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Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and LA

Susan Philipsz

Prelude in the Form of a Passacaglia (2019)

Feb 7-16, 2020

Sound installation in the Blue Ribbon Garden

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

About this Performance

Transforming the Blue Ribbon Garden into an enchanted parcours of abstract tones and sounds, Berlin-based artist Susan Philipsz extends and expands Hanns Eisler’s twelve-tone composition for Walter Ruttman’s seminal animated film Opus III, Prelude in form of a Passacaglia (1926), into space. Philipsz recorded each tone of the piece separately on violin. As the tones emanate from different places in the garden and bounce off the reflective curved surfaces of the architecture, they merge with other tones in new and surprising configurations.

In Philipsz’ Prelude in the Form of a Passacaglia (2019), the artist recorded the entire composition on violin, with each of the twelve tones that make up the composition recorded separately. These recordings will be placed throughout the Walt Disney Concert Hall gardens. Expanding and extending into the space has the effect of abstracting the individual notes from the composition as a whole. As each tone bounces off the reflective curved surfaces of the architecture they merge with the other tones in new and surprising configurations.

On display in Walt Disney Concert Hall’s Blue Ribbon Garden from Feb 7–16, Monday-Friday 9AM–5PM, Saturday 10AM–3PM. Also open to LA Phil ticketholders prior to their concert. 

Outside Venue

Blue Ribbon Garden at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Programs, artists, dates, prices, and availability subject to change.

FEB 6–29 • 2 PROGRAMS, 12 EVENTS

The Weimar Republic
Germany 1918–1933

In the 1920s, Germany saw a remarkable cultural renaissance prior to the rise of Nazism. Intellectualism and modernism took root in the chaotic social and economic climate between world wars. The arts and sciences burst with imagination, queer identities were brought to the forefront, and the lines between high and low art were erased. Join in a wide-ranging look at this fascinating, turbulent time.

Max Beckmann, Paris Society, 1931. Oil on canvas, 43 x 69 1/8 inches (109.2 x 175.6 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.