The documents submitted to the Basel-Stadt Grand Council and the Basel-Landschaft Cantonal Council, which were published at the same time, explain further results of the negotiations and the planned implementation of the new cultural contract as well as further measures in the area of cultural promotion in the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.

As in the previous cultural contract, the funds from the Canton of Basel-Landschaft are earmarked for cultural center services in the area of professional contemporary cultural creation. The institutions benefiting from the payments must demonstrably have a regional impact, receive a regular operating contribution from the Canton of Basel-Stadt and employ their own ensemble or orchestra or be a co-production partner and venue for regional ensembles and companies under a performance mandate from the Canton of Basel-Stadt.

The regional impact is documented by surveying the number of visitors. In future, the three institutions with the most visitors from the canton of Basel-Landschaft will be taken into account. The total operating contribution that these three institutions receive will not increase. Rather, the Basel-Stadt share of the operating contribution of these three institutions will be reduced in line with the increase in the contributions from the compensation of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.

The funds thus released will be reallocated within the cultural budget of the Canton of Basel-Stadt in such a way that all institutions that currently benefit from the cultural contract lump sum (existing cultural contract) will receive the same level of support as before. This shift will result in neither additional costs nor savings for the Canton of Basel-Stadt. The alignment with existing models of compensation for cultural center services enables a transparent distribution of funds on the basis of objective criteria and comparability.

According to the press release, the cantonal government of Basel-Landschaft is also aiming to "increase its commitment to cultural infrastructure and strengthen project and production funding in the canton of Basel-Landschaft". It is presenting a concept for the promotion of contemporary art and culture in the cantonal council bill. This includes financial and structural measures in various areas of support. Among other things, it provides for an increase in funding for institutions in the canton of Basel-Landschaft and a strengthening of funding credits in several areas of cultural promotion in Basel-Landschaft.

Music, hymn-like, if somewhat loose, played by four cellos: we would probably have no problem listening to it in a concert, but in the theater we expect something to go with it, and in Marthaler's even more so, something. But it takes a long time here, several nice long minutes. At some point, the actors sitting around and listening leave - and come straight back in. They sit there again and continue. They stand up expectantly when the cellists (Hyazintha Andrej, Isabel Gehweiler, Nadja Reich, Vanessa Hunt Russell) turn the page. No, it's not over yet! And keep waiting. They are like us, the audience, they are us, listening to Cage. We are being staged here, placed in the scene.

This very long-lasting scene is the center of the evening. For the Musicircus Apartment House 1776created in 1976 to mark the bicentenary of the US Declaration of Independence, John Cage also composed these "44 Harmonies", which seem like lost songs. They consist of fragments, ex- or rather: subtracted from hymns by composers who were no older than twenty in 1776, such as William Billings or Andrew Law. The beauty of the melodies is preserved, but they seem broken, disintegrated, unstable, somehow lost and abandoned. Such subtraction, such forlornness and silence had to appeal to someone like Christoph Marthaler. In the production ±0 (One base camp)he and his ensemble discovered the pieces and planned to continue working with them. In 44 Harmonies from Apartment House 1776 they sound after just over an hour. This is the turning point of the evening. After that, it is different from before. Before that, Marthaler's theater was able to unfold without restraint, so to speak. It is by no means just about Cage, but about "people, harmonies, mushrooms and harmonies", as Ueli Jäggi announces in his introduction. With the return of the Marthaler family to the Schiffbau, where we once experienced a triumphant yet miserable end to the era of the Schauspielhaus, the typical Marthalerisms also return after fifteen years: actors (in addition to Jäggi, Benito Bause, Marc Bodnar, Raphael Clamer, Elisa Plüss, Graham F. Valentine and Susanne-Marie Wrage) roam the stage; Bendix Dethlefssen, the musical director, plays the piano and harmonium. There are bowing rituals, a devilishly contorted tango danced with chairs, a litany of the strangest mushroom names, a song that descends into the bassiest cellar and so on. All this, as usual, in Anna Viebrock's retro setting, half parlor, half parish hall. In between, Bernhard Landau ghosts around as Cage - blue with jeans and jacket, a walking quotation, talking about mushrooms. At the end of the eight and a quarter hour evening, he appears as a gardener with a watering can and waters the music stands.

With its tragicomedy, this is Marthaler at his best. However, it is a little regrettable that Cage's music is no longer featured. Other pieces from a song like A wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs about the performative Water Music up to lectures like Silence would have opened up the aesthetic field further. Instead, Marthaler returns to the familiar pillar saints of Central European music history, to Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Wagner, Mahler - and Satie. It's just more recognizable - and still incredibly fun and melancholy. Nevertheless, this results in a special interplay. It is as if Marthaler's narrative style is being turned around by Cage's chance operation - and Cage's music filtered through Marthaler's gaze. It is a doubly ordered anarchy.

