In the past couple of decades, theatre music in German-speaking theatre has seen major developments rendering it a practice far from “incidental” and subservient.

In particular, sounds and movements have been mobilised out of the orchestra pit and onto the stage, as well as out of fixed mixes for stereo playback into flexible digital sound arrangements for surround sound setups. This has rendered the relational quality of theatre music quite dynamic: a practice of continuous dialogue between interfaces of speech and sound, noise and music, musical and scenic movement, sense and sensuality.

In this presentation Professor Dr David Roesner will explore one particular aspect in this wide range of performances: the relationship of stillness and movement – both in musical and physical sense – in the interplay of musicians and actors onstage.