Brass Bulletin 25, I / 1979 (page 3–) · 1 min. read
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Editorial

Kaufmann’s robot is an admirable museum piece, but it is also perhaps — since 1810! — a subtle warning for mankind on the subject of his evolution.

I would like to invite you to contemplate the extraordinary photo of Kaufmann’s robot which decorates the cover of this edition.

A robot musician! What a dream for the conductor! It is a pity that technocratic society has not developed these splendid copies. The musicians of flesh and bone would perhaps today have more of a chance of participating actively in the evolution of their art rather than just becoming docile officials.

Who has not noticed with some disquiet the mechanisms which routine brings. Our existence is thus gnawed at by gestures, by attitudes determined most often by our civilisation whose machinery bathes more in sand than in oil. The mechanical reproduction of music or magnetic recording of lost folklore are preserves. Is there here sufficient cultural nourishment? Is it healthy? Every one replies to this question according to his convictions. As for me, I have the impression that technology and science are in the process of strangling living art, or rather the art of the living. How everything becomes serious and austere! Oil against blood? The cliché against imagination? The calculated expansion of a spring against the unaccountable pulsing of the cardiac muscle?

The sounds which we produce do not become music until they have been fertilised by strong thoughts and sensations. These elements only develop if the individual succeeds in increasing his internal liberty.

Kaufmann’s robot is an admirable museum piece, but it is also perhaps — since 1810! — a subtle warning for mankind on the subject of his evolution. And where is the hope in all this? If you feel a smile coming to your lips when looking at the trumpet player with an iron heart, then set your mind at rest, because it is an obvious sign that you haven’t yet become one of the robots of the 19th century which are being prepared...

Jean-Pierre Mathez

P. S. Definition of the word robot in the dictionaries: machine which imitates the movement of a live being. Fig. Man without will who can be made to act in any desired way.

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