So before that, we can almost naively and somewhat nostalgically abandon ourselves to the magic of Marthaler's theater. After the (from a theatrical point of view) monotonous dry spell of the Harmonies the evening no longer finds itself, no longer finds its way forward. A certainly skillful, but now once again very protracted, word-shrinking sextet begins. It merely circles to a close, no longer developing the virtuosity of failure that Marthaler is accustomed to. The Bach chorale It is enough expresses it somewhat helplessly. And it ends with Mahler's Adagietto, like a Death in Venicebut not on the beach, but in the sandpit. And that's what I can't quite forgive the production for, this ending with Mahler, whose melody - instead of an anarchic harmony - is still spinning in my head for days ...

For the past three years, the concerts have been held in a newly built concert hall specially designed for chamber music with excellent acoustics. It has one hundred numbered seats that can be reserved online, each with a clear view of the concert stage. The location of the cultural center in Bellmund with a view of Lake Biel and the Alps can be described as unique.

The 2019 concert year kicks off on January 12 with the 22-year-old baritone Äneas Humm, who has already become a star, accompanied by the legendary pianist Hartmut Höll.

Further concerts in keywords:

January 26:
Jeunesse" series: pianist Jérémie Conus with works by Beethoven, Martin, Honegger, Liszt

According to DOV Managing Director Gerald Mertens, the state parliament's decision in favor of freelance musicians and singers serves as a role model. This is an important signal nationwide and a big step in the right direction in order to "counteract the self-exploitation, precarization and old-age poverty of freelance musicians and singers".

The DOV minimum standards define specific fee rates for freelancers' participation in rehearsals, performances and music projects. These will be introduced in the state of Brandenburg from 2019, will be binding from 2020 for projects funded by the state and will also apply to orchestras institutionally funded by the state from 2021 at the latest. The fee rates will be adjusted annually in line with the general average wage development.

What the association SMEM was still "on the cards" in March of this year (SMZ 3/2018 p. 13/14) is now a fact: according to the SMEM's press release, the playroom with electronic musical instruments is opening today. The instruments come from the SMEM collection and from a number of donors. The public is invited to discover the sonic possibilities of the instruments and make recordings. SMEM experts support beginners, work together with musicians on request or remain discreetly in the background "when experienced people develop their own project."

Lectures, workshops and concerts will take place in the Playroom next year. The space can also be used for residencies - Stepfen 0'Malley has already done this, Tin Man has been announced for December and the techno star Legowelt for January. According to the SMEM, this demonstrates the enormous potential of the collection and its international appeal. In less than two years, the SMEM has become one of the best addresses for musicians from all over the world.
 

The singer and university lecturer Susanne Abbuehl will take over the position from March 1, 2019 as the successor to Hämi Hämmerli, who is retiring. Susanne Abbuehl brings practical experience in the field of jazz and folk music in the form of lectureships at various educational institutions, complemented by many years of research activity, involvement in various national committees and institutions as well as national and international networking.

Percussionist and university lecturer Julian Dillier will succeed Walter Hess, who is retiring. He is deputy director of the Kriens Music School and a longstanding rhythm and percussion teacher at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Julian Dillier will officially take up his new role as Head of the Institute of Music Education on September 1, 2019.

Culture will now be a cross-editorial department at Mengis Medien alongside politics, business, sport and society. According to the press release, Nathalie Benelli has played a key role in the development of Kultur Wallis over the past eight years, shaping the platform for cultural professionals and those interested in culture.

The Valais Culture Association was created on the initiative of the Canton of Valais and the association of Valais towns. (Naters, Brig-Glis, Visp, Leuk, Sierre, Sion, Savièse, Martigny, Bagnes, St-Maurice, Monthey). Culture Valais promotes cultural activities in Valais both within and outside the canton and is committed to the recognition of artistic activity.

Born in South Korea in 1986, Hyun-Jung Lim studied with distinction at the conservatories of Compiègne and Rouen. She also won first prize at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris. In Neuchâtel, the internationally active virtuoso is involved in numerous charitable institutions and actively organizes encounters between members of different cultures. The prize is endowed with 4000 francs.  

With this year's prize, the Neuchâtel State Council has set itself the goal of drawing attention to current threats in the canton's political life. In particular, it is supporting an initiative for an open and non-discriminatory administration.

Bednarska is currently studying with Philippe Spiesser at the Geneva School of Music. She has won numerous prizes at national and international percussion competitions, including the Grand Prix of the ENKOR International Music Competition in 2018, first prize at the International Percussion Competition in Northwestern in 2016 and first prize and the Special Prize of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation at the International Marimba Competition in Bamberg in 2016.

