Inhalt

Raoul Mörchen meinte in ‚Resonanzen’, WDR III:

Einen Erlebnisbericht nennt Hocker sein Nancarrow-Buch, und als einen solchen muss man es akzeptieren: geschrieben aus der Nähe eines Fans, nicht der Distanz eines Wissenschaftlers... Bis zu Nancarrows Tod vor fünf Jahren war er einer seiner engsten Vertrauten, ein Eckermann, wie sich ein Komponist keinen besseren wünschen konnte. Hockers "Begegnungen mit Nancarrow" vermögen [...] einen unterhaltsamen und ertragreichen Einblick zu geben nicht nur in die letzten Jahre des Komponisten, sondern, mit Hilfe gut platzierter Rückblicke, ein ganzes Leben zu rekapitulieren - das Leben eines stolzen Einzelgängers, der sich wenig um die Meinung anderer scherte, der nach Mexiko auswanderte, als er sich von seinem Heimatland USA schlecht behandelt fühlte, sich vor der Öffentlichkeit verbarg und im Stillen endlich erreichte, was er sich so lange schon gewünscht hatte. Nämlich mit Hilfe automatischer Klaviere unabhängig zu werden von anderen Menschen - von Interpreten, die seine rhythmisch so komplexe Musik entweder schlecht oder gar nicht spielten, unabhängig wohl aber auch von der Gunst oder Missgunst eines Publikums.

Konrad Heidkamp in ‚DIE ZEIT’ vom 12. Dezember 2002:

Der Komponist und Eigenbrötler Conlon Nancarrow hat mit seinen vertrackten Stücken für mechanisches Klavier einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Musikgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts geleistet. Durch ein neues Buch und wieder veröffentlichte DCs wird er jetzt zum zweiten Mal entdeckt... Man kann Jürgen Hockers Buch schlendernd lesen, auf Nebenstraßen Kundschaftern wie René Block oder Monika Fürst-Heidtmann begegnen, György Ligeti, der ihn unermüdlich und uneigennützig in Europa preist („die größte Entdeckung seit Webern und Ives“), auf Charles Amirkhanian treffen... Die Welt des genießenden und hoch gebildeten Einsiedlers öffnet sich bis in private Winkel seiner drei Ehen, und doch bleibt er am Ende so freundlich bedeckt wie seine staubüberzogenen Bücher, die Notenblätter und Zeitungsstapel, diese sorgsam gepflegte Unordnung, die er in der Innenwelt seines Exils pflegt.

György Ligeti:

Für mich ist Nancarrow einfach der bedeutendste Komponist, der heute lebt. Er hat etwas total Originelles gemacht. Etwas total Andersartiges als alle anderen Leute, auf höchstem Niveau, auf dem Niveau von Johann Sebastian Bach oder den späten Beethovenwerken.

Meret Forster in ‚Musik Aktuell’ am 11.12.2002, Bayrischer Rundfunk, Bayern 4 Klassik:

Hocker ist Nancarrow 1987 erstmals begegnet, beim Holland Festival in Amsterdam, und hat sich wie kaum ein anderer für die Verbreitung seiner Musik eingesetzt. So war es durch seinen Erwerb und die Restaurierung eines alten Selbstspielflügels erstmals möglich, Nancarrows Musik in Konzerten auf einem Originalinstrument aufzuführen, und Jürgen Hocker begleitete den vor fünf Jahren verstorbenen Komponisten mit diesem Instrument auf mehreren Konzertreisen bis in die 90er Jahre. Bei den zahlreichen Begegnungen stellte sich zwischen Autor und Komponist ein freundschaftliches Vertrauen ein. Hocker hat Nancarrow mehrmals in seinem Studio in Mexico besucht, Stücke, Skizzen und Arbeitsmaterialien dokumentiert und somit ein verborgenes Lebenswerk in die Öffentlichkeit gebracht....  Angereichert mit Fotos, Werkverzeichnis, Register, Diskographie und einer CD mit zum Teil unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen bieten die Aufzeichnungen von Jürgen Hocker eine kompetente Einführung in das Werk eines musikalischen Einzelgängers, vor allem aber sind sie ein vielseitiges Lesevergnügen, nicht nur für Fachleute.

Martin Demmler in ‚Musikjournal’, DLF:

Hocker gelingt eine eindrucksvolle Charakterstudie dieses leicht verschrobenen Komponisten, der die Öffentlichkeit eher scheute und erst in hohem Alter zu Ansehen und breiterer Anerkennung kam. Das ist das Pfund, mit dem seine Darstellung wuchern kann. Es ist ein sehr persönliches Buch... Im Mittelpunkt steht immer die Person Nancarrow und diesbezüglich wird man bei der Beschäftigung mit dem Leben dieses Komponisten an der Darstellung Hockers in Zukunft nicht mehr vorbei kommen.

