The twenty‑first century and its social dynamics demand the development of new forms of artistic expression while highlighting the need to rethink traditional artistic models. The concert format that has prevailed for centuries is now showing signs of exhaustion (Sloboda, 2010). Numerous artistic manifestations seek a new voice adapted to the transformations of today’s world. The emergence of the internet and new technologies has revolutionized the musical landscape, challenging traditional notions of work, author, performer, and audience. These concepts—already the subject of debate among some composers—require redefinition in the context of the digital age.
Similarly, the boundaries of “classical” music have gradually blurred in recent years. More and more artists are exploring the concert as a form of expression that integrates not only other artistic disciplines but also technological advances. This approach challenges traditional aesthetic conventions and the notion of musical genre. The omnipresence of technology in contemporary society underscores the need for research exploring the various possibilities of the concert. This concept should be understood not only as a musical performance but as an artistic act unfolding through interaction with a new kind of audience rooted in a highly technological society (Saunders, 2019).
The classic concert format now appears as a symbol of our past, prompting us to reconsider our relationship with art in the digital revolution era. Works like Hello! demonstrate the dissolution of traditional roles in a dynamic exchange of creative energy, where interdisciplinary approaches mark the beginning of a new form of musical expression. In this context, music becomes a multisensory experience that challenges our perception of space, time, and the body.
KlassicFest | IKG Institute | Canónigos Theater, La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia, Spain | 14.04.2024
K-Os Groups I ONoff Ensemble
Pedro Pablo Cámara, concept and concert direction
CSKG | production
Track13 | technical direction
STRUCTURE AND NARRATIVE
In the concert, we consider it important to minimize the conventions that typically provide structure—such as the clear-cut “beginning” and “ending.” For at least two centuries, these elements have served a pragmatic function, clearly framing the performance. We approach both sections with great care, precisely to avoid transforming recent premises into new dogmas. Indeed, we risk creating new conventions, so these aspects remain merely points of consideration.
Just as Lehmann (2006) says that drama “does not lie in the text, nor in a body separate from textuality, but rather in the reciprocal disturbance between text and scene” (Sánchez, 2017, p. 20), for us drama is—not only the musical score, nor solely the works comprising a concert program—but all elements treated equally within the dramaturgy: gesture, lighting, projections, dress code, staging, audience, venue, voice‑over, videos, printed program, etc.
In this concert, the beginning (deliberately called “principio” rather than “inicio”) consists of a voice‑over recorded by artificial intelligence (text and audio available in the archives). With this principio, we seek to engage the audience in a reflective and active way, introducing the main theme of transformation and prompting questions to prepare them for the concert’s core: the encounter with the public.
During the voice-over, the performers of Story (who also act on stage) and Metamorphosen enter and prepare to perform Strauss’s work (a staging diagram is provided below). The remaining performers are positioned throughout the stalls, so that after Metamorphosen ends, they begin performing Story immersed among the audience. At that point, the musicians from Metamorphosen leave the stage.
The scores for Story have been previously prepared—placed inside magazines or newspapers—to better reflect the intended domestic atmosphere. At the start, alongside the voice-over, eight performers sit on stage around a table simulating a living‐room. These musicians, who have already been very near the Strauss work (even gesturally interacting with it), join the Story interpretation one by one. By the end of the piece, all of them are performing. When it concludes, after a pause prompted by the on‑stage performers, the piece is played again—this time only with the original eight musicians. During this second rendition, the other performers (in the audience) gradually come onto the stage.
1. Introduction I 2. Transformations I 3. Program I 4. Structure & Narrative I 5. Video
This movement emerges alongside expressions related to musical theater, where the performer is part of the scene and becomes the object of study. The performer is a prepared interpreter, ready for any artistic manifestation, with the audience serving as an additional element (Lizarazu, 2018). The aim is to blur the lines defining each artistic manifestation, in favor of interdisciplinarity.
In this context—and motivated by ongoing observation of different concert programs—our interest has arisen in a format that transcends genre and style labels. This unique format centers on the concert—now stage-based—conceived as a work in itself. For decades, significant efforts have been devoted to designing concerts that captivate audiences, often exploring specific themes or adopting monographic approaches. Redefining the format becomes one of our research areas, driving our investigation and forming the genesis of this concert.
