“wien wie es klingt” by Gerhard Rühm
the radioplay “wien wie es klingt” places 24 significant listening spots of the austrian capital vienna into the framework of a daily routine – something like an acoustic equivalent to two sets of postcards. it begins in the early morning with the arrival at the railway station. the thematic middle of the piece is marked by the ringing of the bells of st. stephen’s cathedral in the center of the city at noon, and the piece ends in the late evening with the departure from the airport at schwechat. strewn in between is a tourist programme which could hardly be accomplished in one day. a compressed 47 minute sequence was distilled from the 12 hours of recording and arranged roughly chronologically with regard to normal visiting times in the morning, afternoon, and evening but precluding any kind of realistic plot by making geographical leaps all over the city. Produced in 1991/1992 for the series METROPOLIS at the WDR, Köln (Studio for Akustischer Kunst) in co-production with ORF Kunstradio, Wien.