Two years ago, Michael Behrendt devoted his book I Don't Like Mondays. The 66 biggest song misunderstandings incorrectly interpreted song content. The German music journalist used this above all to describe the songs and their genesis. His new work follows the same pattern Provocation! Songs that (have) caused a stir. On 296 pages, Behrendt presents a total of 70 songs that caused a sensation and uproar when they were published. According to the author, the "deliberately incomplete and subjective" selection begins with Claire Waldoff's Herrmann heesst er When the public suddenly thought they recognized a sideswipe at Herrmann Göring in the frivolously cheeky piece, this led to the end of the Berlin artist's career. In terms of content, Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit (1939), in which the US jazz singer tells of the strange fruit that hangs from trees in the southern states. A blunt allusion to more than 4,700 recorded lynchings of black people between 1882 and 1968, Holiday was chased out of the city when she tried to perform the piece at a concert in Mobile, Alabama.

In his publication, Behrendt mainly touches on well-known stories that seem harmless today, which he does not present in any great depth: There is Dylan, who experiences resistance when he switches from acoustic guitar to electric, and there is also The Who, who in 1965 on their single My Generation proclaim that it is better to die young. Last but not least, the book is also dedicated to gangsta rap, which sometimes tends not only to glorify violence, but also to anti-Semitic or homophobic tendencies, which the author condemns in the strongest possible terms. Behrendt's main insight, that the boundaries of what is acceptable are constantly shifting, is undoubtedly true, but is anything but new. Conclusion: Reading Provocation! Songs that (have) caused a stir proves to be entertaining, but it is not a must.

Michael Behrendt: "Provocation! Songs, die für Zündstoff sorg(t)en", 296 p. € 20.00 wgb Theiss, Darmstadt 2019, ISBN 978-3-8062-3922-5

There is no doubt that the French trumpet school, with its driving force Maurice André, has influenced many generations of trumpeters like no other. Even in my youth, the grand seigneur de la trompette was omnipresent: he dominated the classical trumpet world almost single-handedly, just as Miles Davis shaped jazz.

It is therefore not surprising that Jean-François Dion felt the time was ripe to dedicate a tribute to the exponents of this French trumpet school. In 15 smaller individual pieces, he paints a musical picture of the dedicatees (from Roger Delmotte to Bernard Soustrot and Antoine Curé). And anyone who knows the masters well can hardly help but smile as they play through these sometimes somewhat etude-like gems. The baroque quotations in Maurice André on the one hand, the aleatory elements and damper changes for Antoine Curé on the other hand, are probably a bit bold - the beginning of Guy Touvron on the other hand, is subtly reminiscent of the rattling of the mill in front of his house - a nice proof of the composer's familiarity with his colleagues. It is also nice that each maître is briefly introduced in the appendix with a photo and biography - but it is a pity that greats such as Pierre Thibaud or Eric Aubier are missing, who would have deserved no less adulation.

Jean-François Dion : La trompette française - 15 portraits musicaux, for trumpet solo, TP 348, Fr. 20.00, Editions Bim, Vuarmarens

Wherever you open the book, a surprise is always possible, especially if you are rather biased towards "great classical music". The multicultural music listener, author and presenter Roger Willemsen succeeds time and again in eloquently "foisting" his "declarations of love for music" on the reader without expert frippery, so that one becomes (rightly) all the more aware of the decades of one-sidedness. In five chapters, moods, portraits, comparisons of "classical music and jazz" as well as world music and the incidental are offered, with different focuses, but mostly in a combination of sparingly applied historical knowledge and personal musical experience. His fixed points are John Coltrane, who "perhaps covered the musical universe more extensively than anyone before or after him", and jazz in all its facets. However, he is not primarily concerned with describing the music, but with "exploring the feelings" when listening to music; and here he has a wondrously rich vocabulary at his disposal. But all, even the most differentiated explorations are nothing without the corresponding sound; as if the menu were described to you in flowery terms, but you were not given any of it to eat. After reading Willemsen's comments, you can immediately check whether they apply to you: Almost all the titles mentioned can be listened to on YouTube - (still) for free, by the way.

