A group calling itself ‘the initiative’ have issued an open invitation to musicians and others to collaborate in a performance of James Tenney’s indeterminate composition In a large, open space, on Saturday, 29 October, in Berlin in front of the Reichstag/Bundestag. The performance is intended as an act of solidarity with the #OccupyBerlin movement.

In a large, open space is written for an unfixed ensemble of ‘any twelve or more sustaining instruments’. The score lists thirty two microtonal notes derived from the harmonic spectrum of the lowest F on a double-bass. Performers are asked simply to play long pianissimo tones with a soft attack for thirty to sixty seconds, before picking another note within the compass of their instrument, and repeating the procedure. One of the only other stipulations is that instruments of lower tessitura or range are placed near the centre of the space, and higher instruments occupy the periphery.

The collaborative, open nature of the piece obviously lends itself to large public performance, and its inner nature seems to suggest sympathy with the ideals of the protestors involved with the various #occupy movements around the world.

The decision to perform the piece in Berlin originated with violinist and composer Johnny Chang, who had planned a performance for sometime in 2012. Two of Chang’s colleagues in Berlin, Morten Olsen and Koen Nutters, became, in Chang’s words, ‘quite enthusiastic about extending the framework of presenting In a large, open space beyond (his) plans’.

Olsen, for his part, says, ‘as far as I’m concerned I simply want to show a presence and solidarity with the occupy movement and the global uprising’. On the aptness of performing In a large, open space, Olsen suggests, ‘I think this specific James Tenney piece offers good conditions for achieving a kind of music that is to our liking. I believe it’s a fairly tolerant piece, consensus may be within reach, and I think its scale may be appropriate and proportionate for this occasion, for relatively large crowds, and as the title of the piece implies, for a large open space’.

The performance will begin at 3.00pm., and is open to all who can satisfy the simple criteria of the score.

Pictured: #occupyberlin protestors.