Transmutations seeks to develop a concert program that functions as both a subject of study and a guide for new artistic manifestations, aiming to involve the audience as active social agents in the transformation and appreciation of the musical work (Cook, 2019).
Using a methodology rooted in artistic research, the concert is redefined as a dramaturgical—even post-dramaturgical—space (Lehman, 2006 [1999]). All elements that have been more or less excluded from the classical concert over the last century—such as space, lighting, projections, text integrated into the performance, and the expansion of the instrumental vocabulary through live or prerecorded electronics—are employed here to create a hybrid format.
This work aims to redefine the concept of “transformation” by avoiding any stylistic barrier. The works of Richard Strauss, John Cage, and Alexander Schubert are included not only for their artistic value but also for their contribution to the thematic concept.
From an educational perspective, we believe this type of project holds great relevance for the training of musicians and, more broadly, artists. In our effort to eliminate boundaries, we aspire for students to cease being merely apprentices and to become concert directors, contributing their concerns and feeling part of the project. The opportunity to experiment and engage in joint investigations of this kind is, we believe, very valuable for their training and subsequent development.
1. Introduction I 2. Transformations I 3. Program I 4. Structure & Narrative I 5. Video
Each then takes their positions to perform Hello!, except Isabel Anaya and Carla Guzmán, who sit at the stage edge. Once the second version of Story finishes, the encounter with the audience begins—an element normally reserved for the concert’s end. For us, it is part of the work itself.
At this point, the audience is asked questions such as:
“Why do you believe there is resistance in some audiences to certain contemporary works?
“Would you prefer attending a concert that fully caters to your pre‑existing interests?
“Have you ever attended a staged concert before?”
“As regular listeners, do you prefer a more stylistically linear concert, or are you drawn to mixed‑format proposals that unite different musical forms and art practices?”
Further questions and answers unfold based on the direction of the discussion. Meanwhile, the remaining musicians position themselves to perform Hello! Once the audience encounter concludes, the final work of the program begins.
In this concert, we find no reason to eliminate the ending: following Schubert’s piece, the musicians take a bow, and the saxophonists from Strauss’s work join them for a full ensemble bow. Both the presence of a formal ending and this final bow reflect a certain conventionalism that we have deliberately chosen not to dismiss, as we did not deem it appropriate to introduce another argument to dilute the conclusion.
1. Introduction I 2. Transformations I 3. Program I 4. Structure & Narrative I 5. Video
KlassikFest Festival
Katarina Gurska Foundation
Canónigos Theatre – IKG Campus
La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia)
April 14, 2024 / 12:30 PM
K-os Groups and ONoff Ensemble
Contemporary music and saxophone ensembles from the CSKG Madrid
Transmutations
Metamorphosen (1945) – Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
For saxophone septet. Arrangement by Rudolf Leopold and Pedro P. Cámara
Living Room Music. Story (1940) – John Cage (1912–1992)
Hello! (2016) – Alexander Schubert (1979)
*Full program available in attached materials
1. Introduction I 2. Transformations I 3. Program I 4. Structure & Narrative I 5. Video
1. Introduction I 2. Transformations I 3. Program I 4. Structure & Narrative I 5. Video
TRANSFORMATIONS
Textural (Metamorphosen, Strauss). Following Rudolf Leopold’s lead, this transformation results from the 1996 adaptation of the original scoring for 23 string instruments to a septet.
Timbre-based (Metamorphosen, Strauss). This transformation stems from the adaptation of the string instruments to various saxophones in the arrangement we developed during 2023 and 2024.
Motivic (Metamorphosen, Strauss). Richard Strauss’s writing exhibits a rich and complex motivic development, which is part of his compositional craft and entails a metamorphosis of the musical material itself.
Of the performer (Living Room Music, Cage). Here we witness the transformation of the performer, now understood as an extended performer, or rather, a media actor—an artist who expands their role to become a musician who also performs and is prepared to interpret with or without their instrument.
Of sound and instruments (Hello!, Schubert). During the performance, the images and symbols projected on the screen are imitated, creating a translation of the instrument's role and its sound.
Of the audience. We aim to redefine the role of the audience in the concert, which transforms to take on a more active part in the experience.
