Die Harke und der Spaten
About the love life of garden tools
by Sven-Åke Johansson
Stage piece with 8 scenes for a singer/speaker and music ensemble
Original cast:
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Wolfgang Fuchs: saxophone
Wolter Wierbos: trombone
Guido Mazzon: trumpet
Maarten van Regteren-Altena: bass
Sven-Åke Johansson: vocals, accordeon
Direction and stage design: Sven-Åke Johansson
Premiere: 1983 at the reopening of the Hebbel-Theater Berlin (Büro Berlin Produktion: „Im Theater“)
Cast Allentown Artcenter USA 1985
Guido Mazzon: trumpet
Georg Cartwright: tenor saxophone
Anne LeBaron: harp
Tom Cora: cello
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Sven-Åke Johansson: vocal, accordion, percussion
Cast Zurich Theater am Neumarkt 1985
Günter Christmann: trombone
Wolfgang Fuchs: saxophone
Torsten Müller: double bass
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Paul Lovens: percussion
Guido Mazzon: trumpet
Sven-Åke Johansson: accordion, vocal

Cast Berlin Podewil 1996
Matthias Bauer: double bass
Axel Dörner: trumpet
Mats Gustafsson: saxophone
Per-Åke Holmlander: tuba, trombone
Sten Sandell: piano
Raymond Strid: percussion
Sven-Åke Johansson: accordion, vocal
Ystad theater (Sweden) 1998 (same cast as Berlin)
Discography: UMFR-CD04

The rake and the spade stand downstage; they are leaned onto each other in eight different arrangements throughout the performance. Meanwhile forceful puns and witty observations spew from the performer eloquently, comments about the birth, character, and being of garden tools. His rhythmic lecture requires the deployment of the entire body, even when the improvised nonsense – garlands of words – herald the "birch leaf jamboree", the "three-toothed plate", and the "potato fire". Six experienced improvisational musicians stood at Johansson's side and filled the recurring model of solo or ensemble segment, text lecture, tutti, and new configuration of the garden tools, with life. Such harmonious, balanced, and grandiosely musicalized group improvisations might not be so often available to our ears. They never failed to embody the character of each conjured scene, like the melancholy of the "spider web constructions in the moonlight", which Sten Sandell seduced into high sixth chords on the piano, and the restrained cymbal sounds of which Axel Dörner (trumpet) encircled with his dense, noise-like playing approach. Alongside contrabass and tuba, Mats Gustafsson (saxophone) completed the ensemble. His solo, alternating between vocal sounds, wind noises, and percussive tones, referred to language, as did Johansson's dadaistic lecture on musical structure. In such contexts, the actual value of the piece lies far from the scenic accessories, which enlightened us, at the end, as to where the little cemetery shovels come from. Volker Straebel, 26.10.1996, Der Tagesspiegel
Track 5 "Herbstliches aufräumen"