The Inquisitive Musician - Cindy Bernard & David Hatcher
A translation and adaptation of a 17th century German satire attributed to Johann Kuhnau, Musicus Curiosus, or Battalus, the Inquisitive Musician; the Struggle for Precedence between the Kunst Pfeifer and the Common Players, which pits itinerant "beer fiddlers" against the official "Stadtpfeifer" in an argument over who is the better musician - those who play tunes by ear and memory or the "Stadtpfeifer" who relies on printed music in order to perform. The project is open-ended and will take multiple forms including prints, video and performance. A one hour video, The Inquisitive Musician: Screen Tests was completed in November 2004.
The premier live performance of the full text of The Inquisitive Musician took place at the experimental music club, Tonic, in New York on November 8, 2005 and featured Alexander Gray, Shelley Hirsch, D. Mark Kingsley, Okkyung Lee, Alan LIcht, Kenta Nagai, Guy Richards Smit, Michael Smith, David Watson and Tracy Williams.
The Tonic performance of The Inquisitive Musician was broadcast in its entirety as a part of Radio Danièle on February 6, 2007 on Radio Citta Del Capo in Bolonga, Italy. You can listen to the archived broadcast via mp3
Video of the Tonic performance can be viewed at YouTube.
Stills from The Inquisitive Musician: Screen Tests
| Pechmann, The Beerfiddler (The Common Player, Unofficial Musician) | Paulus Harmonicus, The Kunstpfeifer (Official Musician) |
 Sam Durant
|
 David Patton |
 Mitchell Brown |
 David Schafer |
 Raymond Pettibon |
 Tom Watson |
 Joe Potts |
 Fredrik Nilsen
|
 Tom Recchion |
 T. Kelly Mason
|
 Dave Muller |
Stills from The Inquisitive Musician, Tonic, November 8, 2005
 Alexander Grey/Count Musophilus, Okkyung Lee, Guy Richard Smit/Paulus Harmonicus, David Watson/Märten, Michael Smith/Pechmann, Kenta Nagai, Shelly Hirsch/Fiedel-Hänsel, D. Mark Kingley/Schiefer-Barthel, David Hatcher/Prologus. |
 Kenta Nagai and Shelly Hirsch/Fiedel-Hänsel |
 David Watson/Bocks-Märten
|
 D. Mark Kingley/Schiefer-Barthel |
 Michael Smith/Pechmann
|
 Okkyung Lee and David Watson/Bocks-Märten |