Georg Trakl and the Goth Band L ’ ame Immortelle
Since the beginning of the 1990s , the German-speaking countries have become the center of the Gothic youth subculture , a subculture that emerged from punk in the early 1980s . There are approximately sixty thousand members ( called “ Grufties ”) in Germany and Austria . They have their fanzines , magazines , and chat rooms on the Internet . Once a year , around Easter , they gather in Leipzig to celebrate the famous “ Wave Gotik Treffen .” Other important festivals are the “ Zillo-Festival ” in Hahn and the “ Hau Ruck ! Festival ” in Vienna .
Gothics dress in black and many paint their faces white . With these colors , as well as accessories like crosses , grave lamps , spiders , bats , and skulls , the Gothic subculture responds in a diffuse way to the gloom and doom that can be found in many Western , industrialized societies . Their rapid technological rationalization of the life-world leads to feelings of alienation . Many Gothics also express their feelings in music — a music that “ emphasizes minor chords ; sparse , minimalistic rhythms ; and slower tempos , creating a recognizable ‘ eerie ’ or ‘ gloomy ’ texture ” ( Gunn 37 ). Many Gothic bands bring together music and poetry in their songs .
Gothic fantasies have always been strongly interested in the past . Critics have shown that this strong interest in history arises from the sense that “[ f ] orces from the past act undeniably but inexplicably on the present ” ( Turner 205 ). These forces are feared at the same time they are romanticized . The periods of the past most strongly echoed in the contemporary Gothic subculture are the medieval period , Romanticism , French Symbolism , and German Expressionism . In their performances , some groups try to make the “ authentic music ” of the period in which they are interested ; others combine it with modem influences , electronics , and neo-classical elements . Many bands use the poetic text of a period and interpret it musically . Death is the unifying theme running through all of these texts appropriated by the Gothics . Georg Trakl — one of the so-called “ Asthetiker des Schreckens ” ( artists of horror ) ( Cersowsky 231 )— is naturally a poet who strongly attracts Gothic bands . For example , the German group Das Ich set to music Trakl ’ s poem “ Verfall ,” changing the title to “ Staub .” Although the song is hardly suitable for dancing , it became very popular among Goths ; Trakl ’ s famous picture “ blasser kinder todesreigen ” ( the deadly dance of pale children ) seemed to function as their mirror image . 1
Of most importance for this discussion is the Austrian band L ’ ame Immortelle . They chose Trakl ’ s early poems “ Nachtlied ” and “ Die tote Kirche ” for musical interpretation . Between the first and second verse of “ Nachtlied ,” they inserted a third poem , Trakl ’ s “ Ballade ,” thereby giving “ Nachtlied ” a