The Scholar’s Record

“The record is a relic of a ritual. Whether you’re a listener at home, a DJ on stage or a collector of rarities in a record store, within those grooves lies a multitude of verses, experiences and emotions. Much like a ‘Scholar’s Rock,’ the vinyl record can become a focal point for us as creators and as listeners. Scholar’s Rocks (gongshi) have been prized by Chinese intellectuals since the Tang Dynasty. Beautiful and unique, the stones are often used as a focal point for thinkers, helping them filter and refine their thoughts. The poet and painter Mi Fu (1051–1107) was an avid collector of stones and categorized them according to four rhyming qualities: shou (leaness and gracefulness of form), zhou (wrinkly quality in shape and surface), lou and tou (openness and permeability of channels formed by natural erosion).

Mi Fu’s methodology informs my new composition ‘The Scholar’s Record,’ which draws on the tremendous Donaueschingen archive of SWR (German broadcaster, editor’s note). Performed as a quartet for four turntables for solo performer, the piece radically transforms recordings from the 75-year history of the Donaueschingen Music Festival, using myriad techniques including scratching, beatjuggling and turntable tones. Taking Fu’s framework as a reference point, I propose new ways of sorting and evaluating large bodies of musical works. ‘The Scholar’s Record’ considers compositional aesthetics in plunderphonics, musique concrète and collage-forms in a live performance.”

Mariam Rezaei’s live performance of “The Scholar’s Record”, commissioned by the German broadcaster SWR, had its world premiere at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in October 2025. The Donaueschingen Music Festival is one of Germany’s preeminent cultural institutions which receives Cultural Beacon funding from the German Federal Cultural Foundation.