A art education project within MUS-E
MUS-E asked me to develop an audio drama with children in 5./6. grades of school during one semester and two lessons per week. I interpreted this task quite freely.
We basically dealt with music and language and their boundary points, overlaps and analogies. Can language sound like music? Can music narrate? - Practice in setting music to words and in handling text musically, alternated with training in concentration, expresssion, posture and stage presence. I also regularly showed the children pieces of contemporary music and art related to our subject. The children precisely experienced part of an artist workaday life, as we approached the project very unbiassedly, so there was enough free space for different changes and turnarounds during the development process.
The result of these activities are individual short "dramolets" that are composed of sound poems invented by the children. With syllables and devised words, they described their
imaginary worlds. Those dada-like texts were supplemented by musical parameters like volume, pitch and tempo, so that they eventually served as scores for the live recitation.
The sound poems were intermitted by short sequences of "Emotional Thunderstorms". Split up in five groups, the class formed an "Emotional Orchestra" that was conducted by one child at a
time. Each group repeated an imaginary word in a certain emotinal state (like for example fear, anger or joy) at the intensity indicated by the conductor.
The project "Imaginary Worlds and Emotional Thunderstorms" was performed in December 2012. Afterwards we re-enacted the situation of a studio recording session in the class room and produced a CD.
Programme about MUS-E on Radio SRF 2012 / Alternative link
© Lilian Beidler 2019