Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

movement in European art in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of

sound poetry Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literacy and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound p ...

Life and work

Hugo Ball was born in

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

, Germany, and was raised in a middle-class Catholic family.Ball, Hugo (1974). ''Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary by Hugo Ball''. trans. Ann Raimes. New York: Viking Press. . , , , . He studied sociology and philosophy at the universities of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

(1906–1907). In 1910, he moved to Berlin in order to become an actor and collaborated with

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...

. At the beginning of World War I, he tried joining the army as a volunteer, but was denied enlistment for medical reasons. After witnessing the invasion of Belgium, he was disillusioned, saying: "The war is founded on a glaring mistake – men have been confused with machines." Considered a traitor in his country, he crossed the frontier with the cabaret performer and poet

Emmy Hennings Emmy Hennings (born Emma Maria Cordsen, 17 January 1885 – 10 August 1948) was a poet and performing artist, founder of the Dadaist Cabaret Voltaire with her second husband Hugo Ball. Life and work Hennings was born on 17 January 1885 in ...

, whom he would marry in 1920, and settled in Zürich, Switzerland. There, Ball continued his interest in

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

and in

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...

in particular; he also worked on a book of translations of works by Bakunin, which never got published. Although interested in anarchist philosophy, he nonetheless rejected it for its militant aspects, and viewed it as only a means to his personal goal of socio-political enlightenment. In 1916, Hugo Ball created the

Dada Manifesto The Dada Manifesto (in French, Le Manifeste DaDa) was first a short text written on July 14, 1916, by Hugo Ball and read the same day at the ''Waag Hall'' in Zürich at the first public Dada party. In this manifesto, Ball expresses his opposition t ...

, making a political statement about his views on the terrible state of society and acknowledging his dislike for philosophies of the past that claimed to possess the ultimate truth. In the manifesto Ball aimed to legitimize the new artistic movement's ambition to not merely "write poetry with words", but to "write poetry out of the words", to create an entirely new language, due to the fact that the old language was viewed as "doomed", and "ruined by the filthy hands of capital". The central thought of modernism since

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

regarding that the language has to be fixed, is here given a distinctive

critique of economy Critique of political economy or critique of economy is a form of social critique that rejects the various social categories and structures that constitute the mainstream discourse concerning the forms and modalities of resource allocation and ...

as a motivation. The same year as the ''Manifesto'', in 1916, Ball wrote his poem "," a poem consisting of nonsensical words. The meaning, however, resides in its meaninglessness, reflecting the chief principle behind Dadaism. Some of his other best known works include the poem collection ', the drama ', a memoir of the Zürich period ''Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary'', and a biography of

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

, entitled ' (1927). As co-founder of the Cabaret Voltaire and a magazine with the same name, '' Cabaret Voltaire'', in Zürich, he led the Dada movement in Zürich and is one of the people credited with naming the movement "Dada," by allegedly choosing the word at random from a dictionary. His companion and future wife, Emmy Hennings, was also a member of Dada. His involvement with the Dada movement lasted approximately two years. He then worked for a short period as a journalist for ' in Bern. After returning to Catholicism in July 1920, Ball retired to the canton of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, where he lived a religious and relatively poor life with Emmy Hennings. He contributed to the journal '' Hochland'' during this time. He also began the process of revising his diaries from 1910 to 1921, which were later published under the title ''Die Flucht aus der Zeit'' (Flight Out of Time). These diaries provide a wealth of information concerning the people and events of the Zürich Dada movement. He died in Sant'Abbondio (Gentilino), Switzerland, of stomach cancer on 14 September 1927.

Adaptations

Ball's poem "Gadji beri bimba" was adapted to the song "

I Zimbra "I Zimbra" is a song by American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the second single from their 1979 album '' Fear of Music''. According to Sytze Steenstra in ''Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the Pres ...

" on the 1979

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

album ''

Fear of Music ''Fear of Music'' is the third studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on August 3, 1979, by Sire Records. It was recorded at locations in New York City during April and May 1979 and was produced by Brian Eno and Talking Heads ...

