For the fifth time since joining the ISCM in 1999, South Africa was represented at the ISCM World Music Days which took place in 2004 in Switzerland, not in one but in many cities, with the delegates travelling around the country using the excellent Swiss railways. We travelled in a specially fitted out train (the Swiss President's train apparently) with a carriage devoted to an exhibition by the Basel-based Paul Sacher Foundation and another to discussion forums.
So the festival theme was Trans_it and this was reflected in the programming by Matthias Steinauer. While it was a very exhausting experience it was once again exciting to be present at this New Music equivalent of the Olympic Games with some 50 countries represented along with a good helping of Swiss music, which we don't normally get to hear. It was played by some of the best orchestras and ensembles in Switzerland with visiting stalwarts like the Arditti Quartet from the UK. We heard music in some of Switzerland's most beautiful and famous churches, art museums, theatres and concert halls as well as railway stations, foyers and even the streets of some of the cities.
South Africa provided one of the most original musical events in the festival. Yinkosi Yeziziba, composed jointly by Jürgen Bräuninger and Sazi Dlamini (both Durban-based) and performed by Dlamini (flown in for the occasion) with pre-recorded sounds, was chosen by the festival director from the selection submitted by the South African jury in 2003. It was very well received and many people remarked to me that this provided "a breath of fresh air" in the midst of so much unremarkable music from Europe, Asia and the Americas. Yinkosi Yeziziba, was performed twice on 10 November in the Art Museum in Aarau.
There were also excellent pieces by Daniel Teruggi (France), David Young (Australia), Richard Rijnvos (Netherlands), Nadir Vassena (Switzerland) and Alejandro Iglesias Rossi (Argentina), but some of the best music came from more established composers, even some dead ones — Ligeti, Kürtag, Bartók, Lutoslawski and Webern. It was very exciting to hear Webern's Five Pieces for Orchestra played in the Tonhalle Zürich where they were premiered nearly eighty years before by the same orchestra conducted by the composer, and also at the final concert of the World Music Days — only the fourth such festival!
There was much discussion about new categories of membership during the General Assembly, designed to broaden the scope of the organisation so that orchestras, universities, festivals, sponsors etc could become associate members. South Africa announced that it has now officially withdrawn as a potential host for the WMD in the next five years or so. The next ISCM World Music Days and General Assembly takes place in April in Zagreb, Croatia and in 2006 the host country is Germany. Following the withdrawal of Austria and Ireland, 2007 is suddenly up for grabs.
I was able to cover most of the cost of my flight with conference funding, topped up by NewMusicSA. As first delegate from South Africa my hotels (six of them in 10 days) were paid for by the ISCM in Switzerland; NewMusicSA covered my per diems. Contact was made with the South African Embassy in Bern, but it was not possible for a representative to attend the South African event in Aarau.
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