The greatest discoveries are possible. In the 50 classical and jazz combinations, Willemsen juxtaposes pieces that reveal interesting similarities when exploring the emotions: Lennie Tristano's staccato playing after Muzio Clementi's G major Allegro, for example, or the adventurously nimble trumpet in Cherokee by Arturo Sandoval, after Niccolo Paganini's Moto perpetuo listened to. The Nocturne with the Teddy Charles Quintet compared to the third of Anton Webern's five orchestral pieces. It may be that some comparisons meet with incomprehension or that repetitions are noticeable, that one does not want to "prepare for an attack on the sentimental center", that some emotionally conditioned judgments seem a little too casual or that "mockery as a greeting" for Rex Gildo is superfluous. But the information about the "largely forgotten" pianist Jutta Hipp comes just in time for the current discussion about the revision of copyright law: shortly before her death, someone noticed that she was entitled to 40,000 dollars in royalties for records that had been sold after the end of her career. Do today's distribution media also have such a long-term memory?

Finally, however, an oddity: Jacques Loussier, who was of no small importance to our generation in terms of "broadening our horizons", is not mentioned. At the beginning of the 1970s, it was still noted on the "Loussier, Jacques - Play Bach" index card in the Bern radio studio that these records could only be used in the program "after consultation with the head of the music department". Clearly, when Willemsen (born in 1955) came within earshot of Loussier playing Bach, it was no longer a sensation.

Roger Willemsen: Music! About an attitude to life, 512 p., € 24.00; S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2018, ISBN 978-3-10-397383-9

Why should we listen to music from historical eras? The music of mostly dead white men, as a friend recently complained. The problem challenges the entire classical music industry, but is even more acute for an organizer like the Forum Alte Musik Zürich. After all, the programme focuses of the festivals it organizes twice a year often date back to times long past.

However, as this year's spring festival under the motto "Metamorphoses" shows, the solutions sprout most abundantly where they are most urgently needed. Consciously or unconsciously, the program spread over two weekends offered a range of answers to the question of why or how one should engage with works that originate from a culturally and socially distant environment.

This began with the small aperitif concerts in which Linda Alijaj and Hitomi Inoue, both students at the Zurich University of the Arts, performed Benjamin Britten's Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for solo oboe. You could call this the museum approach to the past and you would certainly not be entirely wrong. The choice of this piece and the additional excerpts from Ovid's poem performed by drama student Morris Weckherlin were a clear and demonstrative reference to the long tradition of European culture. The fact that Britten's work is not early music lends a certain freshness and testifies to the openness with which the Forum designs its programs.

Of course, the most common approach to old works among organizers could also be observed over the two weekends: The question of their topicality is not even asked; instead, one simply trusts in the power of the music and tries to present it as favorably as possible in a good interpretation. At the Metamorphosen Festival, for example, in a concert dedicated to Josquin Desprez, for many the most important Renaissance composer. The vocal ensemble Alamire demonstrated impressively in St. Peter's Church what English small ensembles are rightly famous for. The interweaving of voices was realized with tremendous agility, individual voices were emphasized and the flow of sound was structured. Individual phrases were given a little more space here and there without disturbing the delicate texture. Even the early and still relatively sparse Missa d'ung aultre amer blossomed sensually under the direction of conductor and musicologist David Skinner. The only question is why this concert was one of the worst-attended of the otherwise well-attended festival - because musically it was a highlight. Perhaps it can be interpreted as an indication that it is no longer enough to simply present so-called masterpieces of music history in order to attract an audience. Or it was simply a coincidence.

In contrast, three concerts in which attempts were made to revive lost or even forgotten traditions drew large audiences. For example, the Deutsche Hofmusik presented a reconstruction of Johann Sebastian Bach's lost Köthen funeral music and the Ensemble Melpomen, under Conrad Steinmann's direction, even ventured to imagine the music of ancient Greece. And, coincidence or not, it was precisely in such moments of tentative, speculative approach that the confrontation with the past proved to be extremely productive. Namely, by forcing us to think about how we deal with the past.

