Hi John! Version 2
for computer controlled 24-keys-per-octave pipe organ

Siegfried Koepf 2013

Program note

Hi John! Version 2 is one of my combinatorial compositions. I wrote it on the occassion of a concert of Initiative Musik und Informatik Köln – GIMIK e.V. at Logos Foundation in Gent. It was specifically conceptualized for the Logos quartertone organ Qt.

In my earlier combinatorial works, I often used lexicographical or syntactical rules for organizing the musical material. Here however, the algorithm at work sorts pitch material with respect to similarity. Thus, the degree of homogeneity (or heterogeneity) of a formal process can be regulated by the composer. This may generate forms, for example, which appear particularly smooth on the surface while there may be high turbulence on another level. This dialectic between homogeneity and heterogeneity of various layers plays an important role in many of my works and corresponds with my idea of a mature reception of art: Art is actualized when a cooperative spectator turns its potential into an experience by taking / adopting an individual point of view on the given work. This process requires an offer that is sufficiently multi-layered and complex.

The title of this piece is an hommage to John Cage and to his conversations with Morton Feldman, which were published under the title "Radio Happenings" in 1993.