What does quantum music sound like and what would Pierre Boulez think of it? Super position (many worlds) by Kim Helweg (2017)

Abstract

Pierre Boulez (1925–2016) devoted a great deal of time and consideration to the relationship between the composer’s invention and performance media, in particular those related to the application of the latest technological breakthroughs and new instruments. Boulez’s famous essay “Technology and the Composer“ (1977/1986) proclaims his desire to widen the range of expressive means of art music by conquering new media. Boulez’s “vintage“ insights are here juxtaposed with a contemporary Quantum Music project (2015–2018), and with one particular piece written within this project: Super Position (Many Worlds) by Kim Helweg (2017), commissioned by the Institute of Musicology SASA and supported by the Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond). At least two lines * This article was written for the project Quantum Music, co-financed by the EACEA within the programme Creative Europe (559695-CREA-1-2015-1-RS-CULT-COOP1). We have also received support from the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. Some parts of the research were conducted within the project Identities of Serbian Music Within Local and Global Contexts Traditions, changes, challenges (No 177004) financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Jelena Janković-Beguš expresses her gratitude to Prof. Vesna Mikić for her valuable insights during the early stages of the conception of this paper. The piece Super Position (Many Worlds) by Kim Helweg (2017) was comissioned by the Institute of Musicology SASA and supported with a grant awarded by The Danish National Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond), https://www.kunst.dk/ 1 ivana.medic@music.sanu.ac.rs 2 jelenaforfree@gmail.com D O I https://doi.org/10.2298/MUZ1824079M U D C 78.071.1 БУЛ Е З П. 789.983.087.2