iris ter schiphorst

exact cast:
SSSAAA

Note:
The libretto is available in French, but also in German or English on request

https://www.schott-music.com/en/le-tremblement-persistant-du-moi-fantome-no569995.html

Programme booklet

'Le Tremblement permanent du moi- fantôme...pour Adrian Piper', a composition commissioned by the outstanding French ensemble Musicatreize for the Beethoven Year 2020 under the motto '12 Letters to Elise' raises the question of who we are today - 250 years after the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven - and what remains of his ideals, his belief in enlightenment, equality, justice and freedom?

The title of my work already indirectly points to the radical redefinition of the human being in the 21st century. In neuroscience, for example, there is no longer any talk of the human 'ego', but only of an 'ego illusion'. And the 'spirit', the so-called 'consciousness' of man is no longer located in the immaterial or transcendental, but simply in the chemistry and physics of the brain.
What does this mean for music, for the art of today? How do composers and artists deal with this knowledge?

I myself have decided to include some of these questions in my text for the above-mentioned occasion.The libretto begins with a collection of short, drastic linguistic images that are hurled into the room like fragments of the perception of a 'world out of joint'.and ends abruptly with a letter, in this case to the American conceptual artist and philosopher Adrian Piper, who, like Beethoven in his day, still feels committed to the ideals of Kant and rigorous enlightenment. In her award-winning work "The Probable Trust Registry: The Rules of the Game #1- 3", which was honoured with the Golden Lion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, for example, she has the recipients sign a self-contract that obliges them to act in accordance with ethical and moral principles for the rest of their lives.

This letter to Adrian Piper - actually more of a cry for help to my artist colleague - marks a drastic break in the composition. In it, I reveal my struggle as a composer to find an answer to the question of what the task of music and art is today. Adrian Piper, who impresses me deeply with her unambiguous stance on this question, is also written about as a kind of moral authority (as which God, for example, has long since become obsolete...). As a composer, I am torn on this question:

For example, what about an art that doesn't just follow Kant's view, that 'at first glance' is therefore less directed at reason/the intellect and more at the 'affective involvement' of the recipient? Which relies on 'contagion', on 'infection'? Antonin Artaud, Gilles Deleuze, or Erika Fischer-Lichte, among others, would be the godfathers of such a view, who have in common that they attribute to the idea of aesthetic contagion the potential to awaken the alien hidden in the 'self' and therefore ultimately make it more open to 'the other'. So are both approaches justified? Or do we perhaps need a completely different approach today? Ultimately, these questions will only be decided by the recipients.

copyright 2022, Iris ter Schiphorst

Libretto of the French version

I) Bouffe!

Concasse la coquille!

Une femme avale son enfant de travers.

Le canari manque d'air.

Un ange de la mort déchiquet une fille.

Le champ s'en fiche des fragments d'os

 

II) La tête de Jean comme un élément flottant dans l'espace.

Yvonne, quand ses jambes sont brutalement écartées.

Le poing comme il remodèle le visage

Le dialecte d'Abdi, pour lequel les droits de l'homme ne s'appliquent pas.

Le flic chevauchant la petite princesse.

Le garçon, essayant de se maintenir à flot.

La voix, comme un cri transperçant l'oreille.

Le cortex bombardé en continu par les neurones:

Son rétroaction le ridicule moi-fantôme.

Et le bon Dieu est coincé dans l'accord de septième de dominante.

 

III) Lèttre à Adrian Piper*

Stop.

Adrian.

Adrian Piper.

Aide moil!

Finis-ça!

Chère Adrian.

Finis-ça! S'il te plaît.

Finis mon énumération, cette cascade de sons.

Cette cascade d'images, qui ne fait progresser rien!

Bavardages sans rime ni raison.

Un rapport. Un exercice. An introspection.

 

Chère Adrian.

Je sais que ce n'est pas ça de quoi il s'agit.

It's not that, it's what's important.

Le devoir de l'art.

 

Adrian.

I am still far from everything that this should be.

De ce qui compte.

En tant qu'humain.

Justice. Ethics. Penser. Comprendre. Lire.

Devenir mieux. En tant qu'humain. A person who is right. Une personne infaillible.

Une personne incorruptible.

 

Adrian Piper.

Je suis loin de tout ce qui compte vraiment.

En tant qu'humain. Devenir Mieux.

En tant qu'humain. Devenir Mieux.

En tant qu'humain. Devenir Mieux. Point.

En tant qu'humain. Point. Devenir Mieux. Point.

En tant qu'humain. Point. Devenir Mieux. Point d'exclamation.

En tant qu'humain.

En tant qu'humain.

**Adrian Piper (b. 1948) is an American conceptual artist and philosopher who was awarded the "Golden Lion" at the 2014 Venice Biennale for encouraging the viewer to make a lifelong personal commitment to creating a new basis of trust between people.

Note de programme

" Le Tremblement permanent du moi- fantôme...pour Adrian Piper ", a composition commandée par le remarquable ensemble français Musicatreize pour l'année Beethoven 2020 sous la devise " 12 lettres à Elise "poses the question of who we are today - 250 years after the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven - and what remains of his ideas, his faith in the Lumières, equality, justice and freedom?

The title of my work already indirectly refers to the radical redefinition of the human being in the 20th century. In neuroscience, for example, one no longer speaks of the "me" of the human being, but only of an "illusion of the me".And likewise the "esprit", the soi-disant "conscience" of the human being is no longer situated in the immaterial or the transcendent, but simply in chemistry and the physicality of the brain.

What does it mean for music, for contemporary art? How do composers and artists interpret these statements?

I myself have decided to include certain of these questions in my text for the reason mentioned.

The book begins with a collection of short and drastic linguistic images that are projected into space as fragments of the perception of a "world in a panic", then continues with short citations of major neuroscientific figures, and finally ends - entirely fait dans l'esprit commanditaires de l'œuvre - brusquement par une lettre, une lettre à l'artiste conceptuelle et philosophe américaine Adrian Piper, who, like Beethoven in his time, was always committed to the ideas of Kant and the Lumières. In his oeuvre " The Probable Trust Registry : The Rules of the Game #1-3 ", récompensé par le Lion d'or à la Biennale de Venise en 2015, par exemple, elle fait signer aux lauréats un contrat, qui les oblige à act conformément à des principes éthiques et moraux tout au long de leur vie.

This letter to Adrian Piper - in fact, it is more of an appeal for help to an artist colleague - marks a radical break in the composition. J'y révèle mon combat en tant que compositrice pour trouver une réponse à la question de savoir quelle est la tâche de la musique, de l'art aujourd'hui. Adrian Piper, whose position without ambiguity on this question impresses me profoundly as a composer, is also regarded as a kind of moral authority (since Dieu, for example, has long since ceased to exist...). But as a composer, I am shocked by this question:

What is it, for example, of an art that does not only follow Kant's conception, i.e. one that, "at first sight", is less orientated towards reason/compression than towards the "affective implication" of the recipient? Qui se concentre sur la "contagion", sur l'"infection" ? Antonin Artaud, Gilles Deleuze or Erika Fischer-Lichte, among others, would be the parrains of such a concept, who all have in common that they attribute to the idea ofe de contagion esthétique the potential to reveal the foreigner cached in "me" and thus make it more open to "the other". So are the two approaches justified? Or do we perhaps need a completely different approach today?

At the end of the day, it is only the public who can give an answer to these questions.