Get all the lyrics to songs by kurt schwitters and join the genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics. Kurt schwitters ursonate famous sound poem by the dadaist kurt schwitters. The authenticity of the recording has been doubted since its release by artists, scholars, and critics due to the manner of the interpretation and the pitch of. He studied at the applied arts school, the art academy and the institute of technology. Some words to kurt schwitters ursonate free download as pdf file. Schwitters, kurt article about schwitters, kurt by the.
Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Written in 1922 and continuously modified until it reached its final form around 1932, the ursonate, or sonate in urlauten sonata in primal sounds was one expression of schwitters very own brand of dadaism, which he referred to as merz. Ursonate, an album by kurt schwitters, alexander voigt on spotify. Program notes by jack ox and kurt schwitters, in english and german, and excerpt from the spoken text 12 p. Some words to kurt schwitters ursonate classical music musical. Schwitters is best known for his merz and merzbau works, which incorporated collage, found objects, typography, and sound poetry to construct unique compositions. Kurt schwitters ursonate is the sound poem to end all sound poems.
Performance at stuk kunstencentrum, leuven, january 2007. Ursonate in particular was one of the earliest works to treat pure spoken syllables as musical form. In these works, the artist used magazine clippings, waste material, and other recycled items in an attempt to express the rapidly changing world. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Starlings from hjertoya sing kurt schwitters by wolfgang muller radio corax. Listen to all your favourite artists on any device for free or try the premium trial. He moved to britain, where he spent the duration of the war at internment camps in scotland and the isle of man. Kurt schwitters ursonate wccmta, april 2628, victoria, bc example 4. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Refused by the berlin dadaists, he started a oneman dada group in hannover called merz. It was destroyed in a british air raid in october 1943 in hannover. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. The late collages of kurt schwitters karin orchard schwitters twitters michael white the merz barn isabel schulz schwitterss legacy in the lake district interviews by katharine stout, june 2012.
We met in his office, listened to parts of the ursonate recited by kurt schwitters himself, read the text out loud and tried to find the resemblance of bird songs within the piece. The dadaist schwitters is better known for his paintings, but his sound poetry has had a more esoteric influence. Wergo a previously unknown shellac recording of the dadaist recording his immortal sound poem, ursonate, from the. Kurt schwitters, the pioneering german dadaist now acknowledged as the founder of performance art, was hopelessly misunderstood in his lifetime, at least when it came to the general public. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests. Even before he came to britain fleeing nazi germany in 1940 his epic sound poem, ursonate or ur sonata, comprised solely of abstract sounds was. Kurt schwitters was born in hanover in 1887, and completed a conventional course of study at various institutions, including the dresden academy of art. An ornithological recitation of kurt schwitters ursonate. The importance of kurt schwitters extends to more branches of. Some words to kurt schwitters ursonate, by jaap blonk kurt schwitters was born in hannover in 1887. This book presents a study by anne blood of the pioneering artist kurt schwitters b. The free music archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
Kurt schwitters epic sound poem ursonate is an enigma that has perplexed scholars for decades, or would have done, had its solution not long been considered a sisyphean impossibility. German artist kurt schwitters 18871948 is best known for his pioneering work in fusing collage and abstraction, the t. Kurt schwitters, the lake poet by harriet staff poetry. Schwitters composed and performed an early example of sound poetry, ursonate 192232. I dont think that any other poet has ever taken sound poetry to greater extremes. It is the primeval sound, at once before and beyond sense. It would be impossible to overstate the importance of that moment when, in. Schwitters, kurt 18871948 german artist, poet, essayist, dramatist, novelist, and shortstory writer. Since 1993, a cd containing the complete ursonate has been distributed as an original performance by kurt schwitters wergo, mainz, wer 63042. Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. Read kurt schwitters space, image, exile by megan r. The final version, however, developed by way of innumerable performances given by schwitters between 1926 and 1932. Brian eno sampled schwitters recording of ursonate for the kurts.
Hugo ball and tristan tzara were playing in similar areas, but schwitters work has more of. Music profile for kurt schwitters, born 20 june 1887. Schwitters is recognized for his unique contribution to twentiethcentury art and literature. Kurt schwitters ursonate, written between 1922 and 1932 was the greatest sound poem of the 20th century. Kurt hermann eduard karl julius schwitters 20 june 1887 8 january 1948 was a german artist who was born in hanover, germany schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. When i first heard ursonate, i thought it was the tedious ramblings of a mental patient. The free music archive is directed by wfmu, the most renowned freeform radio station in america.
And try to recreate in this way the entire ursonate sung by birds. Schwitters and britain emma chambers schwitters interned with friends jennifer powell togetherness in exile megan luke british made. Animazione realizzata per il laboratorio di design concept laurea in communication design al politecnico di milano. One of the most important art works and myths in modern art, the inspiration for many installation artists, and still one of the most well known and published works by kurt schwitters 18871948, the merzbau, in fact, no longer exists.
The exhibition, which features more than 180 works, traces schwitters journey in britain from an internment camp on the isle of man during the second world war to the london art scene to the lake district where he began work on his nowfamous merz barn until his death in 1948. Event in munich, germany by muffatwerk on monday, october 30 2017. Kurt schwitters was a german artist involved in both dadaism and constructivism. Discover book depositorys huge selection of kurt schwitters books online. Blonk performs ursonate with realtime typography youtube. Jaap blonks live performance of kurt schwitters ursonate, augmented by realtime live computational typography by golan levin. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design. He is most famous for his collages, called merz pictures. Mp3 transmedia artist lynn book performed kurt schwitters ursonate 1922 in the charlotte and philip. Usually regarded as the originator of abstract art, kandinsky abandoned a legal career. Kurt hermann eduard karl julius schwitters 20 june 1887 8 january 1948 was a german artist who was born in hanover, germany.
Kurt schwitters reads an extract from ursonate by the 1930s, schwitters, along with many other artists including ernst and arp, was considered degenerate by the nazis and he fled germany. Were excited to see that the tate is hosting a retrospective of kurt schwitterss late work. The free music archive is an interactive library of highquality, legal audio downloads. He married his cousin helma in 1915, and served briefly in the army in a clerical capacity in 1917 before being discharged on grounds of health. Lynn book performing kurt schwitters ursonate ursonate performance, wake forest university, winstonsalem, north carolina, november 5, 20. Spitzers advice as the fundament of my research, i now work with ornithological field guides and encyclopaedias. Ursonate 01sonate via cb bilingual edition pdf hypothesis. Influenced by kandinsky kandinsky, wassily or vasily, 18661944, russian abstract painter and theorist. Ursonate by kurt schwitters from amazons classical music store. Below the fold, you can find 9 versions of it by sound artists from around the world. It comprises an extensive first movement, a largo passage, a scherzo and trio, and a virtuoso finale and cadenza.
An ornithological recitation of kurt schwitters ursonate designblog. The poem was influenced by raoul hausmanns poem fmsbw which schwitters heard recited by hausmann in prague, 1921. Mp3 introduction to lynn books performance by amy catanzano 8. Kurt schwitters, eberhard blum ursonate 1992, cd discogs. It ia lautgedicht a phones no real invented language, but a sound poem.