Some Sadomasochistic Aspects of Musical Pleasure

Author(s): Reinhold Friedl

Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 12, Pleasure (2002), pp. 29-30
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513345
Accessed: 02-05-2017 14:06 UTC

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 Some Sadomasochistic Aspects
of Musical Pleasure

ABSTRACT

Reinhold Friedl
The author posits t
dynamic of sadomaso
pleasure is at work in
rary music. The rise b
compositions that equ
technical instructions
perhaps impossible re
I t is quite well known that music, and especially
be found in his sociology of music, ments upon performe
wherein his categorization of dif-seen to make the act
contemporary or so-called New Music, is not pure pleasure-
pure pleasure being comparable to relaxing in a warm ferent types of listeners develops apleasure in their exec
bathtub.
form of masochism. T
The idea of interpreting music as a reflection of thehierarchy.
whole To simplify: the "best" lis-
ences of increasingly i
world, or even a single musical piece as creating a whole tener is the one who is able to per-alized musical styles
"mu-
sical cosmos" (an often-used topos in critiques), is a ceiveverythe whole musical structure of
old said to enjoy a similar
idea that can be found all the way back in the ancient Greek
a composition while listening to it. ship to performance. A
ideal of music as a reflection of the harmonic order of the more physical "noise
This is clearly an intellectual, not a
intended effect is ofte
macrocosmos. But even in the Greek philosophy of music physical a pleasure. The second ver- auditory pleasure but s
massive problem occurred in the form of the Pythagoreandict was formulated after World War
ing. The author recou
II: that
limma: that is, a mathematically consistent tuning bringing it is impossible to write a
to- number of sources in
discussion, from Freud
gether pure fifths and pure octaves does not exist. (A poem after Auschwitz. The latter
pitch
Nietzsche, Adorno, Sc
seven octaves higher than a given note is not the same ideaas has
the been applied directly and Stockhausen.
pitch twelve fifths higher; the difference between the to contemporary
fre- music on a vast
quencies of the two resulting notes is the limma [orscale"rem-[3].
nant"] [1]). So music was treated even then as an imperfect
"Critical theory" has held that the
copy of the perfect order of the macrocosmos. music of the future will have to be
To focus on another point, the functional harmonicchange
struc- society. Political categories
ture of European music is based on two main psychological
(e.g. in serial music, where each val
tensions: the dominant, producing a tension to revertsame
to the number of occurrences) or "e
tonic, and the subdominant, inducing the feeling of sonance)
leaving have not only been applie
the tonic. I do not want to pursue here the question but of thealso have been given frequently a
tic
pleasure of listening to different "stories" of leaving and com- value of a composition or a comp
ing back to a harmonic basis. Ijust want to emphasize the music
fact has not only tried to become
that the pleasure of listening to that kind of music requires
but has also tried to temper physic
the capacity to follow harmonic tensions and even be misled One dream, formulated by the vet
music, was to phase out the human
sometimes, e.g. due to a fallacy or false cadence (trugschlufl).
The problem of the relationship between pleasure and him ten- or her completely with electron
sion was an issue for Sigmund Freud, the German term Lust
positions. It is ajoke of history that
having a double meaning. Lust is not only the pleasurethe of re- composer as a dictator was then
leasing a certain drive-energy-e.g. as during an orgasm-but
back door. The pleasure of the listen
also the pleasure of the building up of energy, e.g. sexual ex-
understanding the structure of the
citement, tension. Thus, the first approach, that pleasuretheis al- interpreter was reduced to play
ways connected to the release of drive-energy, e.g. in form
right of time, his or her role becoming
an orgasm, cannot be upheld. The occurrence of pleasure of in a bank employee.
building up a drive-energy introduced a theoretical problem.As a very recognizable effect of th
That is, the simple idea of drive-energy or the "axiomatic sys-
audience withdrew. Conservative or p
tem" of the family of drives had to be changed to include it thestill wanted poems after Auschw
so-called death urge [2]. terpreter came into being: the new-m
With this in mind, music can induce very different pleasures. of scientific specialist. Interestingly,
Using an up-to-date and pragmatic categorization of musics, tory, a definite separation betwee
there is "listening music," "dance music" and "chill-out preter-between music." the "thinker" and
Because the last two can be considered functional types of This music, development created a new type
I want to focus on the listening music (chill-out music called can be principle of the unprovable w
treated as the "bathtub pleasure" I mentioned above). The question remains, what kind of
Returning to contemporary music and pleasure, we would should an interpreter experience fr
remember two verdicts, handed down by Adorno. The first music?
can This work is clearly reduce
to music, the mere execution, pre
structures. Two possibilities result: (
Reinhold Friedl (composer, musician), Graefstr. 5, D-10967 Berlin, Germany. E-mail:
<[email protected]>.
a technician who does not know and