''. Ball received a writing credit for the song on the track listing. The song contains these lines: Gadji beri bimba clandridi Lauli lonni cadori gadjam A bim beri glassala glandride E glassala tuffm I zimbra The complete "Gadji beri bimba" poem by Ball reads: gadji beri bimba glandridi laula lonni cadori gadjama gramma berida bimbala glandri galassassa laulitalomini gadji beri bin blassa glassala laula lonni cadorsu sassala bim gadjama tuffm i zimzalla binban gligla wowolimai bin beri ban o katalominai rhinozerossola hopsamen laulitalomini hoooo gadjama rhinozerossola hopsamen bluku terullala blaulala loooo zimzim urullala zimzim urullala zimzim zanzibar zimzalla zam elifantolim brussala bulomen brussala bulomen tromtata velo da bang band affalo purzamai affalo purzamai lengado tor gadjama bimbalo glandridi glassala zingtata pimpalo ögrögöööö viola laxato viola zimbrabim viola uli paluji malooo tuffm im zimbrabim negramai bumbalo negramai bumbalo tuffm i zim gadjama bimbala oo beri gadjama gaga di gadjama affalo pinx gaga di bumbalo bumbalo gadjamen gaga di bling blong gaga blung A voice-cut-up collage of his poem "Karawane" by German artist

Kommissar Hjuler Kommissar Hjuler (born Detlev Hjuler; 1967) works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist, film maker and police officer at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together wit ...

, member of

Boris Lurie Boris Lurie (July 18, 1924 – January 7, 2008) was an American artist and writer. He co-founded the NO!Art movement which calls for socially and politically involved art that would resist and combat the forces of the market. His controversial ...

NO!art NO!art is a radical avant-garde anti-art movement started in New York in 1959. Its founders sought to deliver a shock to the complacent consumerist society around them. The movement was initiated by Boris Lurie, Sam Goodman and Stanley Fisher who ...

movement, was released on an LP on the Greek Shamanic Trance label in 2010. "Karawane" was also set to music in 2012 by Australian composer Stephen Whittington, as an "anti-

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

" of seventeen songs — one for each line of the poem, lasting approximately two minutes each. The same poem and its historical context was used by

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

for his 28-minute composition for mixed choir and orchestra, ''

Karawane ''Karawane'' is a composition for chorus and orchestra by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was jointly commissioned by the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic with support f ...

''.''Karawane'' (2014)
details and analysis,

Chester Music Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

Bibliography

*''Die Nase des Michelangelo. Tragikomödie in vier Auftritten'', 1911 *''Der Henker von Brescia. Drei Akte der Not und Ekstase'', 1914 *''Flametti oder Vom Dandysmus der Armen. Roman''. Reiss, Berlin 1918 *''Zur Kritik der deutschen Intelligenz''. Der Freie Verlag, Bern 1919 **redeveloped as: ''Die Folgen der Reformation''. Duncker & Humblot, München 1924 *''Byzantinisches Christentum. Drei Heiligenleben'' (on Joannes Klimax, Dionysius Areopagita und Symeon dem Styliten). Duncker & Humblot, München 1923 *''Hermann Hesse. Sein Leben und sein Werk''. S. Fischer, Berlin 1927 *''Die Flucht aus der Zeit'' (Diary). Duncker & Humblot, München 1927 *''Gesammelte Gedichte mit Photos und Faksimiles'', ed.. Annemarie Schütt-Hennings. Arche, Zürich 1963 *''Tenderenda der Phantast. Roman''. Arche, Zürich 1967 Bibliography in English * * * ''Blago Bung, Blago Bung'', Hugo Ball's ''Tenderenda the Fantast'',

Richard Huelsenbeck Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck (aka Charles R. Hulbeck) (23 April 189220 April 1974) was a German writer, poet, and psychoanalyst born in Frankenau, Hessen-Nassau who was associated with the formation of the Dada movement. Life and work Huelsen ...

's ''Fantastic Prayers'', and

Walter Serner Walter Serner (15 January 1889 – August 1942) was a German-language writer and essayist. His manifesto ''Letzte Lockerung'' was an important text of Dadaism. Life Walter Serner was born Walter Eduard Seligmann in Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), ...

's ''Last Loosening'' – three key texts of Zürich ur-Dada. Translated and introduced by Malcolm Green.

Atlas Press Atlas Press began publishing in 1983, and specialises in extremist and avant-garde prose writing from the 1890s to the present day. It is the largest publisher in English of books on Surrealism and has an extensive list relating to Dada, Surreal ...

, * ''Flametti, or The Dandyism of the Poor'', trans. Catherine Schelbert, Wakefield Press, Massachusetts, 2014,

References

External links

* * * * *
International Dada Archive

Hugo Ball (DADA Companion)

* , Ball recites "Karawane", 1916 (at 2:32)

on

UbuWeb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Philosop ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Hugo 1886 births 1927 deaths People from Pirmasens People from the Palatinate (region) German Roman Catholics 20th-century German poets Writers from Rhineland-Palatinate Dada German male poets German-language poets Modernist theatre 20th-century German male writers German dadaists Critics of political economy German magazine founders

Life and work

Adaptations

Bibliography

See also

References

External links