Sympathy (music)

Sympathy (Greek συμπάθεια (sympatheia), from σύν (syn) "together" and πάθος (pathos) "passion", in this case an affection) is a short piece of instrumental, music, a type of bagatelle, that at the same time is a homage, a requiem for a special person.

The earliest use of the name "sympathy" for instrumental musical work was by the German performer, poet, musician and thinker Natias Neutert.

[1][2] The premiere of Natias Neutert's concerto within the frame of Berlin as Cultural City of Europe 1988 happened in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.

It was a "kind of requiem for the great teacher Joseph Beuys whose use of a pneumatic pump as a sculptural object has inspired Neutert to convert it for this concerto into an unusual musical instrument.

This was made possible only because the enthusiastic exhibition organizer Harald Szeemann financed the rental of the grand piano twice with a large sum of money.