#DANKE
   SUM 

DANKE is inspired by Membra Jesu Nostri, the magnum opus of Danish-born Baroque composer Dieterich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707), a cycle of seven cantatas, each dedicated to a different part of Christ’s crucified body. In particular, the similarities between Buxtehude’s handwritten sheet music and the punched cards used in Jacquard looms and early computers led to the piece’s creation.

As the small orchestra performs each cantata, the looms weave large votive offerings for each of Christ’s body parts. The code inputted to the looms with the old-fashioned punch cards is converted to electronic sound through a computer, forming a surprisingly delightful musical experience in combination with the mechanical sound of the machines.
As the directors describe it, the dramatic conception of the play is marked by coexistence of three different worlds on stage: “that of musicians, who perform the Membra Jesu Nostri, the world of looms, which decode the message and offer a tangible ‘thank you’, and the world of the actor, of the human presence, which forms the link between the disjointed members, the membra disjecta - code, music, image, sound.”