Cuando arden los pianos… Destrucción de instrumentos y poética musical: un estudio de Piano Burning (1966/68) de Annea Lockwood

Abstract

Violence against musical instruments within a musical context has been a constant phenomenon among different creative manifestations developed after the Second World War, from avant-garde tendencies to popular music. In this article these practices are addressed from the perspective of musical aesthetics, and, specifically, of a kind of “poetics of the instrument”. This research is conceived as a case study focused on the piece Piano Burning (1966/68), by Annea Lockwood, where a piano is burnt to ashes. Firstly, the piece is framed in its historical context, and also compared to other works that involved the immolation of a piano. Secondly, philosophical theories by Stephen Davies and Matteo Ravasio on the destruction of musical instruments are revised. Finally, the results of these investigations are applied to the analysis of Piano Burning, so that the instrument’s potential of deterritorialization through sign production is revealed in the process.

Keywords

• annea lockwood
• musical poetics
• burning pianos
• violence against instruments
• sign
• ecology