaking plastic. Synthetic. Plastic rock. Clones, computer voices, avatars, and robots. Fake news as political participation, "reality" shows, virtual wars, and action thrillers as entertainment. Everything authentically artificial! As it gets louder and shriller: life! Vitality!

Those who carry out the trash of the powerful (and often get thrown out with it themselves)
Creeping in pale twilight, slimy tracks, secret gnawing, scraping, sawing, scampering away when the blanket is aired out..., a shout: stamped on! A piece for toadies and hangers-on, for opportunists who fix things – openly or secretly in the background...

Fahrenheit 451 – or -273.15 Celsius?
At 451° Fahrenheit, books catch fire. -273.15° Celsius, on the other hand, is absolute zero: the end of our universe. The firestorm of totalitarian systems – or the icy cold of nothingness?
The ensemble ablaze, seemingly inextinguishable. Its end in emptiness, cold, darkness...

Don't Worry, You Are Being Watched! (Radio play)
Safety from crime and terror! Video cameras, digital codes, chips: continuous positioning ability, recording of behavior, disclosure of thoughts and communication, data storage...
For the safety of national security measures.

Megapolis Tower at Sunrise
American commerce meets Asian diligence: economic boom! Anything else? Mirrored skyscrapers, stylish shopping malls, the promise of happiness! Hymns of glass and steel, plastic and concrete. The Tower of Babel reaches for heaven, shining in the morning light, adorned by "Chinese" strings, cheered by "American" brass, and more besides...

Be Happy! ("Dance of the Puppets")
With "Jingle Bells", "Happy Birthday", and the national anthem, you can still feel good – wars are being fought elsewhere. Aren't they?No more tiresome searching for the path! Follow the whistle! The executives move like marionettes and puppets to it. Finally they collapse into themselves, left to their fate.
Are those bombs falling...? Atom bombs?