The ironic play with both of these terms in my blog-interview No.7  has a long history, going back to the 20s of the previous century. Forefront (avant-garde) was a term occupied by the Marxists and Communists. It describes the epitome of progress, progressiveness, and social thinking. As the working classes were defined by the master thinkers as the party of...

Recently I received a critique, though I have to admit a very friendly and even well-meaning one, that my blog entries are too long, and too long-winded. Smaller morsels would have more success, and reach a larger audience (though I’m not at all sure I even want that). And then a young pastor, whom I met at the Stuttgart Main...

Reinhold Urmetzer talks about his song cycle “Maienzeit” [Maytime] Why did you decide to compose “art songs”, which are almost an anachronism in our time? An anachronism? Why? We still have evening concerts in which art songs are performed, as well as newer ones in the International Style. What do you mean by “International Style”? As the Bauhaus of the...