Sylvano Bussotti is a composer of contemporary music, influenced by Arnold Schönberg, John Cage, and Pierre Boulez. It was in Galerie 22, Düsseldorf in 1958 that Bussotti officially presented his compositions for the first time. One of them is Brève, a solo piece for Ondes Martenot, an early electronic keyboard invented by Maurice Martenot in 1928. This instrument can generate different notes out of monophony, if not polyphony, by varying the oscillator’s frequencies. The photograph is a rehearsal of Brève by ondist Françoise Deslogères sitting next to Bussotti. Jean-Pierre Wilhelm opened this gallery in 1957 and organized many concerts and performances of avant-garde artists including Cage, Bussotti, and Nam June Paik, causing a great sensation across the Düsseldorf art scene. John Cage looks down at the piano, with the performer Françoise Deslogères and the artist Sylvano Bussotti (next to Cage). Heinz-Klaus Metzger is seated next to the performer, with Bernard Schultze standing beside him. Jean-Pierre Wilhelm is looking at the camera.
