Ludwig Berger
Crying Glacier
Alpine glacier, hydrophones, field recordings, film

A personal sound portrait of the Morteratsch Glacier in the Swiss Alps. Recorded over more than ten years, Crying Glacier approaches the glacier as a presence with voice and agency — closely aligned with the notion of environmental personhood.

Developed in summer 2023, the project takes the form of both a documentary film and a vinyl LP. It traces a long-term relationship between listener and glacier. Using hydrophones, Ludwig Berger explores water-filled crevasses and melt channels, revealing a spectrum of sonic articulations: bubbling, cracking, rasping, humming. Voices emerge that seem animal, human, synthetic — forming a dense, layered glacial noise.

The composition shifts between extreme proximity and broader acoustic horizons, ending with a speculative soundscape of the valley after the glacier’s disappearance. Sounds from the project have been presented at UNESCO Paris, the UN Headquarters in New York, and the World Heritage Committee.

Documentary by Lutz Stautner, vinyl release at forms of minutiae 2025.

“What the earth dying sounds like. … By approaching the glacier through sound, by making it seem alive, Berger gave me a whole new perspective, not just on climate change caused by humans, but on coexistence. ”
– New York Times

“The astounding ‘a kind of a person’ is just one example of how strange and alluring the sounds of glaciers can be.”
— A Closer Listen

“A bewildering mix of gurgles, creaks, pops, buzzes, and human-like groans.”
— The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp, May 2025

“An astounding symphony of noises the glacier emits… The duet between man and glacier is a wondrous thing… Crying Glacier is a mesmerising, and urgent, call to arms.”
— Electronic Sound

“There are records you play, and records that play you… an ecological requiem, part field diary, part sonic séance. Each track feels like an act of translation — not of language, but of presence.”
— Chain D.L.K.

New York Times Op-Docs (2025)
Vimeo Staff Pick – Vimeo (2024)
Best Short Film – Mendi Film Festival, Bilbao (2023)
Winner – Best Environmental Film – Discover Film Festival, London (2024)
Official Selection – Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival (2023)
Official Selection – FIPADOC, Biarritz (2024)

Credits LP
Sounds by Vadret da Morteratsch (Morteratsch Glacier)
Recorded and composed by Ludwig Berger, Grison Alps, Switzerland, 2016–2023
Original soundtrack for the film Crying Glacier directed by Lutz Stautner
Stills taken from Crying Glacier, cinematography by Philipp Becker
Mastered by Mathieu Bonnafous
Design and text by Pablo Diserens
Part of Forms of Minutiae’s Ice Sounds series, in celebration of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (UNESCO & WMO, 2025)
Published by Forms of Minutiae — FOM15 — 2025

Photos by Lutz Stautner & Philipp Becker

Credits Film
Artist and Sound Design – Ludwig Berger
Director – Lutz Stautner
Director of Photography – Philipp Becker
Colorist – Johannes Müller
Production Support – Maja Deckers
Titles and Graphics – Leon Preller
Production Company – El Flamingo GmbH