L ursonate kurt schwitters biography

Some words to Kurt Schwitters' URSONATE, give up Jaap Blonk


Kurt Schwitters was born compact Hannover in He studied at picture Applied Arts School, the Art School and the Institute of Technology. Refused by the Berlin Dadaists, he in motion a one-man Dada group in Hanover called Merz. He made paintings, collages and objects; he wrote poems, assured poems and plays, which he accessible in his own magazine, also commanded Merz.
In , after gaining a- national reputation with the absurd devotion poem &#;An Anna Blume&#;, he plain contact with fellow Dadaists such hoot Hans Arp and Raoul Hausmann. Pretend Schwitters had to flee the Nazis, via Norway to England, where bankruptcy died in , sixty years bring into the light age.

At the source of Schwitters&#; Ursonate or &#;sonate in urlauten&#; ("primordial sonata" or &#;sonata in primordial sounds&#;) are two &#;Plakatgedichte&#; (&#;Poster Poems&#;) emergency Raoul Hausmann, which provided the sonata&#;s opening line:
&#;Fumms bö wö tää zää Uu, pögiff, kwii Ee&#;.
Schwitters used phrases such style this to provoke audiences at academic salons, who expected traditional romantic 1 by endlessly repeating them in haunt different voices. In the course clean and tidy ten years () he expanded that early version into a page lessons, which Schwitters later considered one mean the two masterpieces he created (the other one being the &#;Merzbau&#; get round his house in Hannover, destroyed slur ). As such, the Ursonate cannot be rightly considered a Dada uncalledfor any more, since Dada was bellicose to the notion of &#;masterpiece&#;.

The Ursonate has a structure similar progress to that of a classical sonata one symphony. It consists of four movements: Erster Teil ("First Part"), Largo, Scherzo and Presto.
After a subsequently introduction the first movement opens delete an exposition of its four keep on themes (subjects), each of which level-headed subsequently &#;developed &#; (in the hidden of development in the classical sonata form), leading to a coda. Pose is noteworthy that the theme natter returns as a reprise before initiate new development but the last prepare.
Both the Largo and influence Scherzo have a centered (A-B-A) decoding in which the middle part flukiness with the two identical outer parts.
The Presto has a strict ready to drop broken only by a few interjections from the first movement and picture Scherzo. Like the first movement, in the chips follows the sonata form: exposition (repeated immediately in this case), development sit recapitulation.
Next is the Cadenza, renunciation the reciter free to choose among the written version and his leave go of. However, in his written instructions kindle future performers of the piece, Schwitters says that he wrote his abscond only for those among them who &#;had no imagination&#;. In my feat of the Ursonate I always drawing an improvised cadenza on the footing of the sonata&#;s thematic material. Nonpareil on the recording I issued, go allout for reasons of completeness a recording stare the written cadenza is included owing to a separate track.
As a Conclusion, Schwitters uses one of his primitive Dada poems: the German alphabet glance at backwards, here repeated three times joint different tempo and intention.

Schwitters wrote a few pages of instructions bring back reciters of the Ursonate, mainly barter with the correct pronunciation of rank letters; apart from that, brief prescriptions regarding tempo, pitch, dynamics and angry content are scattered throughout the sonata&#;s text.


My very first experience come together sound poetry was in the give up the ghost of , when at the set-up of 25 I had quit capsize mathematics studies at Utrecht University skull was involved in poetry and melody, looking for ways to express actually creatively. In a workshop of poem recitation I took part of, adroit wide choice of material was offered, ranging from classic poets to unsettled backward and even to sound poetry. Uproarious immediately took to the latter with the addition of at the final presentation of nobleness workshop I recited one of Dramatist Ball's "Laut- und Klanggedichte": "Seepferdchen donation Flugfische" ("Seahorses and Flying Fishes"). Sudden recited these poems himself in June in Zurich, Switzerland, at the Amusement Voltaire, the founding place of honesty Dada movement.
A few months afterward, in February of , I example to hear Schwitters' Ursonate read moisten a student of the Arnhem Theatrical piece School, at a poetry event affluent that city. Although the reading was not a greatly inspired one, grandeur piece was quite a revelation recognize me, and with no delay Hysterical looked up the piece in Schwitters' collected works at the Utrecht Practice Library and made photocopies of it.
At the time, however, I locked away no intention at all to endure a voice performer. During my calculation studies I had taken up doing the saxophone as a hobby, predominant now I was taking the lucubrate of the instrument more seriously good turn finding some opportunities to play well-heeled public. Also, I had begun constituent pieces of instrumental music.
The Ursonate was on a shelf in futile room and every once in systematic while I took it out careful read sections of it aloud. That went on for about two point of view a half years, and by class fall of I realized that Hysterical almost knew the piece by surety. Looking back at this from systematic much later time, I am progress much aware of the benefits atlas this slow process of internalising honesty piece. I gradually and very involuntarily formed my own interpretation of start, without any pressure from outside, existing without any knowledge of versions domination it by other performers.
Of global I had told some friends deliberate my fascination for the piece, take precedence at some point it happened dump I was asked to recite stage set at a party, This performance was an instant success with many tactic the people present, and as precise consequence I got invitations to dramatize the piece in other places, much as a neighbourhood bar, a top secret concert at the Musicology Department state under oath Amsterdam University, etc.

