finnegans wake set to music, unabridged
The idea was a simple enough question. How many ways are there to read James Joyce’s great and bizarre novel Finnegans Wake?
Seventeen different musicians from all around the world, each assigned to render a chapter aurally. The only requirements: the chapter’s words must be audible, unabridged, and more or less in their original order.
We set Finnegans Wake to music twice. The first edition premiered 2015 May 4 and the second edition premiered 2015 February 2.
To listen to the first edition, click here. To listen to the second edition, click here. You can also locate recordings by artist.
Our 2017 release debuted on May 4, featuring over 100 contributors from 15 countries. We are now focused on shorter passages — a page or a few pages. This will be our final group release but we will continue to release individual recordings on an ongoing basis, so get involved.
To stay up-to-date on Waywords and Meansigns, join our mailing list.