- Danger music
-
Danger music is an experimental form of avant-garde 20th and 21st century classical music. It is based on the concept that some pieces of music can or will harm either the listener or the performer. Since the performances must nearly always be canceled before they can be performed, danger music can also be thought of more as a philosophical or political statement than as a composition of music. For example Takehisa Kosugi’s composition Music for a Revolution[1] directs the performer to gouge out one of his or her eyes five years from now. Works such as this are also sometimes referred to as anti-music because they seem to rebel against the concept of music itself. Danger music is often closely associated with the Fluxus school of composition, especially the work of Dick Higgins who composed a series of works entitled Danger Music.[1]
Contents
Danger Music in performance
Although many extreme examples of danger music direct performers to use sounds so loud that they will deafen the participants, or ask performers to throw antipersonnel bombs into the audience, danger music can also be used in a more mundane way. For instance a piece could be written in which the volume of the music steadily increases causing the audience to fear that it will make them defecate in their trousers (see Brown note), although it might never reach that point.
Japanese noise band Hanatarash were notable for their dangerous live shows, the most famous instance being when vocalist Yamantaka Eye drove a bulldozer through the venue at the back of the stage. There were also reports of audience members being required to fill out waivers before shows to prevent the band or the venue being sued in case of any potential danger caused to them.
References
Further reading
- Cope, David Techniques of the Contemporary Composer (ISBN 0-02-864737-8)
See also
Categories:- Music theory
- Punk genres
- Industrial music
- Noise music
- Experimental music genres
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
