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 that deserves to be celebrated - with a special poet and a special guest singer!
“O dreadful life’s confusion, we hang here on the red thread!” - thus begins the federal song of the gallows brothers by Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914).
And isn’t it sometimes helpful to view things with a bit of gallows humor?
Morgenstern himself wrote that “gallows poetry” is a worldview and that one perceives the world differently from the gallows. He wanted to spread "a bit of mental lightness, cheerfulness, freedom, to revive the imagination, just a bit of the frozen music of the soul from 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” even a school subject. 'You laugh yourself crooked,' already stated Tucholsky, 'admiring afterwards, having become more serious, a deep lyric that only at the last moment turns into something humorous - and realizes in the end that you have learned a philosophical sentence.'
For the anniversary project, the actor Hans-Werner Meyer (Last Trace Berlin, Baader Meinhof Complex) was engaged as a singer. He received the email with the request and first compositions on a Monday at 4:16 PM. He replied to Reinhardt Repke's email at 5:15 PM: “He really liked the compositions, he wants to, he must sing that. Already his father would have recited Morgenstern at the family kitchen table.”
Best conditions 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 play percussion this time as well. And Hans-Werner Meyer will not only sing but also take up the violin. Reinhardt Repke plays guitar as always and has set the poems to music anew.
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, though, the trio will be extensively on the road for live performances. The current dates of the Morgenstern tour are always available at club-der-toten-dichter.de
FAZ: “...stands out...very commendable...convinces at first glance!”
ARD: “Fresh off the press” with Denis Scheck “...the club that was virtually founded to provide background for literary broadcasts.”
Radio Eins: “An absolutely vibrant project!”
RBB Culture Journal: "...is timeless, strong, and goes under your skin!"
MDR: "Highly remarkable!!"
WDR 2: "Worth listening to!"
Doors open: 7 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
