Music : Work : Material. The Concept of Work and Performance Practice in Experimental Music

Musicians and theorists discuss the concept of the ‘work’ in the performing arts, the visual arts and music, drawing on two performances of a work by Peter Ablinger.

Whilst in the visual arts the work is often identified with an object, in the performing arts the question of the concept of the work takes on a different urgency.

For example, music and dance seem to be experienceable only as performances, even though they are often recorded in the form of notation. The performance requires musicians, dancers or actors, who are always also interpreters of the work being presented.

The event ‘Music : Work : Material’, organised by the Music Archive of the Academy of the Arts, sets out to shed light on these interrelationships. Peter Ablinger’s (1959–2025) verbal score *Instrument & Voice* (2007–13) will be performed in two different interpretations.

Through short talks and a panel discussion, the concept of the ‘work’ will be explored in the context of performance art, the visual arts, the performing arts and experimental music.

Featuring

• Volker Straebel (introduction, lecture, performance), Helene Herold, Anke Hervol (lectures), Bill Dietz, Kirsten Reese, Chiyoko Szlavnics (performance), Felix Marzillier (moderator)