This became most apparent at the Helferei during the concert by Arianna Savall's group Hirundo Maris. Savall opened her European journey through 200 years of Minnesang with an invitation to the Middle Ages, and even then one wondered whether it wasn't rather the other way around. Aren't we being visited by the Middle Ages? And as a good guest, adapting to the customs of the host? Without bringing the dirt and disturbing habits with it? After all, Hirundo Maris did not offer an authentic Middle Ages, but a modern look back. This would not be problematic in principle, as there is no other option but to adopt a certain view of the traditional text and melody as conscientiously as possible. And musically, the solution was excellent and historically sound. But all the fuss, including the "medieval costume", was disconcerting. More distance from its own actions would not have done the ensemble any harm. Nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, the audience left the concert musically exhilarated and intellectually stimulated. And what more could you want? Many events with contemporary music are not able to achieve this.

The final concert with a vesper by Carlo Donato Cossoni, a northern Italian composer of the 17th century, most of whose music is preserved in manuscript form in the library of Einsiedeln Abbey, provided an insight of a completely different kind. It is now one of the industry's favorite marketing tricks to rediscover unknown minor masters. Once again, however, it was noted that for many of these discoveries it would be no great loss if they were never made. However, one of the many strengths of the festival is that such concerts are also remembered as profitable.

She bears a famous name that has a special ring to it, and not just in Austria: Johanna Doderer is the grandniece of Heimito von Doderer, the author of the novel The Strudelhofstiege and other literary masterpieces. She can also look back on a remarkable oeuvre. Born in Bregenz in 1969, the composer has written numerous works ranging from chamber music and symphonic pieces to grand opera. There is no lack of recognition and resonance. Johanna Doderer has already received important prizes and awards. And to mark the centenary of the Republic of Austria in 2018, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra even played parts of her second symphony at the State Opera.

However, one of her most recent works leaves one somewhat perplexed. Everything flows for solo piano (DWV 109) was commissioned by the International Beethoven Piano Competition and was premiered at the opening ceremony. According to Doderer, the title is intended to reflect the intertwining of the musical themes. It is difficult to say whether impulses from Beethoven's music were also incorporated. There are a few pathetic moments, but in general small-scale accompaniment figures dominate, repeated in the style of minimal music. They occasionally intensify into more emotional climaxes, but mostly the music takes over. This is despite the fact that a rhythmic flow almost always prevails.

The pianistic texture is inconsistent: skillfully placed virtuoso cascades are contrasted with banal passages that come across as strangely awkward. (Bar 173, for example, can only be played reasonably well by people with long arms). On the last page there is a note that could have been written by Beethoven: "... with the most heartfelt feeling". Curiously, there is also an outburst in triple forte. Is there irony involved?

The piece ends - like Beethoven's piano sonata with the same work number - in pure E major ... and leaves all questions unanswered.

Johanna Doderer: Alles fliesst (Everything flows) DWV 109, for piano solo, D. 01 699, € 14.95, Doblinger, Vienna 2018

According to the canton, the development of the mission statement allows fundamental issues to be addressed in greater depth. For example, whether the current funding instruments are still the right ones or to what extent the form of the board of trustees for cultural funding in the militia system is still appropriate and expedient. The cultural mission statement is being developed by the Office for Culture and Sport in collaboration with the Cantonal Board of Trustees for Cultural Promotion.

As a first step, an analysis of Solothurn's current cultural landscape will provide a comprehensive overview of the current situation. An important starting point for this is the cultural conference held in 2017, which provided essential information on the current situation and the future ideas of Solothurn's cultural players.

On four evenings in May, the Office for Culture and Sport will provide information on the status of the work. In the presence of Cantonal Councillor Remo Ankli, Head of the Department of Education and Culture, selected topics will be discussed together. Personalities from the worlds of culture and politics as well as interested members of the public are invited to attend.

The regional forums take place:
Monday, May 6, 6 p.m., Aula BBZ Solothurn
Thursday, May 9, 6.00 pm, Cultural Center Schützi Olten
Tuesday, May 21, 6 p.m., Dornach Monastery, Refectory
Tuesday, May 28, 6 p.m., VEBO, Restaurant Treffpunkt, Oensingen

The number of places is limited! Please register at least one week before the respective event date: aks@dbk.so.ch.

