Complaints Choir
A complaints choir is a mixed amateur - choir , which has set itself the task of presenting everyday problems and troubles singing in a musical way. Annoying incidents are briefly and concisely put on paper and converted into songs by working together on the arrangement and setting. Through this artful way of lamenting and the jointly experienced preoccupation with the self-formulated rigors of life, grievances are dealt with in a cheerful and pseudo-therapeutic way.
Origin and development
The first choirs of this kind were founded in Birmingham in 2005 and in Helsinki , Hamburg and Saint Petersburg in 2006 . The ideas and initiators were the German-Finnish artist couple Kochta-Kalleinen. Quote: “People spend a lot of time complaining,” say Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen. “We wanted to transform this negative energy into something big, collective, funny and powerful.” Video documentations of performances by these first complaint choirs were presented at art festivals and museums. The idea spread increasingly; there are now dozens of complaints choirs worldwide. The - according to their own statements - largest choir in the world with around 100 active members has developed in Cologne since 2008 .
Working method and topics
Text ideas are contributed by the members of the choir; Another possibility to provide impetus for song lyrics is often via the homepages of the respective choirs. Since the singers are predominantly pure amateurs and rarely have musical experience (for example through an existing membership in a choir), the respective choir director often has a special role. In most cases, he puts the raw texts into a musical form and arranges the lament accordingly. The themes of the texts are taken from everyday life and are accordingly diverse. For example, parking problems, ill-behaved dogs, sold out favorite consumer goods, unfriendly waiters, overcrowded rubbish bins and too short official opening times are denounced and set to music. The musical styles vary; they range from classical and pop to hip-hop .
Individual evidence
- ↑ We sing to complain ; Zeit Online, May 9, 2008
- ^ Complaints Choirs Worldwide
- ↑ collective rumgemotze trend complaints choir ; taz online, June 6, 2008
- ^ "Lamentation as an Art Form" ; "Journal" / magazine supplement in the Bonner General-Anzeiger, November 6, 2010