COMPOSING PEACE? YES, COMPOSE PEACE!

Music has had a number of important functions in the military. This is not just true of the past, but also applies today: for communication purposes (signalling), for motivating people (through military marches and musical propaganda), for celebrating victories, and for remembering the fallen. But has music also served a purpose in the cause of peace? And can it still do so nowadays? It may seem absurd, but regardless whether the purpose is military or peaceful, the means used are almost identical: stirring the emotions and motivating people, as well as pleading for peace and expressing grief. Music can bring people together.
But what does peace sound like? How does one compose and play music in time of war? Which notes sound peaceful, and which sound warlike?
How can peace be created through sounds?
The is the question which REIHE Zykan+ address in this collaborative project. It features an eclectic programme, encompassing a children’s counting rhyme by Otto M. Zykan entitled “Ping Peng Peng”, Michael Mautner’s ”On doibt douter (dem bewaffneten Mann darf man nicht trauen)”, Arvo Pärt‘s “Da Pacem”, and Karmella Tsepkolenko‘s “Woher schwarzer Tross”, which is based on a text by Serhij Zhadan.
Audience members can join in with the vocal quartet in singing the children’s rhyme “Ping Peng Peng”, and make music using rhythm, sounds, words and movement.

REIHE Zykan +
Society and politics tend not to feature in contemporary music; these issues lurk in a musical “blind spot”. REIHE ZYKAN + aima to remedy this.
Founded in 2020, REIHE Zykan + is a vocal and instrumental ensemble which not only embraces the modern social and political repertoire, but also incorporates two elements which often missing from the contemporary musical scene: namely, humour and satire. The group is named after Otto M. Zykan. His compositions, and those of his collaborators, pay homage to the principle of “sarcasm as an aesthetic strategy”.
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This project has been made possible by funding from the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, and from the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna.
We greatly appreciate their support!