Samuel Steinemann, born in 1971, grew up in Zug and studied musicology, philosophy and ethnomusicology at the University of Zurich as well as cultural management at the ZHAW. During and after his studies, he wrote music reviews, program booklet texts and worked for artist agencies and concert promoters (including Tonhalle Zurich, KKL Lucerne, Kartause Ittingen).

In 1998 he co-founded the Zug Sinfonietta and between 2000 and 2008 he was the managing director of the Festival Strings Lucerne. Samuel Steinemann has been artistic director of the Theater Casino Zug since 2009.

The Künstlerhaus Boswil is a center for classical music, a place of encounter, international cultural exchange, artistic debate and retreat. The emphasis is on new music and the promotion of young musicians: with the Boswil Ensemble for New Music, the Aargau Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Freiamt Youth Orchestra, the Künstlerhaus supports three of its own ensembles in the field of orchestral education.

Viotti completed a master's degree in conducting with Nicolás Pasquet, Gunter Kahlert and Martin Hoff at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar until 2015. He has been principal conductor of the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra Lisbon since the start of the 2018/19 season.

Viotti was born in Lausanne into a French-Italian family of musicians. He studied piano, singing and percussion in Lyon. He later attended Georg Mark's conducting class in Vienna and played as a percussionist in various orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic.

At the age of 25, he won the Young Conductors Award at the 2015 Salzburg Festival, the 11th International Conducting Competition of the Orchestra de Cadaqués and first prize in the conducting competition of the MDR Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he was named Newcomer of the Year by the International Opera Award in London.

The International Fröhlich Society Brugg, initiated by the singer Barbara Vigfusson, has been committed to the performance and dissemination of the music of the Aargau early Romantic composer Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich (1803-1836) since 2016. There is now also a Fröhlich Concert Choir Brugg, led by church musician Markus J. Frey, and a cultural association "Fröhlich Concerts Brugg".

The fact that Aargau produced Switzerland's most important early Romantic composer has been known at least since the dissertation by Winterthur grammar school teacher Pierre Sarbach in 1987 and his Fröhlich performances with the vocal ensemble pro musica. Fröhlich's Missa was published in 1987 in the series "Schweizerische Musikdenkmäler", but it turned out to be a copy by Fröhlich of a mass by Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741-1801) from 1794. There is a great deal to discover in Fröhlich's own works: well-sung choral and vocal ensemble works, several orchestral overtures, many songs, chamber music and piano pieces - original Gebrauchsmusik in the best sense of the word. Incidentally, his estate is in the Basel University Library.

Fröhlich received his basic musical training at Hans Georg Nägeli's "Singinstitut" in Zurich. He was originally supposed to study law. However, musical life in Berlin really took off for him: he attended many concerts and came into contact with the best musicians of the time, including Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Friedrich Zelter from the Berlin Sing-Akademie. In this environment, Fröhlich also experienced Mendelssohn's music-historically significant revival of Bach's St. Matthew Passion with.

His Passion Cantata He wrote it shortly after his return from Berlin and performed it in Aarau in 1831 - not with an orchestra, but with piano accompaniment. Fröhlich had returned to a musical wasteland. There was no orchestra in Aarau and no regular music lessons at the cantonal school with which he could have made a living. So he founded his own singing school.

The texts for the Passion Cantatabased on the four Gospels, was provided by his brother, the reformed theologian Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich. The oratorio is extensive, consists of 21 numbers and not only has an original instrumentation, Fröhlich also "plays" with it: mixed choir, women's choir and men's choir sing in alternation, plus six soloists and a wind orchestra. The unconventional yet singable melodic line is striking; harmonically, he repeatedly finds interesting, early Romantic turns and colors. The instrumentation is surprisingly good.

