I read that this cantata was composed by a computer. That definitely sheds some light on why it's so strange. That being said, I actually kind of like the cantata. I have no eartly idea what any of it means (or does it mean anything if it's written by a computer? I've got it, it's about the triumph of computers over man! Down with the humans! They're obsolete now! Just kidding Dr. Hemmel...) but, it's pretty neat. I mean, the sound is dense enough to keep from boring me, and coherent enough to actually sound like music. It's fun. It's a curiousity. Anyway, on to my attempt at analyzing/reacting....
The first movement is all percussion until about halfway through. I like it, because it's full of sharp rhythmic drum sounds; Drum rolls, cymbols, something that's clicking(Maracas?). My point is that it's rhythmic, and therefore can keep my attention for a bit. Then comes a very steady tamtam and it continues in that vein for a bit before slowing down and quieting down to almost silence. That whole first section starts out loud and then kind of peters out at the end; it's a steady decline. After that is a pretty abrupt white noise entrance followed by some other unpitched electronic sounds, and then in comes the flute and the horns, and the voice with it's crazy lines that jump around. How the soprano was able to sing amidst all that madness, I don't know, but it does sound really cool. The vocal line is really fun to listen to, especially with the high flute and the electronic popping noises. In terms of a melody, the only real theme seems to be ridiculous jumps (the instruments do it some too, and the elctronic sounds slide up)
So in terms of emotion, all I'm going to say is that the soprano is lamenting being the last living human after computers have taken over the world.
Just in the first seconds of the second movement it had my attention because it involved strings sliding around in a way that wasn't quite dissonant, but was far from consonant and pretty. Wow, the second movement really packs a punch in a short time. There's that beginning violin bit that sounds a little like a warm up with some guitar(?) underneath, but in a good way (if that's even possible) then the brass is joining as is the flute, and I think I detect some glockenspiel along with plucked strings. There is a sense of melodic line that kind of drifts between parts, it just changes key between parts. Actually, there isn't really a key. Then suddenly the soprano is singing again with all kinds of fun electronic stuff going on around her. I especially like the electronic sound that slides up or down an octave. The movement confuses me, a lot, but I actually really like the individual lines.
The first thing I thought of when I heard the third movement was car horns. Car horns recorded in a random sequence. But it's not random at all. After the really loud part at the beginning, there's a lot of background sound with loud horn melodies occasionally coming to the foreground, and by horns I don't mean brass, I mean beeping sounds like car horns. I like that section. But then, inevitably, it has to immediately turn into the soprano singing and the whole movement changing (I'd like to point out that there's no real transition between parts of the movement, just like in the second movement. Just as suddenly as she comes in the brass and percussion (basically all of the other musicians) magically come in as well. It's like an entirely different movement. There's something vaguely circus-like about this, maybe it's the playful little lines that stick out in the voice or the flute. It also sounds vaguely like an opera orchestra warming up. The parts don't sound like they absolutely don't belong together, afterall, they are from the same opera, they're just not playing together. It's polyphony.... it's cacaphony.... but it's exciting. That transitions into electronic sound that is coherent. All of the parts are working together. I like the downward moving themes in any number of keys. It's fun.
My conclusion about the point of that movement? The two electronic sections were much more coherent than the section involving real instruments. It's the computers trying to brainwash us into giving them control... look, they're so orderly, and we're a mess!
The fourth movement begins with a sprightly string entrance. This movement is a fun mix of instrumental sounds, voice, and electronic sounds. It involves all of the instruments, I think. This movement is actually kind of tonal, it sounds like they're all playing happy things in the same key. And at about a minute fifty seconds the strings and brass actually start to play togethe, and it seems like homophony instead of polyponic madness, but it's not as happy anymore. This movement's nice because it is very tonal, and does seem pretty coherent except for that voice line (Man, I don't envy that soprano), there's also something really playful about this movement, maybe it's the sweet violin lines that are very tonal, or the playful flute, or even the high little electronic sounds. The bells towards the end add a special youth to it. That's it. It's youthful because of its energy.
Now back to interpretation (this is becoming way too fun). In this movement the computers try a different tack. They figure, if they can't win us over by showing that they're better than us, they'll convince us that they can work with us to create beautiful, fun things, like coherent music.
The voice was much more prominent in movement five in the first section. Again, there is stuff going on under the voice that sounds like a warm up or improvisation, but it's not quite as sprightly. The lines hold notes longer and don't move around quite as much. Then it abruptly changes into a percussion section. I suppose this is a nice change of pace from abruptly going into a voice section. It's also the exact opposite of the firt movement. There are a lot of drum rolls, the cymbol is used a fair amount, and so are the castanets, which really excites me for some reason. At around four minutes it really starts to slow down. Drum rolls become shorter and there are suddenly silences. And then it's over. A complete circle. It ends the way it started. Way cool.
Okay I'm not going to try and turn this movement into the computers trying to take over the world. Really, I'm not. But it's difficult.
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