? 2002 ISAST LEONARDO MUSICJOURNAL, Vol

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sure or (2) he or she finds a certain plea- sivity, does not obviously include the idea
Alien 8 recordings are listed at <http://www.
sure in merely obeying orders, in the alien8recordings.com/merzbow.php3>.
of suffering from the performance.
sense of the classic slave role. If this role To return to the relation between plea-6. Nietzsche's first book was published in 1872: The
Birth of Tragedy, Out of the Spirit of Music (Die Geburt
is combined with pleasure, it turns out tosure and tension-which is probably one der Trag6die aus dem Geiste der Musik). A listing of
be a classic example of a sadomasochis-of the most interesting questions in aes-Nietzsche's writings is available at <http://
tic structure. plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/>.
thetics and one of the points Merzbow fo-
7. More information about Schumann's life and in-
To be motivated to perform in this way,cuses on: If tension always includes a kind
jury to his hand (somewhat varied accounts) are
one would need to take pleasure in it, butof "pain" (e.g. in a composition of Viennaavailable at: <http://www.veritasdigital.com/schu
as there is no direct pleasure, one wouldKlassik, the tension built up by leaving mann/biography.htm>; <http://carolinanavy.
com/fleet2/f2/zclassicalmusic/RobertSchumann
need to be pleased by doing it withoutthe tonic sphere can only appear as a (1810-1856)hall/cas/40.html>; <http://www.
pleasure, which is clearly a masochisticform of pain, to return to that point), but ptloma.edu/music/MUH/composers/schumann.
htm>.
response. If the interpreter performs inis felt as pleasure, then this can be looked
8. Stockhausen's comments came at the end of a
front of an audience, he or she can also at as a definite sadomasochistic pleasure.
press conference in which Stockhausen was ques-
satisfy his/her sadistic tendencies, as pos-At least this would be very compatible tioned about his works and his beliefs in the works
itive pleasure would be forbidden for thewith the old Greek theory of catharsis, of of St. Michael and Lucifer. Stockhausen stated that
he believes Lucifer was present in September 2001
audience too. Freud probably would usesuffering through a drama until a solu-
in New York, which led to a reporter questioning
the term "moral masochism" for this be- tion. But in order not to be too provoca- Stockhausen further.