Peter Niklas Wilson in ‚Neue Zürcher Zeitung’ vom 19. November 2002:

‚Begegnungen mit Nancarrow’ nennt Hocker bescheiden seine Chronik seiner Kooperation mit dem Komponisten und macht damit sogleich klar, dass er weder den Anspruch einer umfassenden Nancarrow-Biographie noch den einer fundierten musikalischen Analyse erhebt. Doch auch wenn Hockers literarisch unambitioniertes Tagebuch der zahlreichen Begegnungen mit Nancarrow und dessen Frau Yoko das Gerüst des Buchs bildet, so hat der getreue Chronist noch weit mehr geleistet. In langjähriger Recherche, in Gesprächen mit Nancarrows Ex-Ehefrauen und seinem Bruder, mit Kollegen und Bekannten hat Hocker eine beeindruckende Anzahl biographischer Fakten und authentischer Zeugnisse versammelt, die sich zu einem detailscharfen Bild runden... Nebenbei erfährt der Leser vieles über Nancarrows Komponisten-Handwerk an der Stanzmaschine, und zahlreiche unveröffentlichte Fotos aus den Jahren der Isolation vermitteln einiges von der Atmosphäre dieser ‚splendid isolation’, aus der sich Nancarrow scheinbar nur widerwillig herausreißen ließ. Nicht zu vergessen die beiliegende CD, die nicht nur einen exzellenten Überblick über Nancarrows Oevre für Player Piano bietet, sondern auch einige Preziosen aus den Pionierjahren des Selbstspielklaviers enthält.

English versions:

Curriculum Vitae Jürgen Hocker

Born 1937 in Trier in Germany. Studied Chemistry and worked for nearly twenty years in the research department of Bayer. From 1980 to 2000 president of the international Society for Selfplaying Instruments ("Gesellschaft für Selbstspielende Musikinstrumente e.V.“). 1983 to 1985 lectureship at the Robert Schumann-Institute in Düsseldorf. Acquired and restored in 1986 an Ampico-Bösendorfer Player Piano grand. Since then concert tours with Conlon Nancarrow to Amersterdam (1987), Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover (1988), Vienna (1989) and Paris (1991). Many lectures and publications about Mechanical Music and especially about Nancarrows Studies for Player Piano. Acquired in 1993 a second Ampico Player Piano grand. At the Donaueschinger Musiktage 1994 first performance of one of Nancarrows Studies for two synchronized player pianos. In 1996 first performance of George Antheils ‘Ballet mécanique’ in a version for two player pianos and percussion orchestra in Baden Baden. On behalf of the MusikTriennale Köln in 1997 first performance of all of Nancarrows Studies for Player Piano in seven concerts. 
Visited Nacarrow several times in Mexico and archived the documents in his studio as a base for a Nancarrow biography 'Begegnungen mit Conlon Nancarrow'  which was published by Schott Mainz (2002). Author of the book 'Faszination Player Piano - Das selbstspielende Klavier von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart' (Bochinsky 2009).
Since 1990 cooperation and concerts with contemporary composers: György Ligeti, Krzysztof Meyer, Michael Denhoff, Benedict Mason, Steffen Schleiermacher, Gerhard Stäbler, Marc-André Hamelin, Kiyoshi Furukawa, Bernhard Lang und Adriana Hölszky. . Many CD-recordings of Player Piano-Music with the label Dabringhaus&Grimm. The recording of Nancarrows 'Studies for Player Piano'  were honored with the ECHO KLASSIK PRICE 2007. Conception and care for the Nancarrow Homepage www.nancarrow.de. 
Jürgen Hocker lived in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne, where he died in 2012.

e-mail: mail@juergenhocker.eu

"Encounters with Conlon Nancarrow" by Jürgen Hocker

Schott Musik International, Mainz 2002.  German Version. 294 pages with 56 mostly unpublished photos and10 pictures.

Included is a CD with Nancarrows most important Studies for player piano.

ISBN 3-7957-0476-6. 39,90 Euro plus shipping.

Ligeti quotes:

Nancarrow’s music is the greatest discovery since Webern and Ives. It unites the American tradition with Bach’s polyphony and Stravinsky’s elegance: for me, Nancarrow is the most significant composer of the twentieth century. In complete musical isolation in Mexico he created astonishing music, thoroughly original, highly constructed and at the same time emotional but whose complex tempos can only be reproduced by a player piano.

Nancarrow found in Jürgen Hocker a competent advocate, who has worked like no one else to disseminate his music. Purchasing and restoring an Ampico player piano made it possible for the first time to present Nancarrow’s music in concerts on an original instrument and Jürgen Hocker accompanied Nancarrow on several concert tours with this instrument. In the meanwhile Nancarrow’s works for player piano have been presented “live” in all of Europe’s most important cultural centers. Because Jürgen Hocker was one of Nancarrow’s most trusted friends, who visited him in Mexico several times and produced a documentation of his studio, he may justly be considered one of the most intimate connoisseurs of Nancarrow and his work. He is thus an “eyewitness” who is able to report from his own experience. I hope that this book will contribute to awakening an interest in Nancarrow and his music and to make it clear how significant Nancarrow is for the music of our time  - György Ligeti

For this biography the author was in contact with Helen Zimbler (Conlons first wife) and with Annette Margolis (Conlons second wife), with his brother Charles, with his step sons, with Mina Lederman, Nicolas Slonimsky and other people which knew Conlon fairly well.

