A musical meditation on the relationship of sound to linguistic structures, What is the Word is an exploration of the work of Irish Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett by renowned contemporary composer and guitarist Benjamin Dwyer. The central piece of the record is a setting of three texts : ?Neither?, ?Worstward Ho? and ?what is the word?, Beckett?s very last poem, alongside new solo suites for violin and guitar ? the ?six residua? and ?five disjecta?. In the essay accompanying the recording ??eleven reflections on Beckett, music and silence??, Dwyer quotes Beckett in correspondence with Edouard Coester ? ??And then what about silence itself, is it not still waiting for its musician?...? In What is the Word, he finds some incredible ways to break this silence. Barry Guy is one of the world?s most innovative double bassists and a major figure in new music, whose creative diversity in the fields of jazz improvisation, solo recitals, chamber and orchestral performance is the outcome both of an unusually varied training and a zest for experimentation, underpinned by a dedication to the double bass and the ideal of musical communication. Born and educated in Zurich, Maya Homburger is considered one of the world?s leading exponents of the baroque violin. Recordings include ?Ceremony? (ECM) and ?Dakryon? (Maya Recordings). She recorded the complete Biber ?Mystery Sonatas? for violin and basso continuo as well as a series of three solo violin CDs with J.S.Bach?s ?Sonatas and Partitas? paired with Barry Guy?s works for solo violin ?Inachis?, ?Aglais? and ?Lysandra?. On ?Folio? (ECM) she appears as soloist together with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Actor Conor Lovett was born and grew up in Ireland and has lived most of his life in France. He is known for his film roles in I'll Find You (2019), Endeavour: Coda (2016), Versailles (2015) and The Thin Man. An international reputation for his award-winning Beckett performances in theatre, Conor made his television debut as a recovering alcoholic in Father Ted: The Mainland (1998). His feature debut was in Moll Flanders (1996) directed by Pen Densham .