Luc Ferrari

Listening Guide. Sound Bank: Luc Ferrari (1929-2005), Strathoven (1985).

This pastiche piece by the French-born Italian composer Ferrari is a 3’30” salad of Beethoven and Stravinsky. Beginning with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, the work is marked by Stravinskian interruptions that occur with increasing frequency. This pithy composition models our contemporary concert soundscape, articulating the musical proximities that emerge from a keen historical awareness. It can be heard as a musicalization of Jean Baudrillard’s concept of postmodern simulacra—a bank or wall of media images through which we understand reality and in a sense replaces the latter. What is unusual about Strathoven is that it is comprised only of spliced recordings of Beethoven and Stravinsky performances, without additional material from Ferrari. This impersonal touch seemingly removes the composer from the equation, presenting a raw depiction of mediatized sociality. This is in line with Cage’s “found object” approach to environmental sounds that are incorporated in his compositions, mostly notably 4’33”.