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

“More than a scientific testimony, it’s an almost intimate sensory experience that confronts the listener with the concrete reality of global warming.”
– Radio Télévision Suisse

“This project documented something as beautiful as it is melancholic: the sounds of a glacier, a stand‑in for our planet, as it gasps for a life that is slipping away.”
– Futurism

“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 … Crying Glacier is a mesmerising, and urgent, call to arms.”
— Electronic Sound

“The glacier comes alive with incredible detail, its multiple layers presenting an adventurous, physical exploration.”
– Ambientblog

“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

“Darkly beautiful, alarming and unsettling.”
– Creative Fuel with Anna Brones

“Highly Commended”
– Sound of the Year Awards, Category Sound of the Year

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

Film Credits
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

Feature in 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)

Glacier piece at the vibrating listening platform SOMA, Krone Couronne (Biel, Switzerland), 2024

Curation: Kristina Grigorjeva
Technical support: Ivan Crichton
Carpentry: Laurens Dekeyser
Installation views: Fabrice Schneider and Ludwig Berger

Sound installation at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for the 1st World Day for Glaciers on 20-21 March 2025.

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NEW PROJECT: SOUND DNA MORTERATSCH GLACIER

The long-term project safeguards the sounds of the melting Morteratsch Glacier for future generations in form of a synthetic sound fossil.

Arranged as a short composition, the sounds are encoded into synthetic DNA using a long-term storage method that outlasts all existing digital formats. The DNA is sealed in a capsule and embedded in the rock at the glacier’s base. In 100 years, the capsule will be retrieved, the DNA decoded, and the sounds played back into the valley—likely emptied by the glacier’s retreat.
By using DNA—nature’s own storage medium—the project embeds the memory of a vanishing phenomenon directly into its environment. Just as ancient DNA preserves traces of extinct life forms, this synthetic DNA preserves the glacier’s acoustic signature.

Originally commissioned by SUISA, developed in cooperation with Robert Grass (Titulary Professor at the Functional Materials Laboratory at ETH Zurich).

To be realized in October 2025. Currently in process of fundraising – scroll down to support.

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