When children today are eager to learn, they like to surf with their tablets. This new approach is also used in the colorful 122-page A4 booklet The violin accompanist with its many helpful links to the Internet, excellent photographs and inspiring texts. The content covers the construction and care of the violin, related string instruments, orchestras, practicing, reading music, musical terms, ensemble playing, performing and advice for parents. All chapters are broken up with lots of puzzles to reinforce and consolidate what has been read. The texts are worth taking to heart, the puzzles are largely helpful; but shouldn't children spend their precious time practicing rather than solving the elaborate drawing tasks?

The violin accompanist is Volume 6 of the series Musikunterricht: Materialien - Methoden - Modelle; similarly designed are Volume 1: Notation and Volume 4: Intervals.

Rudolf-Dieter Kraemer: Der Violinbegleiter - Wissenswertes, Rätsel, Praktisches; edited by Albrecht Lamey; design, games and puzzles by Lisa Schwenk, 122 p., € 24.80, Wissner-Verlag, Augsburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-95786-030-9

What is unusual about this book is not only its format (24 x 17.5 cm, landscape) and thickness (4 cm), but also its approach to its subject, music as a language, which, according to Felix Mendelssohn, is more precise than words. We have partly unlearned this language through generalized listening, time pressure when working on interpretations or the fixation on a single question: "How do I master my instrument?"

Eberhard Feltz, violin and chamber music teacher at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and mentor to many well-known chamber music ensembles, has published a selection of his musical reflections in book form on the occasion of his eightieth birthday at the behest of the director of the Davos Festival young artists in concert: More precise than words. Intuitive finding - an introduction, 44 exercises and a "solution section" that answers the questions raised. This is usually done by reprinting the original masterpiece, which the learners have seen altered or abridged in the question. The "finding" comes close to reproducing the composing process. Eberhard Feltz has so far hesitated to publish such works because his teaching requires direct response from the students. The reader of this book must conduct this dialog with himself or herself, under the guidance or better: at the suggestion of the author.

What is it actually about? To simplify, we can use the term "phrase". Phrase, or more narrowly formulated: sentence, is a term in language that also describes an elementary form in music. However, the being of music is not rationally accessible. Eberhard Feltz wants to lead us to a sensual perception of music as language by using these exercises and numerous quotes from poets, philosophers and musicians to give us a sense of the meta existence behind the musical figures. The author pleads for a "hearing" of the world in the sense of an inner "contemplation" with all the senses under the guidance of the ear.

And how do students benefit from such activities? Anyone who engages with these "exercises", and does so in a playful way, will gain new insights that will have a direct influence on their approach to music. Reto Bieri, director of the Davos Festival until 2018, where Eberhard Feltz held workshops, is proud of the publication of this book in a luxurious presentation and expresses the hope in his foreword that it will inspire "speculation, study and reflection" (Mozart's letter of July 31, 1778 about his preoccupation with music).

Eberhard Feltz: More precise than words. Intuitives Finden - 44 Übungen, 346 p., Fr. 35.00 plus Fr. 10.00 shipping, self-published by Davos Festival Foundation, 2017, ISBN 978-3-033-06344-0, info@davosfestival.ch

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

What would music be without some animal fun! It doesn't have to be a cat duet or Petrushka's dancing bear - at best, that would only get the ear or animal rights activists up in arms. Camille Saint-Saëns had a much more subtle sense of humor when he wrote his Carnaval des animaux in 1886 during a concert tour through Germany and Bohemia accompanied by musical chauvinism. During his lifetime, he only gave a few performances of this musical amusement in his inner circle; only the "Swan" to be sung on the violoncello was allowed to glide through the world of the upper middle-class salons. Only with his last will and testament did Saint-Saëns finally release the work, which has since filled the programs of numerous children's concerts. However, it is clear to the connoisseur that he was quite serious about this carnival: three movements deal with well-known melodies (Rossini, Berlioz, Offenbach), but "personalities with long ears" were also considered - who wouldn't think of Mozart's beautiful bon mot ...

The autograph, which has now been published as a large-format (30 x 36.6 cm) facsimile, is surprisingly neutral compared to this excellent humor: generously written with numerous abbreviations, hardly any corrections, no further entries, but with a few simple drawings. A strange balancing act which, thanks to an exemplary and well-designed edition, is now in everyone's hands. Not just a great gift for Christmas.

