What remains?

What memories do you have of classical concert or opera performances? A passionate music lover has systematically recorded his listening experiences in a database.

Rudolf P. Baumann (translation: AI) - 01. Sep 2016

What memories do you have of classical concert or opera performances? A passionate music lover has systematically recorded his listening experiences in a database.

Musical performances are transient events; often only fragmentary, mostly visual phenomena are stored in the listener's mind, e.g. a particularly gestural conductor or an unusual orchestral arrangement. It is difficult to memorize acoustic events, it gets better with practice, but the impression remains fleeting. The desire to immortalize the listening experience of the performances I have experienced by means of a note, even if it is not very meaningful, has prompted me to enter the time, place and performers in the score for every performance of a piece of classical music that I have been able to experience. In addition to this raw data, you will also find detailed information in my scores, e.g. about repetitions, abbreviations (which rarely occur today), dynamic, agogic and metrical features. I have also entered the timing of the individual movements, which is ultimately the only "hard" criterion that objectively characterizes a performance. Over time, a large mountain of data has accumulated, which I wanted to make tangible and analyzable using modern computer technology. After several fruitless attempts, I succeeded in creating a database with extremely flexible query options through complex programming¹ as a file/server solution for Windows 7 and Microsoft Access 2010. About the website almamusica.org the data can be accessed.

What is stored?
First of all, the collection mechanism requires comment. It is evident that the documented performances are based on a personally determined selection, because they were always followed by only one person. Absence, workload, lack of time for family and professional reasons, and not least certain personal preferences for composers or genres of work have largely influenced the documentation process. The earliest entries date from 1953/54; to date, the number of annual performances has varied widely (e.g. 43 entries in 1977 compared to 525 in 1954). As some works are still not included in the database (especially chamber music), there are additional gaps in the documentation. An initial overview² shows the main parameters and their number:

A documented performance therefore contains at least the following parameters: Date (often cannot be determined for records/CD/radio recordings); Type of performance (live, from CD, radio broadcast); Place (country/nation); Interpreters (broken down by function and with details of any characterized roles in opera and oratorio).

Results
The first table provides information on the Type of listening experience:

The relatively low proportion of live events and CD or LP experiences is striking. In contrast, there is a massive preponderance of radio productions (both directly and at a later date).

The following tables show only the most common occurring events, as the "least frequent" indications are hardly meaningful.

What is striking is the absolute and relatively high frequency of opera performances, especially of Richard Wagner, which can be explained by attending renowned theaters (regularly in Bayreuth from 1985-2015, Vienna, Zurich). The most frequently heard operas are:³

Across the genre boundaries, the most frequently heard were

The frequency of Works of the 20th century:

One interesting chapter analyzes the geographical distribution of the performances: Based on an overall mean, this is how the deviations (more frequent/less frequent) appear, most interestingly for composers: not unexpectedly, for the Viennese Classicism (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) there are no significant geographical differences (with the exception of a marked increase in popularity for Haydn in England). For Bruckner we find a clear preponderance in Austria, Germany and low numbers in the USA, England and France, Brahms is represented in all countries according to the average with the exception of a significant accumulation in Switzerland. The compilation of the results for composers of the 20th century (classical modernism) shows few deviations for Schönberg, for example, apart from an astonishing accumulation in France, and a lead for Messiaen in England and a clear lead in France. The "Hindemith case" is noteworthy, with some large gaps in England and the USA, compensated for by a massive accumulation in Germany and, somewhat less pronounced, in Switzerland.

Conclusion
The results are probably reasonably representative for an "average classical music lover" with a preference for opera. Unfortunately, in the literature known to me since the discontinuation of the Concert almanacsThe Heel-Verlag (Königswinter), which provided a complete overview of classical music programs in the German-speaking world every year from 1981-2002, no longer offers a comprehensive presentation of concert and/or opera performances.(4) Thanks to the elaborate programming, our database is versatile and contains information that may give cause for thought or wonder.

Notes

¹ I would like to thank Mr. René Panzeri of CreLog GmbH, Dietikon, for the careful preparation of the project and for his unwavering support of my project.

² All figures refer to the date July 1, 2016.

In a new work, performance statistics, directorial aesthetics and audience behavior are dealt with on the basis of current opera productions worldwide, with a focus on Germany. Sven Friedrich: The phantasmagorical work of art - tendencies and perspectives in opera direction, in: Wagner spectrum 12, I 2016, PP. 161-197.

4 Under http://www.univie.ac.at/nsw/sachgruppen/780.html is an overview of all kinds of reference works on (not only) classical music. There are over 280 entries, mainly catalogs, encyclopedias, catalogs and handbooks.

