Ethan Hayden | composer, performer, author
Ethan Hayden | composer, performer, researcher
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In Wahrheit saß ein buckliger Zwerg darin, der ein Meister im Schachspiel war und die Hand der Puppe an Schnüren lenkte
performed by Patti Cudd
Instrumentation:
kalimba and electronics
Date:
spring 2013
Length:
ca. 7'
Premiere:
27 March 2013
Patti Cudd, kalimba
Center for the Arts' Black Box Theatre
Buffalo, NY
Program Note:
The story is told of an automaton constructed in such a way that it could play a winning game of chess, answering each move of an opponent with a countermove. A puppet in Turkish attire and with a hookah in its mouth sat before a chessboard placed on a large table. A system of mirrors created the illusion that this table was transparent from all sides. Actually, a little hunchback who was an expert chess player sat inside and guided the puppet's hand by means of strings.

- Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History

In Wahrheit saß ein buckliger Zwerg darin, der ein Meister im Schachspiel war und die Hand der Puppe an Schnüren lenkte consists of contrapuntal dialogue between a live equal-tempered kalimba and its just-intoned and/or ring-modulated electronic reflections. The piece was composed for and is dedicated to percussionist Patti Cudd, with great thanks for her enthusiasm and artistry.