Gesamtkunstwerk

[ guh-zahmt-koonst-verk ]

noun

, German.

1. total art work; an artistic creation, as the music dramas of Richard Wagner, that synthesizes the elements of music, drama, spectacle, dance, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gesamtkunstwerk¹

First recorded in 1935–40; from German: literally, “total art work”

Example Sentences

An interdisciplinary artist who doesn’t dabble in composition, performance, filmmaking and choreography so much as create from a Gesamtkunstwerk state of mind, in which each medium is dependent on the other, Monk is both a holdout of New York’s “downtown” past and a sui generis American master.

From New York Times

But perhaps we do not need “Oliver!” to be a Gesamtkunstwerk.

From New York Times

“They found this way to kind of industrialize the Gesamtkunstwerk,” or total work of art, Fineberg said.

From New York Times

He appeared periodically, Oz-like, as a video projection on a floating egg, making oracular pronouncements, from claiming, “The weapon is good; the penis is bad,” to predicting that 2023 will be the year when Germany becomes a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.

From New York Times

Exuberant performances from the Volkstheater’s excellent actors are perfectly calibrated to this gleefully surreal production, in which 10 of Jandl’s key works come to eye-popping life in a Gesamtkunstwerk that combines spoken word, music, dance and pantomime.

From New York Times