Songs break down language barrier

Terry Sarten gets material for his latest round of shows at Hohenzollern, Germany.

As promised in the last column, this week's topics will be concerts, castles and beer.

I have now done two of the concerts I had planned to perform here in the south of Germany.

The first was in a cafe/theatre. The audience must have enjoyed it as they called me back for three encores. My own material seemed to find favour, which was gratifying. Before the show, a reporter there to write a review asked if I could explain what the songs were about as I went along so he would be able to comment on them.

My German is okay but this was a new challenge. Explaining a song written in English to a German audience was something I had never attempted before but, in fact, when I did get stumped for a word, someone in the audience would pipe up and give me the answer.

It developed into another whole dimension of audience participation. (The reporter gave the gig a great review).

There have been several castles, great and small.

The grandest was Hohenzollern. Situated high above the surrounding forests, farms, villages and towns, it looks like castles should with huge walls, battlements, towers, a drawbridge and the remains of a moat. It would have been a formidable fortress in its time. Shared by three ruling families over many generations, it is still owned and maintained by them although none of them actually live there. It was easy to see why. It was bitterly cold with snow falling and, as we toured the interior viewing the grand rooms, it was freezing. The various fireplaces are purely decorative and do not work. The tour guide explained that members of the ruling family had lived there but only for short periods of time as they soon found it to be too cold. We were asked to slip our feet (with our shoes on) into giant felt covered slippers to protect the beautiful timber floors.

The snow started shortly after we arrived at the castle, adding atmosphere and danger as the cobblestones and steps became icy underfoot.

Usually, the view over the surrounding area is spectacular but visibility was down to a few yards. The snow added an air of mystery that I felt fitted well with childhood stories of knights, castles and kings.

Last but not least, I must mention the beer. Germany is famous for the quality of its beer and I have had opportunity to sample some of the regional brews. Even quite small towns have their own particular local beer. Germany has strict laws that state only yeast, hops, barley and water can be used - no additives or artificial ingredients - and this may explain why it tastes so good.

I have another week here with two more gigs to do and will attend the premiere of the most recent film made by my friend Rainer Joerger. A previous show that linked three partner towns, Blois in France, Waldshut-Tiengen in Germany and Lewes in Britain had its premiere in Lewes in October. I did the English translation of the German script but had not seen the film itself until now. It was strange to hear my words coming back in the wonderfully deep tones of the person doing the voice-over.

The latest WT-Pur show will be staged for the first time on Saturday night.

It is focused on the people of the Waldshut-Tiengen region.

The production has 120 people working a combination of live performances, film and interaction with the audience and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Terry Sarten is a parent, grandparent, social worker, writer and musician currently on tour in Germany. email: tgs@inspire.net.nz; website: www.telsarten.com