Fröhlich's oratorio could now be experienced in the Stadtkirche Brugg under the masterful direction of Markus J. Frey. The participating Fröhlich Concert Choir Brugg also included the excellent female vocal ensemble Vocembalo, conducted by Barbara Vigfusson. This was clearly audible in the well-intoned, extremely high soprano parts. Overall, the choir and Chaart's orchestra mastered this work with fresh verve, good intonation and precise fugal entries.

Sunday also showed that this Fröhlich project involves good musicians who are committed to the cause. The song recital with soprano Muriel Schwarz and her subtly attuned pianist Andrea Wiesli embedded Fröhlich's songs - including some Swiss songs in dialect - between those of the siblings Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The Biedermeier-style pieces, which bear witness to Fröhlich's humor and joie de vivre, were performed sensitively and wittily.

In addition, violinist Sebastian Bohren and the Stradivari Quartet took on the Swiss premiere of the Piano Quartet in D minor (1835), first published by Amadeus-Verlag; Benjamin Engeli was at the piano. They played the work by the early Romantic composer from Aargau after Mozart's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor K. 478 and showed that it could certainly hold its own alongside Mozart. They infected the audience with their delight in Fröhlich's sense of sound and cheeky spirit. It would be time to promote this locally and nationally significant Fröhlich initiative more strongly in terms of cultural policy.

Born in Argentina and based in the Rhine Valley, Francisco Pablo Obieta moves between tradition and avant-garde as a double bass soloist, conductor and arranger. As a composer, he has produced more than forty works, ranging from chamber and orchestral music, sacred compositions to opera, such as "Destino Tango", which was premiered by the Theater St.Gallen in 2008.

As an orchestra conductor and lecturer, he inspires "young people and seniors, professionals and amateurs alike with his tireless passion for music" and leads them to captivating interpretations, writes the canton of St. Gallen. As a music teacher, he has also published several pedagogical works that have become standards for double bass players.

Susanna Cohen and Ehud Bodner from Israel's Bar-Ilan University examined 202 orchestral musicians in terms of their relationship between performance stress on the one hand and flower experiences on the other.

The evaluations showed that principals and first soloists are more in flow than second soloists and tutti players. Second soloists (associate principals) struggle with more stress than first soloists, and percussionists are more in flow than string players. According to the findings, older musicians are also more in flow than younger ones.

Original article:
Susanna Cohen and Ehud Bodner: "Flow and music performance anxiety: The influence of contextual and background variables", Musicae Scientiae, April 2019, https://doi.org/10.1177/1029864919838600

Together with the Swiss National Sound Archives and with the support of other specialized institutions, such as Swiss Radio and Television SRF and the Lucerne Central and University Library, over 3000 artist biographies, 2500 hours of sound recordings, media reports and images, videos and all promotional material have been professionally processed.

The archive documents jazz and improvised music in Switzerland since the early 1990s. The audiovisual collection consists primarily of concerts, audio and video recordings recorded live by SRF, and recordings submitted by bands to the program committee.

The online archive will be launched at the opening of this year's festival on Wednesday, 22 May 2019 at the Kulturzentrum Kammgarn. Selected years will be accessible there at the start, and more will be added gradually.

What connects the city of Bern on the Aare with the Black Sea metropolis of Odessa? Nothing, unless you consider the "Odessa Classics in Bern" concert held at the Yehudi Menuhin Forum as part of the Ukrainian Culture Days. Alongside violinist Michael Guttmann and cellist Samuel Justitz, Ukrainian pianist Alexey Botvinov sits at the grand piano and plays in such a way that it is immediately clear: Someone has a mission here - Odessa Classics. The pianist, who often makes guest appearances in Switzerland and has been an indispensable pillar of many ballets by choreographer Heinz Spoerli (Goldberg variations) was and is tirelessly committed to the festival in his home town.

