The Neo-Bechstein: between art and kitsch
Reinhold Friedl’s honor roll includes his position as artistic director of the internationally renowned ensemble Zeitkratzer. Last year, he was also widely applauded for recording and releasing renditions of complex and seemingly unplayable works such as “Xenakis [a]live” and “Metal Machine Music”, the legendary guitar feedback album by Lou Reed. Friedl plays one of the last remaining copies of the Neo-Bechstein, owned by piano builder David Balzer. The Neo-Bechstein is an electric piano developed by the famous piano builder Bechstein in cooperation with Siemens and Telefunken electronics in 1929 and 1930. The instrument combines three sources of music: the piano, the gramophone and a worldwide radio receiver. The Neo-Bechstein was developed as a reaction to the rise of electronic, yet passive sources of music (the gramophone, the radio) and to a changing society in which individuality came first. The actual making of music was under threat of being outmoded and the piano and violin disappeared into a corner of the room to be played on rare occasions only.
In his book “De wellustige tandarts and andere componisten” [“The Voluptuous Dentist and Other Composers”], the Dutch musicologist and composer Elmer Schönberger writes the following about the Neo-Bechstein:
“Imitation and effect are outstanding commercially exploitable qualities and the economic situation in Germany and the increasing competition of radio and gramophone are probably to blame for the fact that the Neo-Bechstein grand piano (one of the first electro-acoustic instruments developed with explicit commercial intentions) died an untimely death. The instrument had the pretense of being an ‘improved’ piano. Contrary to the tone of an ordinary piano which cannot be influenced after hitting a key, the tone of the Neo-Bechstein resembled the tone of a horn blower with infinite lung capacity: the duration and variation in loudness were not subject to any restrictions whatsoever. With the adage, ‘Man is a luxury loving animal’ being an equally commercially exploitable opinion, the Neo-Bechstein could turn into a wonder of kitsch. In less than no time, one could convert this electric guitar [piano] with eighty-eight keys into a radio or pick-up – a wall unit in the form of a grand piano.”
But what is it exactly that draws Reinhold Friedl to this “wonder of kitsch”? The Neo-Bechstein is a normal piano, but its strings are amplified by 18 elements (“humbuckers”). Over the years Friedl developed various inside-piano techniques. In that respect, the main advantage of the Neo-Bechstein is that it is not necessary to use microphones to amplify the tone of the strings because amplification is provided as such by the built-in elements. In addition, all interference and surround sounds are reduced to zero extending the tone potential of this piano to sounds never heard on piano before.
The 18 elements (all in mono) are converted into a polyphonic configuration. The transparency of the individual string groups is further defined in the room by an audio spatialization matrix. The hardware for this was developed by sound engineer Sukandar Kartadinata. In combination with a multi-channel system, the Neo-Bechstein is the ideal instrument for so-called space/sound compositions.
Anyone familiar with the work of Reinhold Friedl and Zeitkratzer knows they can expect a complex composition with a myriad of unprecedented tones. Next to piano tones, Friedl also uses the gramophone and radio receiver to provide the compositions with additional layers. As the word kitsch does not appear in Friedl’s vocabulary, Friedl and his companions have managed to release the Neo-Bechstein from its corny image for good. However, a revival of this extraordinary instrument seems to be out of the question considering that there are only five copies left worldwide (mostly safely tucked away behind the closed doors of museums). However, before this instrument is catapulted into the sweet hereafter permanently, the words of Schönberger luckily need some modification thus saving one of the world’s first electro-acoustic instruments from dying an inglorious death.
This interview is conducted in conjunction with the upcoming PAUZE festival in The Netherlands & Belgium organized by (K-RAA-K), November 13-15. More information HERE.
photo by Eden Hemming Rose
