“I Will Be Angry” – Psalms Text by Thomas Bernhard

I discovered this author while I was the “artist in residence” at the Thomas Bernhard House in Ottnang: “Thomas Bernhard to me is fully human: he lies, contradicts, but he is a genius. He is a show-off but also a masochist and martyr. He longed for fame, success, and money. When he had it all, he hated it. What a lovely person, right?” His early work “Nine Psalms” [Neun Psalmen] is fascinating for that reason. Bernhard’s Psalms are a lament and a protest, directed at an absent God. Despair and power fantasy, rolled into one. His anger becomes a productive gesture of change and social participation. “I Will Be Angry – Psalms” is a full-length piece written for the Berlin female vocal ensemble at St. Matthäus und Lothar Knappe.