Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka – “I hear the stones, see the sound, and read the water.”

Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka explores audio-musical theater as an experimental art form in which sound, space, and stage design merge. At its core is the idea that listening itself becomes a physical and spatial experience, and that the performance space actively participates in the musical event.

Based on key works by Luigi Nono, Beat Furrer, Adriana Hölszky, Klaus Lang and Chaya Czernowin , she demonstrates how traditional boundaries between stage and audience, music and theater dissolve. Space becomes an instrument, the voice a moving sound body, and architectural structures also influence compositional processes.

The studies make it clear that audio-musical theater relies on immersive, multisensory experiences and replaces linear narrative structures with fragmented, open forms. This gives rise to a hybrid art form that fundamentally rethinks the relationship between perception, music, and theater.

Here, the author describes what inspired her to write the book:

“In our media-saturated society, attention is a valuable commodity. Listening, as a form of acoustic attention, has not only personal but also social and political dimensions. The experience of attending a performance of Beat Furrer’s *FAMA* motivated me to explore the topic of listening in greater depth. In my book, I demonstrate how composers use the act of listening as a theatrical device to create a new form of auditory music theater. Through acoustically and electronically designed sound, spaces, situations, and narratives are shaped, and inner images emerge—we literally learn what it is like to “hear the stones” (Luigi Nono) or to “see with the ears of the skin” (Juhani Pallasmaa). Through insights into composition and performance, readers can immerse themselves in selected pieces. An invitation to listen!”