Author
Rudolf P. Baumann, who grew up in a musical family, became acquainted with the world of classical music at an early age thanks to piano lessons and regular concert visits. His lessons with Armin Schibler, music teacher at the Literargymnasium Zurich, were formative. Even as a pupil, he began to document the performances he attended. As Dr. med. he headed the Institute for Pathological Anatomy in Neuchâtel from 1969 to 2001.

www.almamusica.org

New rehearsal room for the Basel orchestras

The Basel-Stadt cantonal government approves the purchase contract for a church building on Picassoplatz. It is to be converted into a rehearsal room for the Basel orchestra and other potential users from the music sector and will be ready for occupation in spring 2017.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

Sculpture on Picasso Square. Photo: Basmus/wiki commons

Erste Kirche Christi, Wissenschafter, Basel, approached the canton in search of a permanent reuse for the church building. The listed building by architect Otto Rudolf Salvisberg at Picassoplatz 2 in Basel dates from 1935/36 and is considered an exemplary modernist building.

A feasibility study commissioned by Immobilien Basel-Stadt has shown that the building can be converted into a good rehearsal room. The measures required for this have been agreed with the monument preservation authorities, according to the canton's press release. The purchase is part of the financial assets. The purchase price for the property is CHF 5.86 million plus VAT.

The existing rehearsal facilities currently pose major challenges for Basel orchestras: There are only a few suitable venues that are the right size and meet the required acoustic conditions. The renovation of the Stadtcasino from 2017 will also mean that the music hall will no longer be used for rehearsals for a number of years.

The Basel Symphony Orchestra (SOB) will take over the operation of the rehearsal room. As an "already existing and well-connected institution", potential user interests are thus optimally represented due to the close proximity to the orchestra and choir scene in the city of Basel in terms of content and structure, the canton writes further.

Personal music history

In his autobiographical essay, Frido Mann focuses on music.

Jakob Knaus (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

Frido Mann at the Lepzig Book Fair 2013, photo: © Das blaue Sofa / Club Bertelsmann

If this book had made you aware of the slow movement of Schubert's second-last piano sonata (page 121) - that alone would have made it worth your while to read it! You can be 75 years old and encounter this movement for the first time as a non-piano-playing music lover: a stunning experience!

But this little book offers even more surprising insights, references to lesser-known events in the history of music or to works which, in turn, have been recorded as remarkable from the author's sometimes chance encounters. For example, the very personal comments on music as a shared experience with the little opera Brundibar by Hans Krása - performed dozens of times in the transit camp Theresienstadt (now Terezín), always with a changing cast, when "many of the young performers were deported to the extermination camps". The extremely brief characterization distinguishing Debussy from Ravel is also astonishing.

However, the book can also be read as an overview of music history from Gesualdo to Ligeti and Henze, which was not written for a specialist audience, but for a group of readers interested in music who are happy to accept subjective judgments. Technical terms of New Music, such as "aleatoric" or "serial music", are explained in a professional yet comprehensible manner.

The fact that, as the grandson of Thomas Mann, he is based on his great musical novel Doctor Faustus and dedicates an entire chapter to him for several reasons: His father Michael, the youngest child of the Mann family, had also contributed to the preparatory work (page 36); furthermore, the grandfather thematizes in his novel an existential idea for the grandson, namely that the reduction of the religious in music has encouraged modern hopelessness: "The harmonious cosmic reference to God in the Baroque period has been replaced by a focus on the world of individual human feeling" (page 249). In the few references to his father, a more concise but fairer picture of Michael's musical career emerges than in the latest publication on the Mann family by Thilmann Lahme.

Frido Mann's advice in the last part of the book on how contemporary music could be brought closer to the interested public again can be met with a certain skepticism, but such considerations are certainly not unnecessary.

Frido Mann, To the music. An autobiographical essay. Fischer TB 03376, 332 pages, € 10.99, Fischer, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-596-03376-8

"Viva Cuba"

The latest edition of "Melodie & Rhythmus" offers impressions of the changing Cuban music culture.

Michael Gasser (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the invasion of Cuba. However, the military intervention by Cuban exiles organized by the USA failed. As a result, the United States imposed a trade embargo on the island nation a year later, which was only gradually relaxed during Barack Obama's term of office. The political and economic thaw also had an impact on culture. The editors of the German music and culture magazine Melody & Rhythm traveled there to get his own impression. The result is an edition with the title Viva Cuba!.