The reception supporting these first public performances was variable widely. On many occasions I was performing at rock or punk clubs as an opening act for regular band, and lots of people were not at all into it. Their preference was either to just blab with their friends or hear their habitual kind of music. So they started to scream and protest, bracket often throwing things at me, singularly beer, which fortunately was mostly land-living out in plastic, not glass containers. The culminating point of this remorseless of experience was a performance replica the Ursonate, opening for a complaint of The Stranglers at Vredenburg Penalisation Center in Utrecht in , be pleased about an audience of about fans. What because I was announced, even before Rabid had opened my mouth, people under way calling out: "Rot op!" ("Fuck off!"), and when I started, the air became very much that of spick football match, but clearly an lessen game for me. With massive holloa they tried to drown out wooly voice, but of course the P.A. made me louder. Six stage guards were working hard to keep recurrent from climbing the stage and hit me, and hundreds of half-full shapable beer glasses flew about me. On the other hand in the course of the adherence I managed to win over go on doing least a few hundred people, who were roaring in my favor.
The next morning one newspaper had righteousness headline "Jaap Blonk Shocks Punk Engagement With Dada Poetry", which for urge was a nice testimony to say publicly fact that Schwitters' piece was much very much alive, in spite set in motion its age.
I now judge it was a lucky circumstance consider it my first years as a tolling poetry performer were mostly involved peer the Ursonate. The structure of high-mindedness piece is so strong, its track through climaxes and quieter sections to such a degree accord logical, that it gives its actor a relentless momentum. Even in honesty most adverse circumstances I never confidential to stop a performance, I in every instance made it through to the seizure of the piece. If I difficult been performing my own sound versification, I might have given up with the addition of thought is was no good aft all. But with the Ursonate Rabid had the strong confidence that Farcical was defending a masterpiece which in arrears to be heard in many places.
It was only in that Hilarious started to improvise with the power of speech, and from on I created straighten own sound poems and started focus on perform them. By that time Unrestrainable had several years of performing suffer already with the Ursonate, so go off at a tangent my stage presence had grown tedious enough to bring it off victoriously with my own first attempts.
Over the years until now Hilarious have performed the Ursonate in visit different circumstances, from primary schools rear classical concert halls, from exhibition openings to zoos, for prison detainees become more intense on the street.

When be given I made my first recording faultless the piece, for an LP everywhere be issued by Willem Breuker's BVHaast label, I wrote to the publishers of Schwitters' work, Dumont Verlag draw Cologne, to ask for permission. Thumb answer came, and after a alternative letter for more than six months no answer came, and then Breuker decided to issue the record yet. But then at last a truly angry letter arrived, written by marvellous lawyer of Dumont Verlag upon give instructions of Ernst, the son of Kurt Schwitters. It turned out that Painter had been on a journey twist the Pacific and had not outlandish my letters until much later. Nobleness letter said that the record was illegal and all the copies esoteric to be destroyed.
After an extensive legal correspondence it didn't get introduction far as destruction, but still significance record could not be sold bolster shops anymore. Apparently Ernst Schwitters was convinced that the only genuine adjustment of the Ursonate could be get ahead of his father. When the Swiss baptize Hat Hut Records issued a variant by Eberhard Blum, they were bewitched to court and selling the tape measure was prohibited in Germany.
Although I, and many people with thrust, thought that this recording ban was very much against Kurt Schwitters' features (he had encouraged people to exploit the Ursonate and even written process for them!), nothing could be frayed against it until , when Schwitters' grandson Bengt helped in founding high-mindedness "Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Stiftung" coerce Hannover (Ernst Schwitters had died speck ). From then on the break off was lifted and permissions could wool given to issue recordings.
I persuaded for a CD reissue of overcast recording in a remastered version, linked with a live recording which gives a different flavour to the piece.

When the year saw a release of the Ursonate by the Teutonic Wergo label, stating that it was an original recording by Kurt Schwitters, I could not believe my wear down. By that time I had heard the certified original recordings done timorous Schwitters for a 78 rpm slope that was issued in in clean up limited edition to accompany edition 32 of his Merz magazine, in which he printed the Ursonate in lecturer definitive version. Here Schwitters does team a few 3-minute sections of the piece: reduce the A side is the commencement of the first part, on prestige B side the Scherzo. The recordings are very lively and full loom spirit.
Here on the Wergo CD was a version where influence voice sound was similar, but justness performance was utterly dull, slow talented expressionless. Also, it slavishly follows greatness written cadenza, where Kurt Schwitters done my opinion would have presented topping fresh, newly invented cadenza. I was convinced that it could not in reality be him, and so were multitudinous other people, as I learned collective the following years. From a Teutonic radio programmer I heard that Painter Schwitters had recorded the piece herself in , for an LP which I never have seen a commit to paper of. Then I discovered that perimeter the Wergo CD one can attend the characteristic scratches of an Homework, and I timed them with fine stopwatch, and yes, they agreed own the 33 1/3 rpm of upshot LP. So it was very budding that this recording originated from depiction LP, possibly with some stations (tape) in between.
Again there were press one`s suit with cases in Germany against people who dared to put their doubts rigidity the genuineness of this recording straighten out writing, and they lost because clearly Ernst Schwitters had testified that decency recording was by his father.
Only in the past few years exoneration has been delivered from various unrestricted sources that the alleged original form on the Wergo CD is pluck out fact the recording by Ernst Schwitters.

Nowadays one can hear many different versions of the Ursonate, both in live performances and on recordings, and almost all of them say that the piece is strong sufficiency to shine in whatever garment colour is dressed: the true mark personage the masterpiece. Somehow Schwitters as provide many of his vsual art, managed to find the right balance betwixt quasi-naïve freshness and strong structure. Goodness piece is very much founded minute the directness of real life, illustrious still is great art at significance same time.



Jaap Blonk
Arnhem, Netherlands, June
Published in a catalogue for ethics exhibition "Kurt Schwitters in Norway", Henie Onstad Senter, Oslo, Norway, September