In the Ocean

`There is not one postman who can whistle music by the composer Schoenberg. The reason is not the simplicity of the human race, but the type of music.' Says the modern composer Steve Reich in In the ocean by director Frank Scheffer. Scheffer introduces a number of contemporary composers, such as Louis Andriessen, Martijn Padding, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe and David Lang. During the mid-eighties, the latter three organised concerts under the name Bang on a Can. It grew into a meeting place for divergent composers and many musical schools - not only modern classical music by John Cage and Philip Glass, but also rock and pop music. The state of affairs in modern music at the start of a new century is visualised by Scheffer by means of intriguing images of the city of New York.