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Anagrammatische Komposition mit Würfelspiel von VALIE EXPORT (nach W. A. Mozart, Klavier) für Sopransaxophon von VALIE EXPORT

Anagrammatische Komposition mit Würfelspiel von VALIE EXPORT (nach W. A. Mozart, Klavier) für Sopransaxophon von VALIE EXPORT
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    • Anagrammatic Composition of Dice (after W.A. Mozart, piano) for Soprano Saxophone, by VALIE EXPORT
    • Anagrammatische Komposition mit Würfelspiel von VALIE EXPORT (nach W. A. Mozart, Klavier) für Sopransaxophon von VALIE EXPORT
  • 2010
  • video, color, sound
  • 5min, 48sec
This video was made for a commission VALIE EXPORT received from the Theater an der Wien opera house for an installation on the occasion of the Mozart Year 2010. It shows in short intervals various bars of music, behind each one changing number combinations - 13, 167, 123, 16, 4 etc. - and two dice that roll into the picture displaying various numbers of dots. EXPORT's hand can be seen now and then, reaching for the dice. The images are accompanied by melodies played on a soprano saxophone. The springboard for this video work is a manuscript attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart titled "Anleitung zum Componieren von Walzern vermittels zweier Würfel" ("Instructions for Composing Waltzes Using Two Dice"), published posthumously in 1793. Mozart's interactive composition piece is based on a system for a musical dice game invented in the mid-18th century which is the oldest known method for combining numbers with the help of a random generator - in this case, dice. In this video, EXPORT summons connections to earlier photographic works and installations in which dice and randomness play a central role. Jo.S.