Selten gehörte Musik. Das Berliner Konzert (1974)

Title of the album: Selten gehörte Musik. Das Berliner Konzert
Title: - (Track 05)
Publisher: Pari e Dispari, Reggio Emilia/Studio Morra, Napoli/Edition
Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart
Date: 1974 (publ.1977)
Medium: 3 records 30 cm in box
Cover photos: Donatelli Sbarra
Performers: Ludwig Attersee, Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch, Arnulf Rainer, Dieter Roth, Gerhard
Rühm, Dominik Steiger, Oswald Wiener

Under the name Selten Gehörte Musik (Rarely Heard Music), so-called poetry workshops were held from the early 1970s onwards. At first, Poetry was the main focus at these workshops. Later, music also came to the forefront. The Munich concert in May of 1974 was the first public concert.

The meetings came about when many artists from the circle of Viennese Actionism and the Vienna Group left Austria in the 1960s - partly involuntarily - and moved to Germany. There they met again in Berlin. Gerhard Rühm (*1930), Oswald Wiener (*1935), and Dieter Roth (1930-1998) were among the permanent members of the group. Furthermore, a large number of artist friends took part in the meetings, including Günter Brus (*1938), Herrmann Nitsch (1938-2022), Arnulf Rainer (*1929), Christian Ludwig Attersee
(*1940), Dominik Steiger (1940-2014), André Thomkins (1930-1985), Björn Roth (*1961), Hansjörg Mayer (*1943) and Heinz Cibulka (*1943).

The participating artists came from various fields. The vast majority were musically, theoretically, or practically educated. The meetings often took place in private flats; in addition to musical and poetic activity, they painted, ate, drank alcohol, and partied. For the 1st Berlin Poetry Workshop, Günter Brus produced an issue of his exile newspaper Schastrommel.

Sound recordings of these meetings and the series Selten gehörte Musik (Rarely Heard Music) were released as long-playing records by Edition Hansjörg Mayer between 1973 and 1979. There are seven different album releases in total:
1973 the 3rd Berlin Poets' Workshop 12/13.7.73
1974 the November Symphony (double symphony)
1975 the Munich Concert May 1974
1976 the String Quartet 558171 (Romenthal Quartet)
1977 the Berlin Concerto (with the labels Pari e Dispari & Studio Morra) and Tote Rennen Lieder
1979 the Skimming Symphony (with the Edition Lebeer-Hossmann label).

Selten gehörte Musik deliberately appeared without style, the meetings were open-ended and characterized by spontaneity and improvisation.

In 1978, the Berlin Concert was reprinted by the labels Edizioni Lotta Poetica and Studio Morra. Between 2015 and 2017, the Berlin label Tochnit Aleph released five of the albums (3rd Berlin Poetry Workshop, November Symphony, Munich Concert, String Quartet 558171, Tote Rennen Lieder) on CD.

NS, PS