In this doctoral dissertation, originally from 2001,
Björn Heile analyses Mauricio Kagel's groundbreaking
cycle Die Stücke der Windrose für Salonorchester
(1989-95) by relating it to Mikhail Bakhtin's theory
of dialogics and the postcolonial criticism of Edward
Said. In a wide-ranging study, which includes
in-depth investigations of primary sources such as
the sketch materials and an interview with the
composer, Heile develops a typology of cross-cultural
musical representation which serves as the framework
for a discussion of the different ways Kagel engages
with his source materials. Throughout, the author
moves between such issues as compositional technique,
aesthetic questions, such as Kagel's challenge to
traditional notions of authorship, and the
ideological implications of cross-cultural musical
representation, which are interpreted in the light of
recent discourses. By developing pioneering
methodological approaches to cross-cultural
composition, which has become a prominent feature of
contemporary Western concert music, the book serves
as a significant and innovative contribution to
current discourses surrounding the musical
representation of 'otherness'.