CLUB DER TOTEN DICHTER „Galgenlieder“ - Christian Morgenstern neu vertont
with Hans-Werner Meyer – vocals, violin
Markus Runzheimer – bass, percussion, vocals
Reinhardt Repke – guitars, vocals
20 years of Club der toten Dichter. An anniversary worth celebrating – with a special poet and a special guest singer!
“O dreadful life’s turmoil, we hang here on the red twine!” – thus begins the federal song of the gallows brothers by Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914).
And isn't it sometimes helpful to see things with a bit of gallows humor? Morgenstern himself wrote that “gallows poetry” is a piece of worldview and that one looks at the world differently from the gallows. Thus, he wanted to spread “a little mental lightness, cheerfulness, freedom, to awaken the imagination, to thaw out just a bit of the frozen music of the soul in the post horn.” Marcel Reich-Ranicki recommends all gallows songs 50 years later in his canon of German-language poetry.
Poems like “The Lattice Fence,” “Sophie, the Executioner's Maid,” and “The Moon Sheep” are legendary, “The Werewolf” is even part of the school curriculum. ‘One laughs crookedly,’ said Tucholsky, ‘and afterwards admires, having become more serious, a deep lyric that only twists into the humorous at the last moment – and realizes in the end that one has learned a philosophical sentence.
As a singer for the anniversary project, the actor Hans-Werner Meyer (Last Track Berlin, Baader Meinhof Complex) has been secured. He received the email with the inquiry and first compositions on a Monday at 4:46 PM. He replied to Reinhardt Repke's email at 5:15 PM: “He liked the arrangements very much, he wants to, he must sing it. Even his father would have recited Morgenstern at the family kitchen table.”
Best prerequisites for a collaboration! Just a few days later, they met for the first rehearsal. The bassist Markus Runzheimer (Element of Crime) is also back and will additionally play percussion this time. And Hans-Werner Meyer will not only sing but also pick up the violin. Reinhardt Repke plays guitar as always and has set the poems to new music.
The accompanying album for the now 8th program of the club will be released on CD and vinyl as well as digitally in early 2026.
Above all, the trio will be extensively on tour live. The current dates of the Morgenstern tour can always be found at club-der-toten-dichter.de
FAZ:“…stands out…very commendable…convinces at first glance!”
ARD: “Hot off the press” with Denis Scheck “…the club that was virtually founded to provide music for literary programs.”
Radio Eins: “An absolutely vibrant project!”
RBB Kulturjournal: “…is timeless, strong and gets under your skin!”
MDR: “Highly remarkable!!”
WDR 2: “Worth listening to!”
Doors open: 5:00 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
