Moritz Eggert on Hämmerklavier XXXIII: ‘Does music become less interesting the fewer people are listening?’
On Sunday 14 September, composer and pianist Moritz Eggert will premiere Hämmerklavier XXXIII: ‘Ultra’ (Part 1) in the Gaudeamus Music Week in Utrecht. He is one of the jury members of the present issue, and this is the latest addition to his ever-expanding cycle for solo piano. He will play the first hour of what must eventually evolve into a 12-hour piece for one pianist – performing with or without audience.
Moritz Eggert (c) Mara Eggert
Eggert was born in Heidelberg in 1965 and played as keyboardist in rock and jazz ensembles before undertaking studies in classical piano and composition. He is famed for pushing boundaries and challenging the (physical) stamina of performers, often with an ironic or humoristic twist. He also hosts the ‘Bad Blog of Musick’, one of the best read platforms about contemporary music. I asked him about the ideas and intentions of his Hämmerklavier series.
You started the cycle Hämmerklavier in 1994. What was your intention at the time?
I had avoided to write for the piano until then (as a pianist I always felt somehow inhibited). But one day I found myself at a Mexican music festival, and a piece of mine was cancelled because the US String Quartet was detained at the Mexican border for having no work permit (this issue works both ways). So in a nightly action before the concert I wrote a piano piece, because that was the only thing I could realise on short notice, this was Hämmerklavier I: ‘Ins Freie’. In the concert I improvised part of it, but later I wrote everything into a clean score and the dam was broken. That was the start of the cycle.
https://youtu.be/MNjr8Hee_Iw
Why is it called Hämmerklavier, not Hammerklavier?
In German you can differentiate between ‘hammer’ (Hammer) and ‘to hammer’ (hämmern). When I hear the word ‘Hammerklavier’ I always also think of the pianist hammering away at the piano, not only of the hammers inside the piano. Therefore I created this title, as an accurate description of some of the more percussive pieces in the cycle, in which the pianist is often quite literally hitting the piano.
I also liked the concept that each piece was intended to be like driving a nail into the wall (also ‘hämmern’): you have to concentrate on hitting the tip. I therefore made a point that each piece concentrated on one aspect. This helped my focus. As mentioned, my past as a pianist made me sometimes too aware of the possibilities of the piano, and I feared to be too conventional. By limiting myself to one particular theme I tried to create more intense pieces.
Hämmerklavier XXXIII: ‘Ultra’ refers to your own ultra runs and swims. What is the relationship to you between physical exercise and music?
Historically there has always been a connection between body and music. For instance, Italian terms like ‘agitato’, ‘animato’, ‘amoroso’, or ‘appassionato’ are all connected to bodily expressions. And we know that performers such as CPE Bach, Paganini or Liszt purposely made their performances very physical – either by showing the emotions on their face like Bach recommended, or by performing crazy feats of movement such as fast scales or arpeggios, to show off their virtuosity.
In Covid times – when we all suffered because there were no concerts and there was no contact with an audience – I completely reassessed my values and goals as a composer. I thought a lot about the question when music actually becomes music. Does it need an audience, does it ‘exist’ without one (a dangerous question, I realise…)? Is a performance of a Schubert sonata better if 2000 people are listening or is it also successful if I play it alone, or only for a friend?
Does a piece become less interesting the fewer people are listening? There is a lot of fantastic music that was mainly written for private entertainment – the sonatas of Scarlatti, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, madrigals by Monteverdi… the list is endless. All these pieces are now being performed in smaller or larger halls, but they began their life as something that was enjoyed mainly by the musicians playing them.
Extreme sports events
So I thought about a piece that would combine my passion for extreme sport events with music. I wanted something that is exhausting to play and will bring me to my limits. This I enjoy, because it transforms being alive as a human being into sound. I think that it is a real challenge for a pianist, and it is fun to overcome challenges. – At least to me.
Hämmerklavier XXXIII: ‘Ultra’ (Part 1), is not ‘difficult’ in the traditional sense (overly complex, many notes), but instead it is really physical in the strict sense of the word. It involves straining movements like repeated wide jumps and playing with your feet, therefore it also takes a lot of concentration to play.
There are repetitions, but it is not simply repetitive minimal music: they are all part of processes that may span dozens of pages, and are never regular or easy to play. Performing the piece is like a trail: you must always be on your guard, as something unexpected might happen. You might go up a mountain, thinking it is always ascending yet there might suddenly be a steep downhill, as every hiker knows.
And if something is fun to do it also becomes fun to watch, otherwise we wouldn’t watch sport events or follow the exploits of climbers. So this is my hope for this piece – that people will play it for themselves, and that others might enjoy it like a sports event.
You’re investigating the importance of the listener, what if no one turns up?
It may well happen that I perform this piece while nobody is in the room. Perhaps somebody shows up later, perhaps someone leaves. Or maybe somebody is having a conversation during the piece, another is checking Instagram, perhaps even somebody falls asleep. I don’t mind. This piece is not about a conventional concert situation, it’s more like a happening.
We have seen this work in performances of Satie’s ‘Vexations’ (Satie is my hero), which may last up to 21 hours. Compared to this my piece is comparatively short, but the difference is that it is really exhausting to play, and that you have to physically train to be able to perform it.
The pianist has to be absolutely fit. I might include running around the piano or doing squats at some point later in the cycle. I did the former in Hämmerklavier IX: ‘Jerusalem’. However, I want it to be accessible, I don’t only want sports people to perform it, anyone should be able to take up the challenge. – But they do have to train.
https://youtu.be/BrX0PaAy0iw
Will Hämmerklavier XXXIII: ‘Ultra’ be the conclusion of the Hämmerklavier cycle?
I’m not one to make big announcements that I then can’t keep. I might want to make it a 24 hour piece, who knows? Also there is the idea of audience participation interludes to cover toilet breaks – nobody wants to see a pianist peeing at the piano, I suppose.
You’re planning to complete a 12-hour cycle. Will there be 12 parts of one hour?
That is the plan, yes. I have no idea how long it will take eventually. I only know that nobody will commission a 12 hour piano solo piece, so I have to do it in chunks. It might take a long time, but I hope I won’t be too old to play it once it is finished.
#GaudeamusMusicWeek #HämmerklavierIInsFreie #HämmerklavierIXJerusalem #HämmerklavierXXXIIIUltra #MoritzEggert
Contemporary Classical - Thea Derks
DAS OPERNMAGAZIN
LiteraturLounge