Last Friday night I heard a fantastic concert in Cologne's "Phil-
harmonie" concert hall.  The highlight of the evening was the "Ballet
Mecanique" by George Antheil, performed by conductor Peter Rundell and
his Ensemble Modern, with two Ampico pianos as the "featured soloists".
The MIDIfied pianos were provided and controlled by MMDer Dr. Juergen
Hocker, who earlier was in Vienna and Frankfurt and other towns with
the performing troupe.

On the stage were eight pianos. In the middle in front of the conductor
the two grands of J. Hocker, and three more grands on both the left and
the right sides of the ensemble.  Behind them on a low gallery were six
xylophones, and behind them six drum sets.  Juergen Hocker sat behind
his Ampico pianos with his notebook, controlling the pianos and
starting the event.

An alarm siren and a door bell were also on stage -- the only tape-
recorded sound was the airplane motor.  :-)

At some moments, when all the instruments played fortissimo, all was
one sound.  At all other phases of the piece the two grands, an Ampico
and a Fisher, remained the leading instruments with a clear crisp
sound.  The successful performance was rewarded with great applause.

My impression of the piece was that of a symbol. The piece was written
in a time of enthusiasm for machines, but since it was written for 16
synchronized pianos it could not be performed this way.  Today, now that
this is possible, the conductor -- a symbol of mankind -- waves as if he
would be able to conduct the machines (the Ampico grands) but in reality
he is himself conducted by the pianos.

It is admirable how the conductor transmits the playing of the Ampico
pianos to the other musicians, since the beat varies between 5 and 7
(and other values), and most of all because of the unexpected pauses.
(Remember John Cage?)  He did really a great work, and the special
applause for him was well deserved.

But in my mind I can't cancel the image of men conducted by machines.

Best regards

Horst Mohr