The "Prix Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes", which has been awarded since 2001, is a joint initiative of the Lucerne Festival, the Swiss Conference of Music Universities (KMHS) and the Credit Suisse Foundation. It is endowed with 25,000 Swiss francs and is awarded every two years to a highly talented young musician. The award also includes the opportunity to perform at the Lucerne Festival as part of the "Debut" series.

According to the media in French-speaking Switzerland, a further CHF 100,000 will be cut in 2020. The city justifies the cut with the fact that it practically has to pay the public contributions to the ensemble on its own. It would like to make the canton more responsible. The canton currently contributes CHF 115,000 to the Sinfonietta's budget. The Sinfonietta has campaigned against the cuts with a petition that was co-signed by 30,000 people.

The Sinfonietta de Lausanne was founded in 1981 by Jean-Marc Grob as the Orchestre des Rencontres Musicales (ORM). It was led by Alexander Mayer from 2013 to 2017. Since 2017, the artistic director has been David Reiland.

The guitarist and composer Alois Bröder has written 13 personals for soprano, guitar and
Mandolin to music. He has succeeded in finding characterful and original texts that make you smile: The reader is amused by frugality (Er, NR + T, su Sie in Mü, BMB, AG) or the advertiser's lack of knowledge of German (!!!ich warte meine traume frau J, nur hübsche bitte) as well as profound self-knowledge (mann mit allen anzeigenüblichen nachteilen sucht frau mit allen branchenüblichen vorzügen).

One cannot escape the comedy, honesty and scurrility of these all too human texts, because the guitar and mandolin chirp, shake, pluck and sigh, caricature, insist and arpeggiate, imitate, do not let up, joke and yearn ... The songs seem quirky, funny, touching, wistful and also comical, are written for a soprano with a really light and good high register and are not very difficult in melody and tonality. A certain rhythmic aplomb, some experience in the interpretation of new music, enjoyment of expressivity and not just beautiful singing are advantageous and required. The composer describes the level of difficulty as "moderately difficult", but the guitar part is rather tricky and, above all, rhythmically complex and demanding.

The pieces are miniatures, only a few seconds in length, mostly cantabile, expressive and rewarding in their effect. The rehearsal will be worthwhile and promises an original and audience-pleasing performance.

Alois Bröder: 13 Kontaktanzeigen for soprano, mandolin and guitar, Grenzland Edition, score and parts, KM 2174, € 25.00, Pan, Kassel/Basel 2018

"In terms of scope and structure, the Hammerklavier Sonata goes far beyond anything that has ever been dared and mastered in the field of sonata composition," wrote Alfred Brendel about Beethoven's Opus 106. And Beethoven himself said to his publisher: "Here you have a sonata that will give pianists a hard time, one that will be played in fifty years' time." Did he have any idea that it would still be a huge challenge for players and listeners two hundred years from now?

The Wiener Urtext-Edition has just published this monumental work as an exemplary single edition. (One of the few available, by the way.) This is no easy task either: there are no autographs or copies of the Hammerklavier Sonata, but various first editions that contradict each other in fundamental respects. The London first edition, for example, changes the order of the two middle movements, which Beethoven at least approved of. Other differences result from subsequent corrections and additions. For example, the reading of the accidentals remains ambiguous or even uncertain in some places. Last but not least, there is the controversial question of the correct tempi.

Beethoven only provided this one piano sonata with metronome markings. And they really pack a punch! Especially for the first movement, but also for the final fugue, this results in an incredibly fast tempo.

Johann Sonnleitner has devoted a detailed section to this topic in the foreword to this new edition. He does not believe in this conventional implementation of metronome numbers and advocates an older, variable measuring method. You don't necessarily have to agree with Sonnleitner to find his approach exciting and worth reading. Incidentally, the same applies to Alexander Jenner's fingerings.

One of the first to believe in these fast tempi and to attempt to realize them was Artur Schnabel, who recorded the Hammerklavier Sonata in 1935 as part of his complete recording. He did not succeed in everything comme il faut, which was certainly also due to the limited correction possibilities at the time. But his artistic impetus and the sound (!) are still very impressive. Those who prefer a more moderate and transparent interpretation will certainly like Alfred Brendel's versions. He has devoted his entire life as a pianist to this work. There are surprisingly few recordings by women: We would like to make special mention of Maria Grinberg, a great Soviet pianist who recorded all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas for Melodija in the 1960s.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata op. 106, Great Sonata for the Hammerklavier, edited by Peter Hauschild, revised by Jochen Reutter, notes by Johann Sonnleitner, UT 50432, € 10.95, Wiener Urtext Edition, Schott/Universal Edition 2018

If we previously wanted to Introduction et Allegro Ravel, the first edition published in 1906 was the only source available to us musicians. However, this had a number of obvious shortcomings and errors. For example, many dynamic indications were missing in the harp part, as well as phrasing and slurs in the wind and string parts. Only a comparative look at the score could help, although this was not complete either.

