The Poets’ Sound

Literature and music are traditionally considered to be independent artistic genres. “The Poets’ Sounds” reveals what happens when the boundaries between literature and music are blurred and language itself becomes the substance of composition. Six international artists from a predominantly literary background have been commissioned to compose a linguistic-musical work which will be performed by the musicians of the language art trio “sprechbohrer”. In hopes of expanding our understanding of literature, the transdisciplinary project believes that the boundary separating these artistic genres can provide vast opportunities for literary production at the interface of New Music.

The production will be accompanied by non-public workshops in which the participating artists will present their respective approaches and methods, jointly explore the tonal potential of language and develop various forms of notation. Through mutual exchange, they hope to extend or even surpass the limits of their own specialised practice, and thereby tap new aesthetic potentials for linguistic-musical literature.

The resulting compositions will premiere at the Literaturhaus Lettrétage in Berlin and will later be performed and live-streamed to international audiences at various literature festivals. The material will also be integrated into an online multimedia presentation to ensure long-term accessibility to the artistic results.

Artistic directors: Florian Neuner, Harald Muenz, Georg Sachse, Sigrid Sachse
Artists: Tone Avenstroup, Eduard Escoffet, Katalin Ladik, Morten Søndergaard, Miia Toivio and others

Premiere: Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin: 11 Jun. 2022; Loft, Cologne: 12. Jun. 2022; Festival Korokodil, Belgrad: 19 Jun. 2022; Forum Stadtpark, Graz: 9 Jul. 2022; Hausacher Leselenz, Hausach: 11 Jul. 2022; Poetry Moon Festival, Helsinki: 25 Aug. 2022; SARDAM interdisciplinary literature festival, Limassol: 24 Sep. 2022