nzz on "30 rufe"

30 Rufe. CD. Acoustic poems. 30 tracks, 56 minutes
Extraplatte EX 162 CD. Vienna 1992
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André Bucher:
Lyrical Performances
Christian Ide Hintze: "30 Rufe"


Lyrical performances – this could be a description of the thirty titles which are compiled on a recently released CD. They are spoken texts by Austrian poet Christian Ide Hintze, which have been created since 1985 and which are read out by the author himself, supported by drum computer and sampling machine. The “poems” are approached differently: some plumb the sound material of speech concretistically and play with rhythmical patterns, some stay wittily just below the sensory threshold in the process. Many, though, contain lyrical composition of great concision. John Lennon is mentioned once as a role model – the direct force of expression and visual effectiveness of beat lyrics are roused to new life here. Here, one can tumble through audio and visual worlds, the dimensions of which will often not be revealed until after several hearings.

The texts ultimately derive their attraction from being read out. Hintze unfolds the templates, which often appear unassuming in the written form, precisely and without mannered artistry. He savours the phonetic opportunities, emphasizes main points by means of rhythmic articulation, by superimposing voices and by the economically deployed electronic instruments. The interpretations take up the repertoire of popular music, the reduced compositional forms of the erstwhile New German Wave or the chansons parlées of rap. Not the least surprising here is the poem by Friedrich Schiller ("Die Bürgschaft"), which assumes new qualities in a flippant rap version.

The modest recording devices occasionally make themselves noticeable in the sound quality. Nevertheless: Hintze’s recordings are a convincing demonstration that new media for the dissemination of literary texts are thoroughly justified. What poetry has lost to popular music culture it regains, to a certain extent, here.


(André Bucher: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Feuilleton, 14.1.93)