When a bike ride becomes music; 'Eine Brise' in Los Angeles

It might look and sound like it in the dark, but this isn't a video of the latest Critical Mass ride by bicyclists.

It's the Monday night performance of a musical composition outside Zipper Hall at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

The composition is “Eine Brise: Transient Action by 111 Cyclists” by the late Argentine composer Mauricio Kagel. It's a legit piece of music.

Translated as “A Breeze,” the composition calls for the 111 bicycle riders to ride in an evenly spaced, choreographed 500-foot-long paceline between 1 to 3 cyclists across. At specific times they ring their bells, whistle, sing a high note, make a flutter-tongue sound and close with a whoosh.

The cyclist-musicians who signed up for this performance, one of the offerings at the concert hall Monday night, had to rehearse their parts. You can see the detailed instructions, including a practice video, at the Monday Evening Concert series website.

Although it lasts only 90 seconds, it was one of the most difficult pieces to prepare, managing director Justin Urcis told the Los Angeles Times. First he had to find 111 willing cyclists, work with police to get a section of street cordoned off, and arrange valet bike parking so the musicians could park while they enjoyed the other performances. He also acquired bicycle bells and police whistles.

Since this was the Los Angeles premier of the composition, the music critic for the Los Angeles Times was on hand to review the performance. Appreciating the difficulties, he wrote:

“The truth be told, “Eine Brise” (“A Breeze”) wasn’t much for the ears. Colorfully garbed cyclists paraded along Grand Avenue making whistling, fluttering-tongued and schussing sounds and ringing bells, as prescribed in the 1996 score. But they labored uphill too slowly to produce any hoped-for Doppler-like effects. Buses across the street easily drowned them out.”

Until a better venue can be found to perform Eine Brise, I'd say Flip Barber's “The Nutcracker Suite” played entirely on bicycle parts will remain at the top of the bicycle music charts.