Camille Saint-Saëns: Le Carnaval des animaux. Fac-similé du manuscript autographe (= de main de maître 2), présenté par Marie-Gabrielle Soret, 192 p., € 200.00, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2018, ISBN 978-2-503-58122-4

An orchestra receives a mysterious invitation to perform on Walpurgis Night. Only the witch - who is also the concertmaster - knows how to get there - after all, it is her family members who have sent the invitation. The bewitched concertmaster tries to use her magical abilities to the orchestra's advantage. She organizes witches' brooms, one for each instrument and a luxury broom with a leather armchair and minibar for the maestro. However, as she initially fails to cast the right spells, the departure is delayed. The third attempt is successful, but the bad-tempered gnome Knürsch, who rules the underworld of the concert hall, does nothing to get rid of the orchestra he hates. He manipulates the witches' brooms so that the flying orchestra and its maestro end up in earlier centuries for the time being. There they meet Tchaikovsky, Bach, Mozart, Rossini and Beethoven, who play the masterpieces they have just composed for them in person. Even Knürsch is finally softened by the beautiful music and lends Beethoven's Ode to joy his rattling voice.

After The witch and the maestro and The orchestra mice Howard Griffiths presents another entertaining musical and educational children's book. The listener is invited on a fantastic journey through time to the highlights of classical music in a pleasantly relaxed manner and without a preachy tone. Martina Gedeck narrates vividly and characterizes aptly (the maestro is given a funny English accent). Fabian Künzli's music is enchanting and illustrative in both the symphonic and melodramatic sections. The lavish illustrations by Karin Hellert-Knappe and the soundtrack with the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt conducted by Howard Griffiths complete this successful multimedia package.

The flying orchestra. A musical fairy tale by Howard Griffiths, book with CD, 60 p., Fr. 29.80, Hug Musikverlage, Zurich 2017, ISBN 978-3-03807-076-4

Camillo Schumann (1872-1946 ) bears no relation to his famous namesake. He came from Saxony and was a pupil of Carl Reinecke, from whose hand two trios with horn (op. 188 and op. 274) originate, and of Robert Radecke, recently rediscovered through CD recordings of the piano trios with the Trio Fontane and the orchestral works with the Biel Symphony Orchestra, both on the cpo label.

Camillo Schumann wrote his sonatas for horn and piano in the first half of the 20th century, the first, Opus 118, in 1911, the second, Opus posthumum, in 1936. At this time, the New Viennese School had already established itself, but some late Romantics remained true to their style and knew how to exploit the sound of the horn to its fullest. This is why these two little-known works should be seen as a genuine enrichment of the repertoire.

Camillo Schumann:
Sonata No. 1 in F major, EB 32113, € 19.90;
Sonata No. 2 in D major, EB 32114, € 24.90;
for horn and piano, first editions,
Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2018

The 40-year-old violinist and teacher at the Zurich Conservatory of Music, Philip A. Draganov, has broken new ground in the solo part of this highly recommended edition of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. Not only the fingerings and bowings he uses in his performances are given, but also many alternatives. Furthermore, the differences in the autograph and in the various first editions are notated in the musical text - sometimes on different staves. This gives students the opportunity to make decisions depending on the size of their hand, the sound of their instrument and their musical inclinations, which would otherwise only be possible by consulting different editions. There are many striking glissandi in the style of the 19th century, but also some modern under- and overstretching, which are emphasized with circled finger numbers. The prudence of all the suggestions in the footnotes is demonstrated by the comment on one version: it should be avoided in competitions! The recommendation to prefer the lower octave version by Leopold Auer for one passage is piquant. He had judged the concerto to be unplayable; he would have wanted to revise it before a premiere.

The afterword on the sources describes the eventful history of the composition up to the premiere by the dedicatee Adolf Brodsky and the later corrections by Tchaikovsky. Reference is also made to the possibility of viewing the autograph score, which is in the Glinka Museum in Moscow, online.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 35, violin part with bowings and fingerings by Philip A. Draganov. Piano reduction by Edward Rushton, Fr. 38.00, Gilgenreiner Verlag, Winterthur 2017, ISMN 979-0-700268-27-5

For advanced cellists, the thumb position opens up the high register. Learning this complex technique is sometimes taught rather dryly in older teaching materials. This is quite different in Gabriel Koeppen's booklet Thumb position. Each position is introduced with a short, basic exercise. And then you can start playing. It is very cleverly designed that most of the pieces are composed in duo form. This offers pupils a great intonation aid so that they can quickly gain confidence in the "eternal snow of the colophonium". In addition to arranged folk songs and original compositions by the classical cellists Dotzauer and Romberg, the musical exercises also contain numerous original pieces and arrangements by Gabriel Koeppen, which entertainingly cover the areas of serious and popular music.

