Heiner Goebbels, Marc Thein, Ensemble Klang, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop
Heiner Goebbels' Walden
Heiner Goebbels, Marc Thein, Ensemble Klang, Keir Neuringer Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop2026
Walden is a new, independent production created in 2026 that uses Thoreau's classic as a starting point for a musical and theatrical reflection on our times. The project brings together the Ensemble Klang from The Hague and the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop under the direction of Heiner Goebbels and lighting artist Marc Thein.
Walden is not a play about Thoreau, but a resonance chamber in which sound, language, light and movement merge. Thoreau's 1854 text, a plea for simplicity, autonomy and closeness to nature, takes on new relevance in light of today's ecological and social challenges.
Goebbels' composition combines natural sounds, electronics and chamber music elements to create a dense, atmospheric sound architecture that addresses perception and the present. As a central artistic personality at the interface of new music, theatre and installation, Goebbels' works do not open up linear narratives, but rather spaces for listening and thinking. His precise and rhythmically sensitive work with language relies on the power of the fragment. Walden invites us to perceive language, silence and sound with new attention.
The new production unfolds in several sound spaces as musical architecture – atmospherically dense, precisely constructed, poetically open. It does not look back, but forward: at questions about ways of life, our relationship to nature and the present. The combination of music, light and movement creates a space in which Thoreau's thinking can be heard and experienced.
“For me, Walden is a piece about the tension between withdrawal and openness – between individual self-discovery and the constant presence of the outside world. It is not a romantic vision of nature, but a reflection on the conditions of our existence today. […] Walden is not conventional musical theatre, but a sound space in which text, sound and space exist in an open relationship with one another. It is not about narrative, but about an acoustic experience of time. […] Thoreau's idea of living consciously and reducing oneself is a starting point for me, but also an occasion to critically reflect on this attitude – especially in a world characterised by technology and acceleration.”
— Heiner Goebbels
Events
Heiner Goebbels' Walden
Heiner Goebbels, Marc Thein, Ensemble Klang, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop