Ursonate
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| free admission |
| no ticket required |
| German |
| Foyer |
| Belongs to: Goodbye, Palace Of The Republic, Blown Away: The Palace of the Republic |
Thomas Krüger & Anke Lucks Fümms Bö Brass
Kurt Schwitters’ Ursonate is a Dadaist sound poem in four movements, written between 1923 and 1932. It can be seen as an attempt to find a new form of expression in the face of crises and upheaval. In the context of current challenges, the claim of reinvention is once again artistically and stylistically relevant.
Thomas Krüger had recited the Ursonate several times in the GDR since 1986. On the occasion of the Dada anniversary, he planned a new performance at the 2016 Theatertreffen in an expanded version with musicians. The result was the version for sextet (speaker and wind quintet) composed by Anke Lucks, which has already been performed in Brooklyn/NYC, at the Goethe-Institut in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), at the Elbphilharmonie and at the Maxim Gorki Theater since 2016.
Performing and speaking:
Thomas Krüger – voice
Silke Eberhard – alto saxophone
Nikolaus Neuser – trumpet
Wolfgang Schmidtke – tenor saxophone
Gerhard Gschlößl – trombone
Anke Lucks – trombone
Thomas Krüger & Anke Lucks Fümms Bö Brass – formerly Die Ursonate – is an ensemble that musically explores Dadaist texts and forms of expression. The central text here is Kurt Schwitters’ Die Ursonate, a Dadaist sound poem in four movements written between 1923 and 1932. The piece can certainly be interpreted as an attempt to find a new form of expression in the face of crises and upheaval. In the context of current challenges, the claim of a new interpretation is artistically and stylistically relevant.
Thomas Krüger had recited the Ursonate unplugged solo several times in the GDR since 1986. The re-appropriation and reception of Dada’s aesthetic practice also played a role during this time. On the occasion of the centenary of Dada in 2016, he was invited by the Berliner Festspiele to realize an extended version with jazz musicians as part of the Theatertreffen Berlin 2016. This resulted in the version for sextet (narrator and wind quintet) composed by Anke Lucks, with which the ensemble has now performed more than 30 times – the concert at Roulette in Brooklyn/NYC was awarded Best Concert of the Year by the New York Jazz Association in December 2022.