Gabriel Koeppen: Thumb position, duets and exercises for the introduction to thumb playing on the violoncello, ED 22567, € 22.00, Schott, Mainz 2017

A biography of Alban Berg, published by Königshausen & Neumann, is a real eye-opener. Until now, Berg, who died young, has been one of the composers who have received little attention in this respect, as the last biography written by Constantin Floros dates back to 1992. This is actually astonishing, as works such as the Violin Concerto or the opera Wozzeck are part of the indispensable standard repertoire of the concert world. This makes it all the more exciting to read the 340-page biography written by Barbara Meier.

Unprepared for Meier's style, however, one is rather irritated when entering the chapter "Family photo": "The family has gathered around the lunch table, Conrad Berg, his wife Johanna, the children Karl, Alban and Smaragda. [...] The dining room, furnished in neo-baroque style, makes a cozy impression despite the abundance of decor. [...] The children are dressed like adults, the brothers in suits and ties, Smaragda in a dress with a lavish collar [...] The family portrait gives no hint of the imminent demise of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy." This is not how one imagines a work of knowledge, especially as the photo matching the description is strangely not printed - in any case, one searches in vain for illustrations.

Meier's writing style quickly turns out to be quite unusual, as she combines a fictional style of storytelling with a wealth of specialist knowledge. Rather than a novelistic rant, she offers a well-researched read, peppered with countless quotations from letters and articles, bringing the past into the present. This approach certainly takes some getting used to, especially in the case of a 20th century composer, as scholarship is usually associated with a "dry" style. Here, on the other hand, we have a kind of "narrated" biography, an emotional visualization that sometimes comes across as somewhat tasteless. For example, after Berg's encounter with Anny Askenase, the wife of pianist Stefan Askenase, the author writes: "After saying goodbye to Anny at the Brussels train station, the 'pain of separation' does not want to go away, but despite all the 'agony and pain, even thoughts of death', he feels an 'unexpected increase' in his 'attitude to life'." School musician Barbara Meier obviously knows how to grab the reading public.

The precise descriptions of Berg's music are valuable. The most important works are presented and explained in a knowledgeable and easy-to-understand manner, with only the "icon" of modern opera, the WozzeckShe devotes over 20 pages to it. And as an epilogue, the fragment of the opera completed by Friedrich Cerha Lulu an in-depth examination. It is a pity that the appendix lacks biographical data and a list of works.

Barbara Meier: Alban Berg, Biography, 346 p., € 36.00, Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8260-6391-6

Taste and perception change over time, but an original musical text is always an original musical text. This is what the author of a new edition of the 25 Études de genre by the French guitarist and composer Napoléon Coste (1805-1883) in his detailed English-language foreword. Michael Macmeeken's aim is to pass on the music as accurately as possible as the composer intended it in the 19th century.

Born in 1805, Coste studied with old master Fernando Sor in Paris, a hotspot at the time. His music is classical-romantic: pleasing, but certainly demanding. He wrote most of his pieces for friends and acquaintances; a piece dedicated to his wife is particularly beautiful Andante. He himself used a specially made guitar with an additional, free-floating D string. Anyone playing his compositions on a conventional instrument therefore retunes the 6th string from E to D - which has an effect on the fingering - or octaves the low D up an octave in the musical text. Macmeeken gives the player a choice by offering alternatives or even publishing individual etudes in two separate versions in D and E tuning.

The editor is not stingy with fingerings in other respects either. On the one hand, all the original indications are printed, and on the other, Macmeeken makes additions in italics, whereby it is clear at all times what is by the composer and what has been added by the editor. Macmeeken thus achieves the feat of presenting the etude classics from the century before last in an edition that is both scholarly and suitable for everyday use. Six pieces written by Coste for the extended edition of the Sor school are included as a supplement.

