◎ DIE WEBER ◎

Soundtrack (2012) of the silent movie Friedrich Zelnik (1927 ) inspired by  “Die Weber” (1893/1894) by Gerhart Hauptmann

⧖ Italian Premier
90 min

⫸ Orchestra Haydn Orchester
⫸ Johannes Kalitzke Musical Direction 
⫸ Christina Bauer Sound Design 

In his 1892 drama, “I tessitori”, which was inspired by the uprising of the weavers of Silesia during the year 1844, Gerhart Hauptmann casts a jaded look at his present, at the miserable situation of the workers. Even in the Weimar Republic the issue is still present and up to date, and the director Friedrich Zelnik uses his film adaptation of the theater piece capturing the zeitgeist, providing out of all the German films one of the best film translations of the work of Hartmann.

The film describes the economic and social instability that characterized the second half of the 1920s, which would soon be exploited and used to its own advantage by nationalism. The orchestral suite “I tessitori” from 2011 by Johannes Kalitzkes was the only piece worthy of being the soundtrack to this film. More than a musical accompaniment it is about a audible illustration of the plot unfolding: Johannes Kalitzke’s score is like an outside point of view commenting on the story- at the heart is always the theme of resistance. The drama of the weavers represented in the film transform into an overwhelming audio nightmare in which the spectator is witness and