Tribute to Distler / Totentanz

This is a very personal piece of work based on my previous machine learning work called “Markov Chain”. I added a more powerful neural network, a simulation of the large number of neurons in our brains and their connections, to the Markov chains used, a statistical model for simulating decisions in computers based on a network of random decisions, and trained this network with a work by Distler called Totentanz. All information was fed into the system, not only audio data, but also images, notations, historical facts. These two very different approaches now generate a new version of Totentanz in real time every time it is started. The control and evaluation of the results is done by medical data recorded during the traditional Catholic funeral of my grandfather in early 2016. The information that my body spread during this funeral thus controls an unlimited number of versions of this Dance of Death, as it differs greatly in each performance, but never diminishes the spirit and darkness associated with Distler’s original work.
The work was premiered at the B-Seite Festival 2017 in Mannheim.

Tribute to Distler at Camp Festival 2021 from Timo Dufner on Vimeo.