27 Nov 2022, 19:30 Vienna Concert Hall, Mozart Hall
SAMUEL BECKETT / MORTON FELDMAN
Words & Music (1987)
Radio play for two speakers and chamber ensemble Music by Morton Feldman, text by Samuel Beckett, German translation by Elmar Tophoven
Bibiana Beglau, spokesperson
Götz Otto, speaker Daniel Grossmann, conductor
In 1961 Samuel Beckett wrote Words and Music for BBC Radio , a play starring Words and Music, called Joe and Bob. Due to Beckett's displeasure, the work was withdrawn after its premiere. Twenty years later Beckett recommended that Morton Feldman write the music, resulting in the first complete performance produced for the American Beckett Radio Play Festival in 1987 (the year of Feldman's death). In Feldman's words, "It was great fun to do something for Beckett, in honour of him, who had been a part of my life since the 1950s... it was a labor of love that I was delighted to do for him."
Beckett approached the form of the radio play in his own unique way. He lets the characters "Words" and "Music" represented by an instrumental ensemble confront each other. Both try to entertain the old and lonely Croak, even to console him by reacting to his keywords "Love," "Age," and "The Face" in their respective medium of expression.