havior: taking the role of the victim with-tive, I would like to point out that the The original statement (responding to a reporter's
out having sexual pleasure [4]. This,difference emphasized by Nietzsche is query to Stockhausen's about his notes to his work
Hymnen in relation to the 11 September events) was
perhaps in addition to theatrically un-that this suffering is not a true physical as follows:
derlining the seriousness of the work,suffering or pain, but a compassion [6]. Hm. Also was da geschehen ist, ist natiirlich-jetzt
could be a reason for the longstanding In order not to finish without proving muisen Sie alle Ihr Gehirn umstellen-das grolte
Kunstwerk, was esje gegeben hat. DaB also Geister in
fashion among new-music interpreters ofthat I do not speak of nonexistent phe-
einem Akt etwas vollbringen, was wir in der Musik nie
dressing only in black. nomena, I would like to mention how traumen k6nnten, daB Leute zehnJahre iiben wie
This theory would make the under- Schumann's fourth finger on his right verriickt, total fanatisch, fur ein Konzert. Und dann
sterben. [Zogert.] Und das ist das gr6ote Kunstwerk,
standing of some new-complexity com-hand became crippled because he tied it
das es iberhaupt gibt fir den ganzen Kosmos. Stellen
positions possible, exaggerating theup to improve his playing [7]. I also wishSie sich das doch vor, was da passiert ist. Das sind also
technical difficulties of their scores to the briefly to recall Karlheinz Stockhausen's Leute, die sind so konzentriert aufdieses eine auf die
eine Auffiihrung, und dann werden fiinftausend
point where they are impossible for any concept of interpreters, which emerged Leute in die Auferstehung gejagt....
interpreter to play. The interpreter hasin his statements about the events of 11 A transcription of the Stockhausen press conference
to work so hard onstage, trying to realizeSeptember 2001 in New York. Stock- was published in "'Huuuh!' Das Pressegesprach am
the impossible, that his ever-losing fighthausen discusses the lengthy preparation16 September 2001 im Senatszimmer des Hotel At-
lantic in Hamburg," MusikTexte91 (2001) pp. 69-77.
against the given structure gains a verymade by the terrorists, comparing it to the This document is available online at <http://
emotional dimension: Sisyphus onstage,idea of musicians practicing fanatically for www.stockhausen.org/hamburg.pdf>. A discussion
of the controversy surrounding Stockhausen's state-
performing his masochistic pleasure, 10 years for a single concert and then
ments and the manner in which they were reported
only to fail every time. dying during the "performance" [8]. in the press appears on the Stockhausen web site at
But leaving aside this provocative ar- <http://www.stockhausen.org/>.
gument, there are also some musiciansReferences and Notes
who introduced in the 1980s a very hard 1. The pitch seven octaves higher than a given note
and very physical "noise music." One of and the pitch twelve fifths higher than the same given
their important protagonists is Masaminote are actually of two slightly different frequen- Manuscript received 15 January 2002.
cies-that is, 1/27 does not equal 1/312 The differ-
Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow)-who told me inence between the two frequencies is called the
a discussion that he believes that all music Pythagorean limma.
is a sadomasochistic act. Somehow he has 2. In his drive-reduction theory Freud proposed "that
turned the above-described situation of ReinholdFriedl is a Berlin-based performer, in-
early interactions set the pattern for later personal-
ity and social development. He suggested that peo-
terpreter and composer who studied piano with
the contemporary music interpreter ple are motivated by biological drives (statesRenate
of Werner, Alan Marks and Alexander
upside-down: in his concerts he uses
arousal such as hunger that lead us to obtain the pre-
von
requisites for survival). When one of these drives is Schlippenbach and also studied mathe-
noise levels of over 110 dB, well past the
aroused, we seek to satisfy the related need. Thematics
re- in Stuttgart and Berlin. He has received
pain threshold of the listeners. So heduction of the drive produces feelings of pleasure
fellowships from, among others, the Berlin
and we return to a comfortable state of biological
makes the sadomasochistic relationship Academy of Arts and STEIM in Amsterdam
equilibrium. Thus he proposed that pleasure seek-
between audience and performer quite and has published articles in newpapers and
ing is a basic principle of existence." See <http://
obvious, as it becomes physical. Bass professional journals. Friedlfounded and di-
psynts.dur.ac.uk/notes/Yearl/developmental/dev/
rects the ensembles Piano-Inside-Out and
sounds really "touch" the listener [5].Attachment%20Lecture%20-%202001.htm>;J. La-
planche andJ.B. Pontalis, Das Vokabular Der Psycho-
But Akita is even convinced that every
analyse (Frankfurt am Main, 1973). zeitkratze. As pianist and composer, he has
musical performance onstage is a sado-3. Theodor W. Adorno, Einleitung in die Musiksozi- worked with musicians and composers such as
ologie (Frankfurt am Main, 1978). Lee Rinaldo of Sonic Youth, PhillNiblock, Hel-
masochistic act, as it is based on a game
4. Laplanche and Pontalis [2] p. 305.
mut Oehring, Nicolas Collins, Lou Reed,
of power between the performer and the
Merzbow (a.k.a. Masami Akita), Radu Mal-
audience. However, the agreement be- 5. Interviews with Masami Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow) are
fatti, Bernhard Guenter and Mario Bertoncini
available at <http://noiseweb.com/merzbow/>.
tween the audience and the performer, Discography and other information at <http:// (nuova consonanza) and has made countless
which defines the roles of activity and pas-
www.hut.fi/-omertalo/Merzbow.html>. Merzbow's radio and CD recordings.

30 Friedl, Some Sadomasochistic Aspects of Musical Pleasure

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