Sympathy (music)

Sympathy (Greek συμπάθεια (sympatheia), from σύν (syn) "together" and πάθος (pathos) "passion", in this case an affection) is a short piece of instrumental, music, a type of bagatelle, that at the same time is a homage, a requiem for a special person.

Peter Adrian Wulff and Natias Neutert, performing a 'sympathy' in 1988

Origin

The earliest use of the name "sympathy" for instrumental musical work was by the German performer, poet, musician and thinker Natias Neutert. He introduced the word sympathy into the terminology of experimental music and performance art with his musical performance, titled Sympathy for Piano and Pump.[1][2]

Sympathy Chord written by Natias Neutert, Faksimile 1987

Premiere

The premiere of Natias Neutert's concerto within the frame of Berlin as Cultural City of Europe 1988 happened in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. It was a "kind of requiem for the great teacher Joseph Beuys whose use of a pneumatic pump as a sculptural object has inspired Neutert to convert it for this concerto into an unusual musical instrument."[3]

By virtue of his playing, pianist Adrian Wulff produces spacious arcs of sounds, and Neutert, the composer, performer and flute player himself, charms the finest sounds out of the unusual 'magic flute.'[4]

Revival

At the special wish of director Werner Hofmann, who had deposited a drawing by Neutert in the collection under (Inventory no. 1988/302), the musical performance Sympathy for Piano and Pump should also take place in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. This was made possible only because the enthusiastic exhibition organizer Harald Szeemann financed the rental of the grand piano twice with a large sum of money.[5]

References
  1. PARKETT No 15, Art Magazine, February Zürich 1988, p. 189.
  2. Cf. Laura von Spreckelsen: Grenzübertritte — zu den Aktivitäten von Natias Neutert in Berlin (Border Crossings — the activities of Natias Neutert in Berlin) In: NEW ART IN EUROPE No. 22, ’88.
  3. Berlin – Kulturstadt Europas 1988/Cultural City of Europe 1988/Ville Européenne de la Culture 1988, Verlag Ullstein, Frankfurt/Main – Berlin 1988, p. 105.
  4. Cf Klaus Thomsen: Sympathy for Piano and pump — Neutert in Berlin, Hamburg, Heidelberg et al. In: Kunst Köln Art Cologne, Issue 4/’88.
  5. Letter of Szeemann, coffered and seen in the Natias-Neutert-Nachlass-zu-Lebzeiten-Archiv, 2021.
  • Manfred Sack: Musikalische Performance — Piano und Pumpe DIE ZEIT


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