Luc Ferrari. NOW

In 1981/82 the French composer Luc Ferrari produced the radio play "JETZT – or probably this is my daily routine in the confusion of places and moments" at the Hessische Rundfunk (hr). Like other earlier radio plays by Ferrari, "JETZT" – as a radio play about the radio play – is a special instance between music, radiophone art and narrative radio play. The humorous dialogue between Luc Ferrari and his wife Brunhild Ferrari, between the languages of German and French, but also between the various stages of the radio play is unique and characteristic. Ferrari recorded everything on audio tape: his arrival at Frankfurt airport, the installation of the microphone as well as discussions about approaches to and content of the radio play, and wove these together, naturally with the recording of a musical quartet. He artistically, playfully and intelligently placed these heterogeneous materials within a dialog structure. At the same time, a succinctly interlocking reflective and intellectual character attaches to the piece; philosophic questions are raised and negotiated without becoming bogged down or without forfeiting the play’s humor.

The distinctive feature of this historic and at the same time highly topical production prompted the ZKM to select this radio play to rerun as part of the ARD Radio Play Days as well as an announcement for new productions (performance 12 Nov.) and recording on a double -CD in the ZKM milestones series (Label WERGO). In a series of written contributions in the book attached to the CD, which also contains the new creations, Ferrari-Kenner (Rudolf Frisius, Hermann Naber, Peter Liermann and Brunhild Ferrari) reflect on the significance of Ferrari for acoustic art from the viewpoint of the radio play and musicology, and recall the special genesis of "JETZT".