"Few so-called narratives"

Perhaps you should know him a little, this Urs Peter Schneider. He is a composer and pianist, born in 1939, lives in Biel and works tirelessly on orchestral works, musical concepts, texts and text scores. As he says himself, he is sometimes "direct and blunt" in his judgments. He polarizes. There is no "both/and", but mostly - Søren Kirkegård sends his regards - an "either/or".

Well: Writings I to V is the name of schneider's anthology, now published by Bieler Verlag die brotsuppe. There are no page numbers. But these strange, subtle texts, which can hardly be reduced to a common denominator, probably fill around 500 pages. "Few so-called narratives" are included, but there are some wonderfully infantile ones, which the blurb openly declares: "unedited embarrassments". Sometimes there are mere word sequences, an accumulation of adverbs that ring in the head ("chattering", "belching", "howling"), or adjectives that refer to visuals ("unclouded", "sky-blue", "transparent").

Amusingly personal aphorisms, on the other hand, are remotely reminiscent of the Munich institution, the thoughtful comedian Karl Valentin. In 1989, Schneider writes radically small: "I get quite dizzy when I think that music is not what it used to be." Shortly before that, it says: "in case of doubt, the anthroposophist gives a lecture." Thematically fitting again: "the dogmatists of Dornach have little humor, but they bring a lot of laughter into the world."

In addition to the works created between 1955 and 2015, there are fluxuesque word formations, often garnished with unorthodox spelling. All of this opens up spaces for the imagination, but can also be alienating. Schneider composes his texts with the help of mathematical algorithms. Perhaps this explains some of the sequences of syllables that are - quite sonorously - less suitable for reading than for reciting in the sense of a sound composition.

Anyone who picks up these writings can enjoy their friendly openness to the world, which does not express a "hooligan mentality" at all. You won't read this thick, thoroughly and lovingly edited book "in one go". You will probably leaf through it, taking in whatever you like. Incidentally, casual music is not Schneider's thing - nor is it to be recommended when reading the book, which in any case has one thing going for it: its richness of sound.

Urs Peter Schneider: Schriften I to V - Texte für als mit zur Musik 1955-2015, illustrations by Ursi Anna Aeschbacher, 528 p., Fr. 39.00, Verlag die brotsuppe, Biel 2016, ISBN 978-3-905689-70-9