What happens when an orchestra without a house meets a group of designers without sound? The encounter gives rise to an “accessible score”: “Die Begehbare Partitur”.
Art on the construction site
In order to dissolve the boundary between public and cultural space and free art from its conventional context, Michael Keller and Annette Josef of the Munich Symphony Orchestra chose an unusual venue for “Die Begehbare Partitur” – the shell of the new Blackspace House: unfinished and reduced, the construction site formed the perfect stage for an experimental light and sound experience.
Music particles and light impulses
The title “Die Begehbare Partitur” was to be taken literally: in the evening of the 15th of March the more than 200 visitors did experience a walk-in score instead of a typical orchestral situation. They followed light, music and rhythm over five floors. Conductor and orchestra played a piece composed for this evening only, while they were spread out over the entire building.
On one floor for example, visitors could hear and see the strings playing. Parallel on another floor, they could observe the brass players as they waited for their next entry – the silence being broken by nothing but the quiet “Tik-Tok” of the metronome. Then again, while maybe the percussion was playing in the distance, you could meet the conductor – who directed the whole concert, staying alone in the silence of highest floor.
In the rhythm of the music, the light installation kept moving across all floors during the entire concert and turned the house into a pulsating body of sound that could be seen from afar and astonished passers-by.
New spaces for art
As magical as the concert installation was, the moment unfortunately passed quickly: “Die Begehbare Partitur” was only shown once at MCBW 2019, as a result of the new spaces for art workshop last year. But sure there will be new projects in that spirit. The Munich Symphony Orchestra and Blackspace are continuing their unusual collaboration to find new spaces for art, to break up old habits of hearing and seeing – and to inspire a young audience for art.
Read more about our collaboration with the Munich Symphoniker Orchestra at Sueddeutsche.de
