Knots and Fields (75mins)

August 2009

Full audio post-production (VO recording, sound design and mix).

'Knots and Fields' by Andrew Chesher and David Ryan (2010). The documentary looks at the history and the contemporary relevance of the famous Summer Courses in New Music, which have been held in Darmstadt, Germany since 1946. It was here that composers such as Stockhausen, Boulez and Cage, among many other key figures in modern music, met in the 50s and 60s. The Darmstadt Summer Courses continue to attract aspiring young composers. In this extract from the documentary, a group of them, including Felipe Lara, winner of the Staubach Prize 2008, discuss Darmstadt's legacy, followed by comments on the contemporary relevance of Darmstadt for today's composers from two of the most significant figures in the History of the Courses: Brian Ferneyhough and Pierre Boulez.