VOLTERRA 1974-75MATERIALS ON GROUP IMPROVISATIONS WITH PATIENTS OF THE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL09.10 - 10.10.1976

New music and new psychiatry met in Volterra, Italy, during the autumn of 1974 and the spring of 1975.
At that time, Albert Mayr began organizing regular music sessions at the city’s psychiatric hospital.
Together with his musician friends Guido Bresaola, Gianfranco Gentile, and Fausto Gliozzi, he sought to integrate new music into contexts where it had previously been unknown.

For some time, new music had already been combined with various art forms as well as with non-artistic fields.
However, the musicians found these interdisciplinary efforts insufficient.
Instead, they wanted to subordinate the original artistic activities and emphasize non-artistic objectives.

At the Volterra psychiatric hospital, improvised “open music” met with a number of patients in an open-ward setting.
Later, these music sessions came to be held in a large hall at the hospital, where anyone who wished could participate in the event.

These activities were not intended as music therapy in the usual sense but should rather be seen as an attempt to use improvised music to create a group-dynamic situation, exploring possible avenues for artistic expression within a repressive context.

The results of these experiments can be experienced at Galerie S:t Petri, Lund, on Saturday and Sunday, 9–10 October 1976, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Recordings from the various musical sessions, as well as sound tapes, will be presented.
In addition, two series of photographs will be shown — images of moments and situations that arose through the interaction between new music and new psychiatry.

Albert Mayr studied music in Italy and Germany.
During the 1960s, he worked with Pietro Grossi in the field of “programmed music.”
In the early 1970s, he visited Canada and lectured at McGill University.
Various musical developments took place during his four years of residence there.
At present, Albert Mayr is a teacher of electronic music at the Conservatory in Florence.