ABSTRACT
Upon his arrival in Europe in 1957, Mauricio Kagel soon established himself as an emblematic figure of the musical avant-garde in Cologne through his ambitious compositions and his appropriation of the concept of “instrumental theater.” In drawing on archival documents kept at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, this article retraces the trajectory of the Argentinian composer in Germany between 1957 and 1963 and focuses on the scandal that accompanied the creation of the piece Sonant 1960/..., attempting to shed new light on Kagel’s aesthetic positioning. By taking stock of the composer’s activity in writing and performing contemporary music, this article reveals Kagel was an active figure aware of the most recent modern compositional techniques and was able to quickly integrate his music in European festivals of new music without allowing himself to be reduced to a single concept, genre, or style.
