The Company draws on the fact that many literary artists are 'word musicians'. Harmony, dissonance, formalized patterns, rhythm and structure are equally important in literary composition as in musical composition. Treating music in a literary manner and thinking and improvising in musical terms, the way we think in words and sentences will be explored, forming a thematic fabric of musical and literary expression.

Works and traditions which are influences to the Company range from high art to popular culture, including music, literature, poetry, dance and film. Some examples include:

Rhythm and Blues
Soul Jazz/ Jazz Fusion/ Jazz Funk
Hip Hop/ Graffiti culture
R & B
World Music
Negro Spirituals

Benjamin Britten's collaborations with
WH Auden and his War Requiem using
Wilfred Owen's poetry, made into a film
by Derek Jarman

Ned Rorem's musical arrangements of poetry
Steve Reich
Philip Glass
Kurt Weill
Berthold Brecht
Leonard Cohen
George Gershwin
Leonard Bernstein
Stravinsky
Steve Reich
Beckett, Beckett's poem 'Ping'
Aaron Copland and Emily Dickinson

The Word and Music Company are pioneering a new style, form and process for the making of Theatre involving principal artists from the worlds of:

Cutting edge contemporary urban music.
Leading British Playwrights.
Performers and artists from mainstream Musical and
New-Writing Theatre.

In this crossover we will broker a series of new creative relationships that will break new ground in the crossover between music based performance and writer- led new work. This work will break away from the accepted integrations
and forms of music and theatre and will explore new modes of combining and reconfiguring the relationships between these genres.