WELCOME!
This is the homepage of the project
EXERCISES IN STYLES OF MUSIC
EXERCISES IN STYLES OF MUSIC
by Susanne Franzmeyer
The English page is still under construction.
But here's some basic information about the project.
What is it about?
Ten years after the release of an unsuccessful solo album, I dare to launch a new music project which has – weird as it is - a good perspective to follow the failure – but at least on a higher artistic level.
The aim is to adapt as many musical styles as possible – the greater the gap between them, the better the result!
Why?
Must there always be a persuading answer to this question?
There is none. But please just check it out!
The french author Raymond Queneau attempted this with his "Exercises in Style" – 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different literary style. It's literal art, it's smart – and it's incredibly FUNNY! So, with reference to my idol Queneau, I determined a similar content, including a special scene - not set in the "bus S", but in "tramcar 23", before I started to write the first song.
The Same Content
The scene contains several details which I force myself to re-use and to re-interprete in all of the different kinds of songs. A big bearded man who is stumbling around, a 17-year old girl who leaves after three stops. No story. No dramaturgy. I tried not to think too much about it before. And there it was – the template for all of the upcoming songs. Then I asked some professional musicians knowledgeable about different styles of music to participate, and so we got startet with the first six songs! A seventh exercise - Death Metal - could be released thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign.
A documentary series about the project which I also had produced was nominated for PRIX EUROPA in 2019 in the category RADIO MUSIC. That's what I am really proud of.
I would love to continue with exercise No. 8, 9, 10, 11.... Maybe I will never reach 99, but I would be pleased with 15 or 23. Let's see...
The Songs
Even if you don't understand all the German - here are the links to the songs. You are cordially invited to listen! Just check out the links within the content-slider! -->
It starts with a German Schlager, typical German popular music - mostly about love &romance. - I hate it, by the way.
But please read the details of the content I had to (re-)use before, so you can better understand how much work it was to create these seven songs...
The Content Challenge
Here's a translation of the basic content I wrote down before starting with the exercises:
4 pm, in the crowded tram car number 23.
A girl of about 17 wearing a short tartan skirt and white knee-high stockings
is standing next to an elderly big man with a full beard.
Every time the tramcar stops or drives on the girl steps aside to avoid contact with the big man’s body. After three stops she gets off and sits down on a bench in a tram shelter.
A well-dressed lady comments the incident in a way which doesn’t seem to suit her appearance. Later on I see the girl again, sitting in the city café on the market place
together with a dark-haired boy. She’s now wearing blue jeans and sneakers.
Who am I?
My name is Susanne Franzmeyer. I am a Berlin based audio artist and producer of radio features, music and other things you can listen to.
