Setting the German dictionary to music: the role of language in Der Alfa

Traditionally in music, lyrics are used to tell a story. How do you prevent the traditional narrative of a story from dominating the whole composition and still use language?
Music is value-free, text is not. How can music have the same influence on words as words have on the interpretation of music?

The lyrics of this project are the result of picking the words from an alphabetical index of a letter with respect to the alphabetical order of the chosen words.
By using and choosing words in this fashion, a new lyrical (literally!) structure arises and from this structure a new narrative appears. The flow of the text (the musical rhythm) defines rhyme. By arranging the words in alphabetical order, the words get connected without regard for their individual definition. By placing them in a sequence, the meaning of the words is emphasized or contradicted by the music. Music in dialogue with language.

Usually, individual words receive their meaning from the context of a sentence. What if we erase the sentence and organize the words differently?
By example: In the song “E”, the words beginning with ein all share a connotation associated with loneliness, which coincides with the mood of the music. But with the song “B” the happy, upbeat music juxtaposes the sequence of words starting with Blut (blood). At the same time the different affixes to the word Blut equally juxtaposes the different associations we have with blood, ie: Blutbad (bloodbath) and Blutwurst (black pudding). This results in an equally lyrical and manic feel. By placing words with unrelated meaning in sequence, a collage of meaning appears naturally which speaks on an emotional, rather than a rational, level.

In Der Alfa, music and text are partners who equally influence, affect, and contradict each other. As a result, the text is freed of its dominant function.

Check Der Alfa here