Photo: Odessa Classics

Festival director Alexey Botvinov

The now 54-year-old musician founded it at a time when the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine was flaring up, which continues to this day. "Suddenly the war was there. Nobody could have imagined it," says Botvinov, speaking of his anger and inner protest, but also of his pain and grief over the many people who died. "At the time, I thought to myself: What can I do to counter the war and the terrible situation that is unsettling everyone?" Music! "Friends did say to me: What you're imagining with your festival is completely unrealistic." But Botvinov got the Odessa Classics festival off the ground, which was primarily funded by private individuals, but now also by the city of Odessa and the region. It was successfully staged for the first time in 2015. The initial four festival days have now grown to nine. "But I want to expand even further - to two or maybe even three weeks," emphasizes Botvinov and dreams of "a Salzburg for Eastern Europe". This doesn't seem unrealistic at all when you consider the growing number of visitors who come from places like Kiev, Kharkiv, Lviv (Lemberg) and, increasingly, from abroad.

Those traveling to Odessa from Western Europe may be surprised to find the same artists and ensembles in the playful Mediterranean port city as in their home country. In the recent past, these have included Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengorov, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Antonio Meneses and Matthias Goerne; this year, you will encounter pianists Cyprien Katsaris and Pietro De Maria, violinist Daniel Hope, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Mischa Maisky Trio. A glance at the program shows that a large number of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Vivaldi and Gershwin will be performed. Tango Sensations but also compositions by Piazzolla, Lipesker and Bernstein. Roby Lakatos and his ensemble reinforce the impression of a festival that offers much for many. So just standard repertoire? "No," says Alexey Botvinov, "we are also dedicating an entire evening to the contemporary Georgian composer Gija Kantscheli. He now lives in Antwerp, but is keen to come to Odessa."

Photo: Odessa Classics

Daniel Hope (right) is Artist in Residence

If you want to understand the meaning of Odessa Classics, the pianist emphasizes again and again, you should never forget one thing: "Ukraine became independent in 1991. But since then, no great artists from abroad have come to our country. Artists and composers who have long been known to Western Europeans are often not familiar to Ukrainians, which also applies to a composer like Erwin Schulhoff, for example. That's why I have to try to maintain a balance between the known and the unknown. Stars are very important for our audience. They have missed them in the recent past; now they should be able to get to know them." One of them is Daniel Hope, who will be Artist in Residence at Odessa Classics for three years.

As part of an extra series with highly talented young Ukrainian musicians under the motto "Pilgrims", specialties such as the concert "Mirror in the Mirror" with works by Arvo Pärt and Max Richter will be cultivated. A youth music competition will also be organized. In addition to a cash prize, the winner will also have the opportunity to perform at the free open-air festival at the foot of the Potemkin Stairs, which director Sergei Eisenstein depicted in his film Battleship Potemkin world-famous. In short: Alexey Botvinov is attempting a balancing act with Odessa Classics. On the one hand, he wants to appeal to "the local audience, who love and understand music", and on the other, to a Western European audience.

Photo: Odessa Classics

Concert at the Potemkin Stairs

In addition to the main concerts in the magnificently renovated Opera House and the Philharmonic Hall, the main attraction is Odessa, the port city founded by Catherine the Great in 1794, with its eastern charm and southern flair. The history of today's metropolis of millions has traditionally been shaped by many peoples, religions and art. Alexander Pushkin once said: "In Odessa, you breathe Europe." Without the inspiring effect of this city, would the poet ever have written his verse novel Eugene Onegin would have written? But Odessa is also the home of legendary violinists such as David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein and Zakhar Bron, and no less legendary pianists such as Emil Gilels, Svyatoslav Richter and Shura Cherkassky.

Yes, Odessa is irresistible, says Alexey Botvinov. Even he is constantly surprised by the special atmosphere of his home city. During the festival period, especially at the open-air concert: "When I look up at the 10,000 spectators on the steps of the Potemkin Staircase, it's an incomparable experience every time."
 

Subscribers to the Thurgau Cantonal Library can now use the music streaming service "Freegal Music" to discover tracks from a collection of over 15 million songs, music videos and audio books from more than 40,000 music labels worldwide, including Sony Music, Epic, RCA and Columbia. You can browse through playlists or create your own wish list.

With this offer, users can stream three hours of music, music videos or audio books every day. In addition, three free downloads of music or music videos are possible every week. The service can be used directly via the website or a free app without any additional software. All you need is a library card from the Thurgau Cantonal Library.