I have known Nancarrow since 1982 when he first visited Germany and Cologne for ‘performing’ a concert. But his music was played by a tape, because there was no suitable player piano for concerts besides his own in Mexico. I decided to look for an appropriate instrument for concert performances. I needed two years to find an original Ampico-Bösendorfer grand and one of the best restorers for pneumatically operated instruments needed two more years to restore it perfectly. We modified it under the supervision of Nancarrow. Since 1986 this instrument has been used in concerts. I made many concert tours with Nancarrow all over Europe: Amsterdam (1987), Cologne (1988), Berlin (1988), Hamburg (1988), Vienna (1989), Paris (1991). I visited him several times in Mexico and made a comprehensive documentation in his studio. He visited me two times in Germany. Today I have two synchronised player pianos and can perform his studies for two player pianos as well. Now his music is available for all who were interested (at least in Europe). In 1988 only one of Nancarrow's two player pianos was in working condition, and finally this player piano broke down too and he couldn't work without an instrument. But, in Mexico there was no restorer for these old fashioned instruments. When Nancarrow told me this story, I sent 'my' piano technician, Joerg Borchardt, to Mexico and he repaired both player pianos (naturally without any expenses for Nancarrow). I visited him several times in Mexico, and I think I was the first person to whom he gave access to his studio and to his documents. I photocopied all his piano rolls (a tremendous lot of work), and in the last ten years I re-punched from these photocopies nearly all of his player piano studies, using a rebuilt punching machine similar to Nancarrow's. Hundreds of thousands of holes! In the 'dust of his studio' I found scores which he thought were lost: The second and third movement of his first Trio, some early piano compositions (e.g. Three Two Part Studies for Piano) and his Septet (with five missing pages). Nancarrow often was asked for the scores of his Septet, and he always answered, "I threw them away because I was so angry about the bad first performance in New York in 1940."

I found in his studio, between old newspapers from the nineteen-forties, a score for seven

instruments. I was absolutely excited and showed it to Nancarrow and we had the following discussion:

Me: "Conlon, I believe I found your Septet."

Conlon (astonished): "It's not possible, I threw it away."

me: "But it's for seven instruments."

C: (with compassion): "Oh yes, I see."

me: "And it's your hand writing".

C: "Oh yes, I recognize my handwriting."

me: "Have you ever written another composition for seven instruments?"

C: "Oh, no, never."

me: "Then it must be your Septet."

C (angry): "Oh Juergen, I told you, I threw it away!!"

This was one facet of Conlon's personality. In the last years I organised many Nancarrow concerts all over Europe with the Boesendorfer Ampico grand (it's smaller then a concert grand, built in 1925), and I believe Nancarrow is very well known here. But this is mainly due to the promotion of György Ligeti.

SIX TRUCKLOADS

When I visited Nancarrow in April 1990 in Mexico, his Studio was in it’s „original" condition. And I believe I was the only person Conlon ever allowed to work in his „original" Studio. Even his charming wife Yoko was not allowed to work there. But this studio was absolutely hair-raising. Thousands of books, old Newspapers, player piano rolls, letters, clothes, scores, instruments, parts of player pianos, parts of his „percussion" orchestrion, all mixed together and mostly covered with a thick layer of dust. And you could see, that some of the „book-piles" were not touched since years. I took plenty of photographs of this „chaos" and I tried to make a documentation of all. And I worked there for many days, and in the evening, my lungs and my nose were black from the dust. But Conlon only smiled and said: „Oh, dust doesn’t harm you if you don’t move it." The scores I found there were not together, but one page here, another there, and I needed hours to find 42 pages of the septet. Eight pages are still missing. There were old photos too, and Conlon didn’t even remember that he had these photos.

Conlon suffered in the last years with lung problems, and in this time he felt seriously ill. The doctor didn’t allow Conlon to work in his Studio and Yoko decided to clean Conlons Studio, so that he could work there with his affected lungs. First she tried it with her son Mako and her maid. But it was impossible. So she ordered a professional cleaning service, and they worked (if I remember right) one week and they threw away six truck loads of „waste". Yoko told me she was always there and supervised the workmen, so that nothing important was thrown away. When I visited Nancarrow next time, the Studio was absolutely clean, but Conlon complained, that now he could find nothing. Greetings to all friends of Nancarrow and his exceptional music. All these events are written in the ‘biography’.

With all my best wishes for all friends of Nancarrow and his music

Jürgen Hocker©