Heiner Goebbels’ Walden

Walden by Heiner Goebbels, the enfant terrible of German music theatre, draws inspiration from the philosophies of American writer Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau, who lived in the 19th century, was a forerunner of today’s environmental movement and the concept of civil disobedience. In his Walden, Goebbels creates nine ‘environments’: nine sound worlds like the rustling forests where Thoreau sought solitude. Through Keir Neuringer’s spoken word, Thoreau’s visionary writings gain a new level of urgency. 

In the roughly hour-long Walden, Ensemble Klang and Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop evoke different sound worlds. They use specially built instruments such as a 'steel cello' and bow chimes which resonate their sound through sheets of steel. Whereas Goebbels creates meditative musical theatre, the English/Iranian Mariam Rezaei presents urban sound sculptures that combine industrial noise, scratching, and electronics in an improvisational DJ-set style. 

‘I have been waiting for such an effective and creative adaption of my Walden for 10 years. Ensemble Klang made it!’ - Heiner Goebbels