It was only two years after Costes' death that José Ferrer y Esteve (1835-1916) also appeared on the scene in Paris, coming from Barcelona. In recent years, small musical gems by him have repeatedly surfaced in various anthologies and collections, the sources of which can mostly be found in the library of the Royal Academy of Music in London (and there in the Robert Spencer Collection). Now, more than a hundred years after Ferrer's death, his Estudios have been published for the first time. Despite their more recent date of origin, they are not much more modern than Coste's etudes: although clearly Romantic, they are still firmly anchored in classical harmony. Some of the pieces are certainly capable of meeting higher standards. Apart from the fingerings, it is also made clear in this edition which indications are original and which have been added by the editor.

The sheet music is impeccable. This makes it all the more incomprehensible that even short pieces, which could easily fit on one page, have to be scrolled through. Also, the often repeated indication "hinge" as an instruction for a flexible partial cross-grip of the left index finger in the middle of Ferrer's musical text seems rather strange. Nevertheless: a very welcome addition to the traditional etude repertoire.

Napoléon Coste: The Guitar Studies, 25 Études de genre op. 38, 6 Studies from the Sor Method, edited by Michael Macmeeken, ECH 1402, € 22.90, Editions Chanterelle im Musikverlag Zimmermann (Schott), Mainz 2017

José Ferrer: 24 Estudios for guitar, edited by Jens Franke and Marta Gonzalez Bordonaba, GA 569, € 17.50, Schott, Mainz 2017

Two exceptional musicians from Bern have created a treasure with their interpretation of 35 songs from a period of over 100 years: a production that is exceptionally successful in terms of both program design and interpretative quality. Both soprano Katrin Frauchiger and pianist Katharina Weber are not only excellent interpreters, but also skilled composers, and it goes without saying that they also document their own work, combined with two song cycles by their composer colleague Jürg Wyttenbach and selected songs by Alban Berg and Hanns Eisler.

Katrin Frauchiger's songs on two texts by Meret Oppenheim ("Muse of the Surrealists"), Up there in that garden and In the beginning is the endintroduced by a prologue for solo piano, are of expressive beauty, both in the vocal part and in the free-tonal piano writing.

Despite their stylistic similarities, Katharina Weber's songs speak a completely different language Intermediate country on poems by Martin Merz: concise, expressive formulations, partly derived from the recitation of the texts by the poet himself, which the composer had access to on a recording.

The two song cycles by Jürg Wyttenbach - written for Frauchiger and Weber in 2014 - are also stylistically close to the work of the two composers. In the 8 Duettini based on haiku poems by the Japanese Issa (1763-1827) and Kurt Marti (1921-2017), Wyttenbach expands the tonal possibilities: The pianist sings along with certain passages in the duet and sometimes has to bow a string on the grand piano. In contrast, the cycle is characterized by strict simplicity Three short prayers to the Japanese goddess of mercy Kannon Bosatsu. Wyttenbach said: "I had never written anything that simple. I just wanted to get away from chromaticism and always had these Japanese sounds in my ear while composing."

I find the combination with eight songs from the Hollywood Songbook (1942/43) by Hanns Eisler and the Seven early songs (1905-1908) by Alban Berg. This is where the past comes into play, which is essential for Wyttenbach as well as for Frauchiger and Weber. The present reflects the past. Another plus point of this CD is the booklet with the excellent text by Doris Lanz.

According to its press release, the initiative committee welcomes the fact that the government council has confirmed the need for statutory regulation of music lessons. It also acknowledges the fact that the government explicitly states that music lessons should be placed on a binding legal basis.
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However, the initiative committee is surprised "by the non-binding nature of the legal stipulations and the low cost sharing" proposed by the government. The substantial educational and cultural contribution of music schools is "in no way adequately co-financed" by the canton. The costs are borne solely by the municipalities and the parents.

The committee also criticizes the fact that the government apparently does not intend to make basic musical education and the promotion of gifted children mandatory, even though there are no alternatives to these two established programs.

According to the jury, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra is an important part of Lucerne's cultural life. It enjoys great popularity among the local population and is therefore partly responsible for the high quality of life in the region.

According to the press release, the orchestra's function as an ambassador for Lucerne abroad was just as decisive in the awarding of the prize. The artistic director was praised by the jury "as a tireless innovator whose vision has made the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra a great figurehead of Lucerne's musical life".