The Song of the Germans (Deutschlandlied)

The Song of the Germans (Deutschlandlied) is a multichannel sound installation in which Germany’s national anthem is revoiced through language, migration and the human voice. The work brings together African immigrants living in Germany, each singing the Deutschlandlied in their mother tongue, including Igbo, Yoruba, Bamoun, Moré, Twi, Ewondo, Kikongo, Lingala and others.

Each singer occupies an individual channel and loudspeaker, positioned at approximately the height of the person whose voice it carries. This gives each participant a distinct presence within the installation while allowing the individual performances to gather into a larger polyphonic field. As listeners move through the space, they encounter voices separately and collectively, shifting between the specificity of one language and the accumulation of many.

The anthem is adapted to the tonal, rhythmic and phonetic structures of each language while retaining its recognisable melody. Translation therefore operates not only through words, but through the particular musical qualities and structures of each language. The familiar anthem remains present throughout, while its sound changes according to the voice and language through which it is performed.

A custom software system determines how the voices enter, overlap and recede. One singer may begin alone before being joined by others; different voices temporarily come to the foreground before dissolving again into the collective composition. The sequence is continually changing, ensuring that no single language or voice permanently occupies the centre and that no two encounters with the installation unfold in exactly the same way.

Originally commissioned for the Venice Biennale in 2015, the work emerged at a moment when questions of migration, citizenship and belonging had become increasingly visible within public discourse in Germany and across Europe. Rather than illustrating these debates directly, The Song of the Germans approaches them through the material of the anthem itself: a familiar national song performed through a multiplicity of languages and voices.

The work moves continually between individual and collective expression. Every participant sings the same melody, yet each performance carries a different language, vocal quality and cultural register. As the voices emerge, overlap and recede, the anthem is heard through a succession of distinct linguistic and sonic perspectives.

Through this shifting polyphony, The Song of the Germans places language, voice and national song in a continually changing relationship. The anthem remains recognisable throughout, while each performance brings another inflection to its familiar musical form, allowing different voices to coexist within the same composition.

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