“Playing the City”, by Giuseppe Chiari (1969)

Playing the city is easy—almost childishly easy—

it's also very funny
but
it's illegal,
try—if you don't believe me
to play the city
and you'll see that they'll stop you immediately
immediately you won't even take two steps
hypothesis:
you mount a speaker on a car
you play Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth on the car stereo
and you start the car
in a main street
you turn up the volume
they stop you immediately
a@er one hundred meters it's a real-life story
if you have
any documents on you that prove that you are broadcasBng an
adverBsement
then they’ll let you go on—you and the Ninth
if you have don't have this document
then you are
playing the city and this makes no sense
therefore it’ll be stopped
you can also try mounBng an enBre orchestra
on a truck
it's not difficult you just need to have the money for
sixty people who work as orchestral musicians
but then
you will be stopped with even more determinaBon
the weirdness of it all
will be
all the more obvious
so going out into the streets to play is
sBll
a meaningless gesture
if
not
servitude
geGng paid to broadcast an adverBsement with background music by
Chopin is servitude
begging
is servitude
but
not asking for money and not geGng money for a contract but

1
doing something that has nothing to do with money
is playing the city, it's playing for—through—in the city
it’s
it’s
a freedom too far for our current customs

so
so
playing the city is—can be—also playing for—through—
in the city
but playing the city can also be
playing (grammaBcal object) the city, where the city is the object
that is played.
where the city replaces the word ‘violin’
in the expression
playing the violin
playing the city
instead
of playing the violin
so the city as an instrument
as a musical instrument

but does the city have any notes to reveal?

does it have frets and strings
to reveal these notes?
I would say no,
the city must henceforth be considered an instrument
with undetermined frequencies
Berlioz introduced percussion instruments
into instruments
the city is therefore a percussion instrument
a set of percussion instruments
this is just a first step
however, it is obvious that the second step
and the third and fourth
will be done only by analysing the instrument
that we have chosen
but that we must promise ourselves to obey
in terms of structure
we can play the city but we can’t do everything
we can do what the city can do
what the city has always been able to do
even if it has never done this
According to a humble—but contradictory—theory of mine,
in our (medieval ChrisBan) society, music is divided
into four spaces which correspond to four rites

2
 and to four meanings (each total) of music
church music
palace music
fortress music
music from the public square—street music
I believe that true music is the last one

[….]

but what is street music?

is it music for charity
or for popular fesBvals
or for dancing
or for fun
or to call each other
to give a warning etc...
it's music that interrupts or emphasizes—cheerfully transforming—
a preexisBng rhythm—usually a work rhythm
somewhere between interrupBng
and emphasizing underlining
there may be a difference
such as between consensus and dissension
but o@en emphasizing is not a consensus but a joyful dissension
that appropriates the phenomenon and transforms it
the issue is very difficult
no city yet has ever been played
the few aYempts that have been made
quickly returned to normal
the city is everything
and this everything is well defended
this difficult problem is also difficult a problem to formulate
the city is public
and so far we have gained some freedom in private
freedom that did not exist in the 18th century

but in public no free expressive personal act is permiYed

fantasy is allowed
but everyone in their own home

kissing in the street is already a way to sing

for a long Bme it was forbidden
then permiYed tolerated only in Paris
then slowly
but surely
in many big ciBes
but not in the small ones

3
but in our own homes the instruments are different
smaller

so our fantasy
will gain no benefit
from these exercises

what can be done within 4 meters by 4 meters

is very different from what can—must—be done 4 kilometers by
4 kilometers
our arms must become longer
there are already those who play the city
the city isn't an unused instrument
it isn’t an instrument that hasn’t been conceived as such
the problem of playing the city has already been solved
it's just that the soluBon
is not the only one
and
IT IS NOT THE BEST
we all play the city
but our technique is Bred

some—very few—realize this

others—many—do not realize it
everyone receives the current sound of the city

this is why playing the city is difficult

because doing so is to interrupt a concert
a concert of people who by convenBon play the same score by heart
a very simple concert
you only need to listen to a recording of city noises
to understand that the structure of this concert
is very rigid
therefore playing the city is playing out of tune
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE

but a way of playing out of tune that makes sense

that makes children laugh and doesn’t
scare
them

4
[….]

PLAYING THE CITY

MEANS
THAT ON A FAR AWAY DAY
WHEN WE SEE A MAN OR A WOMAN
PLAYING WITH A LONG STICK
ON THE RAILINGS
OF A GATE
AND WE WILL HEAR THEM MAKE DASHED LINES OF NOISE
WITH THE PARALLEL BARS
OF THE RAILINGS
THICKER
OR
LESS
THICK
WE WILL NOT SEE THE POLICE
ARREST THEM
BECAUSE
THEY ARE DISTURBING PUBLIC ORDER

but we will pass by without paying aYenBon

and to the child who asks us something
we’ll reply
look, she’s playing the railings
when you grow up you'll be able to do it too

[….]

(why the bell-shaped signs

in the shape of a roar
have been banned
......
......
. . . . . . .)

this quesBon is central to the whole quesBon of playing the city

(why the bell-shaped signs

in the shape of a roar
have been banned
......
......
. . . . . . .)

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THEY SHOULD TELL US
WITHOUT generic answers
the noise is very loud BUT
they want it monotonous
it must be the result of obedience
of discipline
IT'S NOT A MATTER OF STARTING
to play the city
IT'S A MATTER OF STARTING
to play the city in another way

THEY PLAY THE CITY

who play on the street
THEY PLAY THE CITY
who play on the street
THEY PLAY THE CITY
who play on the street
THEY PLAY THE CITY
who puts cans behind their cars
THEY PLAY THE CITY
who carry a jingling thing in their hand while walking
that makes a noise at regular
intervals

THEY PLAY THE CITY

who shouts to a friend from one sidewalk to another
THEY DON’T PLAY THE CITY
who form an orchestra and on a podium in the public square start
to play
THEY DON’T PLAY THE CITY
who sing in procession