Bauhaus Band: Brecht on Love and War

A spectacular multi-media programme of Brecht poems and songs, presented in partnership with Oxford University's Humanities Cultural Programme (HCP).

This event is the culmination of Professor John Harle’s work with University of Oxford Professor Tom Kuhn, Professor of 20th-Century German Literature and Brecht expert and translator.

In the first half, Marc Almond will sing hit songs and ballads of the 1920s and 30s, from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (‘Mack the Knife’) to Duke Ellington, accompanied by the Guildhall School's Bauhaus Band and Singers, who also provide the music for the rest of the evening.

The climax and culmination of the second half will be a complete performance of Brecht and Hanns Eisler’s multi-media cantata Bilder aus der Kriegsfibel (‘Scenes from the War Primer’), a commentary on and critique of the Second World War.

Leading into that there will be readings, songs, short films and video art inspired by Brecht poems. There will be music from the period, as well as newly commissioned works by Guildhall School students.

'Brecht on Love and War' is presented by the Humanities Cultural Programme of the University of Oxford and Guildhall School of Music & Drama