Under the direction of Peter Jost, a very careful edition has now been realized, which has consulted and compared all available sources. It has become clear that the autograph differs greatly from the first edition, particularly in the harp part, which Ravel probably reworked considerably with the help of harpist Alphonse Hasselmans.

The history of the work's composition is recounted in the preface, with all the differing versions of the various sources listed at the end. In addition, harpist Sarah O'Brien has critically reviewed the first edition, corrected pedal errors and added missing additions. Although the bar divisions and the format of the parts are comparable to those of the first edition, the notes are easier to read in the new print as they are set in larger type. Above all, a very fine edition has now been published that you can really rely on.

Maurice Ravel: Introduction et Allegro, for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, edited by Peter Jost, parts HN 1069, € 16.00; study score HN 7069, € 11.50; G. Henle, Munich 2017

With its new funding policy, the foundation wants to respond to the rapidly changing music scenes. In its press release, the foundation writes that creative and artistic processes are taking place outside of the usual genre, age or project categories, which threaten to fall between a rock and a hard place in the current application system. According to Foundation Director Urs Schnell, the annual "Get Going!" grants are intended to "identify creative places and artistic visions that deserve to be supported". With over 90 applications submitted, the funding instrument has met with a great response from musicians.

The "Carte Blanche" of CHF 80,000, which is not advertised but awarded directly by a jury of experts every two years, is intended to allow musicians to concentrate on their artistic development without financial pressure.

Beat Gysin explores the dynamic possibilities that arise in the relationship between space, music and receiver/listener. Michael Künstle combines orchestral tradition with modern compositional and recording innovations to create a spatial composition that becomes accessible as a three-dimensional listening experience. Bertrand Denzler attempts an improvisational and compositional exchange with foreign cultures with a "wandering residency". Andrina Bollinger and Marena Whitcher wander through interdisciplinary terrain as the duo Eclecta.

The "Carte Blanche" of CHF 80,000, which is not advertised but awarded directly by a jury of experts every two years, is intended to allow musicians to concentrate on their artistic development without financial pressure. Cécile Marti has caused quite a stir with her orchestral cycle "Seven Towers", in 7 parts and for 120 musicians.

Christine Lauterburg (*1956) catches the eye at first glance with her unique mix of dresses made up of elements of traditional Bernese costumes, punk culture and retro looks. But the yodeller also dares to create new combinations with improvised song accompaniments on violin, Langnauerörgeli, Talerbecken, Büchel, with experimental and techno bands. Thirty years ago, this innovative artist began rewriting traditional carols and adapting them to an urban environment. Hie obe. Ho-lobe became Hie unde ar Aare, wo d Laschtwäge fahre (CD Schynige Platte). The successful film actress learned to yodel in courses and private lessons, studied yodeling and folk song collections, expanded her repertoire with the help of recordings and became a member of the Swiss Yodeling Association (EJV). Lauterburg's experiences singing in a competition at a cantonal yodeling festival and her critical reflections are documented in the film Alpenglow (1987). Since then, the singer has repeatedly collaborated with other ensembles, but also presents old, newly arranged yodel songs in solo programs and mixes up the musical tradition in a risk-taking manner.

On the initiative of Robert Bösiger, a remarkable monograph of over three hundred pages has been dedicated to this deserving artist, who stands at the beginning of new folk music in Switzerland. The journalist invited around thirty musicians to write short texts about their colleague and published these "voices" together with 25 multi-page "encounters": Transcriptions of Lauterburg's conversations with one companion each on the occasion of reunions in 2017. Always similar profile photos by Christian Roth document these meetings and capture the many facets of the dazzling cultural figure. Lauterburg's musical achievements are featured in each of these articles, impressively portrayed by the Romansh singer Corin Curschellas, the Schwyzerörgel player Markus Flückiger, the alphorn player Eliana Burki, the CD producer Cyrill Schläpfer, as well as politicians such as Adolf Ogi, Moritz Leuenberger and the Mayor of Bern Alec von Graffenried. Peter Bichsel aptly describes Lauterburg's talent for constant renewal: "If someone is good, they always start again from the beginning."

Robert Bösiger and Christian Roth: Everything remains different. Christine Lauterburg, 336 p. incl. CD, Fr. 39.00, Werd-Verlag, Thun 2018, ISBN 978-3-85932-936-2