2018

December 6-8, 2018 | echoraum

The 13th edition of shut up and listen! takes a closer look at the label “SONDERFALL” (i.e. special case) — “undisciplined” sound practices which frequently find themselves beyond the so-called norm. In this respect, at shut up and listen! everything remains as it was. Under the category Sonderfall, the Austrian rights society for authors, composers and music publishers (AKM) places, among others‚ “works that merely consist of verbal instructions or works that quantitatively show low musical content”. As a result, the affected compositions may receive up to six times lower royalty payments than others. Such underprivileged special cases à la AKM and their composers are the focus of this year’s festival.

With the exhibition #Sonderfall 0,5 – Bei diesem Werk handelt es sich nicht um Musik, Cordula Bösze and Arnold Haberl present a selection of “Sonderfall” compositions and related works. Notational special cases are highlighted with “toneless” scores by Alphonse Allais, Erwin Schulhoff and John Cage. On the occasion of his first visit to Europe, Mexican composer Édgar Guzmán presents the installative sound work Autorretrato, asking the audience to complete the proposed compositional process. The Ensemble Sonderfall (consisting of: Cordula Bösze, Susanna Gartmayer, Jakob Gnigler, MS Mutt, noid) performs two very special works by noid. Klaus Filip devotes his attention to the sonic side of dust and Matija Schellander performs two solo, among them another AKM-Sonderfall. Guided by the music pedagogue Hans Schneider, high schoolers of the AHS Heustadelgasse present a jointly developed improvisation on original Baschet instruments. Under the direction of Gunter Schneider, the mdw scratch orchestra (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) perform Sticks and Stones by Christian Wolff, according to AKM philosophy “merely” verbally notated works. In collaboration with noid (violoncello), Elisabeth Schimana presents her project Hautkörper. The concluding third festival day features a soundwalk through the adjacent Viennese neighborhood of the echoraum, conceived by Christine Schörkhuber, followed by the traditional festival brunch.