Gerhard Rühm
das leben chopins und andere ton-dichtungen

The double LP das leben chopins und andere ton-dichtungen (The life of chopin and other tone poems) by Gerhard Rühm contains seven tone poems and spoken texts by the Austrian author, composer and artist.
“my tone poems are based on a basically identical method of production: a text is ‘set to music’ in such a way that each letter corresponds to a tone on the piano, whereby syllables – as units of speech – can form sounds together. the music thus reflects the structural fabric of the text in the sequence and frequency of certain tones. the numerous differentiation possibilities of this ‘transformation method’, which – similar to rows in serial music – serves as a vehicle for selecting and linking material, cannot be discussed in detail here; the different sound forms of the pieces may sufficiently indicate such variations. in any case, the nature and content of the text are not without significance for the musical arrangement. even if it is neither possible nor intended to be deciphered simply by listening, the course of the form alone, together with the title, will guide the listener’s associations in certain directions. music thus gains, beyond its basic expressive character, something of the symbolic nature of verbal language. one can therefore speak here of tone poems in the literal sense.”¹

¹ Gerhard Rühm, text taken from LP Gerhard Rühm. das leben chopins und andere ton-dichtungen, Edition Block, 1988.