Over fifty pages, the reader not only learns that Cuban music is based on five stylistic pillars (son, rumba, canción cubana, danzón and punton), but also how the country's approximately 11,000 professional musicians maintain their artistic diversity and why the frontman of the metal band Tendencia, José Ernesto Medero "Kiko" Valdéz, decided not to leave his homeland - despite the temptations of the US market. The interview with Darsi Fernández Maceira, a specialist lawyer in the Cuban cultural sector, and the meeting with publicist Enrique Ubieta are particularly revealing. While Maceira talks about Cuban copyright law, which aims to ensure the widest possible access to culture and information, and also explains why concerts by a great pianist like Roberto Fonseca are poorly attended in Havana ("We haven't learned how to get the audience's attention"), Ubieta reflects on the various cultural models. The 57-year-old is convinced that the USA will continue to strive to reverse Cuba's revolution: "And culture will be the main area of conflict."

Viva Cuba! allows the reader to immerse themselves in the world of Cuban music and also presents multifaceted retrospectives and outlooks. The only minor criticism is that while long-serving luminaries such as 85-year-old Omara Portuondo are dealt with in great detail, the stars of tomorrow have to make do with a few subordinate clauses. To make the country and its music tangible, the issue comes with a CD containing 17 tracks. It features guitarist Vicente Feliú, multi-instrumentalist Yusa and the formation Mezcla - which, according to Carlos Santana, sounds like "fresh water". Although there are hardly any newcomers to be heard on the sampler either, it is fair to say that there are some newcomers: The musical overview is not only extremely varied, but also cleverly put together.

Melodie & Rhythmus, Viva Cuba, July/August 2016 issue, Verlag 8. Mai, Berlin www.melodieundrhythmus.com

Dances for violin & co.

Klezmer music and classical tangos invite you to play duets with different partners.

Walter Amadeus Ammann (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

With as much spontaneous pleasure as Klezmer Fiddle Tunes I have hardly played through a booklet yet: heartfelt melodies and lively dances - 11 as solos, 22 as violin duets - with clearly marked slurs and other ornaments, logical bowings, fingerings (up to 4th position) and harmonic indications. An essay in English knowledgeably explains the history, culture, different styles and performance practice of Yiddish music. It is accompanied by a masterfully played CD with different accompaniments depending on the character: piano, accordion, pizzicato cello. Double bass and piano accompaniment can be printed out from the CD and a weblink points to mp3 playalong tracks and German and French translations of the introduction!

The Argentinian tango specialist Diego Collatti has arranged five melodies by the famous Carlos Gardell for violin and cello of medium difficulty: real duetting with all the exciting rhythm variations of the tango! In addition to the score, a viola part is also available with many interesting deviations from the cello part. Collatti has also arranged this music for other instrumentations for the Universal Edition.

Klezmer Fiddle Tunes, 33 pieces for violin (optional piano, violin and double bass accompanying parts), edited by Ros Stephen and Julian Rowlands, ED 13492, with CD, € 16.99, Schott, London 2014

Carlos Gardel, Tango duet for violin and violoncello (viola) arr. by Diego Collatti, UE 36 656, € 14.95, Universal Edition, Vienna 2015

Tango and counterpoints

On their first album "Puerta Sur", Marcela Arroyo, Andreas Engler and Daniel Schläppi devoted themselves entirely to tango. Now, seven years later, the trio is opening up its music and finding even greater expressiveness.

Michael Gasser (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

Marcela Arroyo, Andreas Engler and Daniel Schläppi. Photo: zvg

After her album New Tango Songbook from 2014, Marcela Arroyo returns to her collaboration with violinist Andreas Engler and double bassist Daniel Schläppi, which had already come to fruition in 2009 with the joint CD Puerta Sur was reflected in the album. While this work provided delightful insights into Argentinian soundscapes, its successor Tres Mil Uno as stylistically broader; he dedicates himself not only to songs from Arroyo's homeland, but also to compositions of European provenance - such as the Tucholsky poem You, to him, which was originally created by Kolsimcha founder Michael Heitzler for Xavier Koller's literary adaptation Gripsholm (2000) was set to music.

In the arrangement by Arroyo, Engler and Schläppi, the piece exudes more than just a touch of melancholy and brings the world of the 1930s back to life in passing. Sometimes the violin is plucked, sometimes bowed with great tenderness, but the instrument always ensnares the singer's voice, which expresses humor as well as hope and despair of love. The three musicians are only too happy to explore other genres, but never lose sight of the tango. Preludio para el año 3001 from the pen of Horacio Ferrer (lyrics) and Astor Piazzolla (music) - whose oeuvre Arroyo raves about - is particularly appealing due to its graceful colors. Oblivion through the clash of smoky vocals and the melancholy sounds of double bass and violin.

The 15 songs are full of passion. However, the trio knows how to tame this passion when necessary, and although it never hides its flair for tango music, it repeatedly uses counterpoints from fado, klezmer or blues. Despite its stylistic diversity, the record never seems overloaded, on the contrary: the numbers are as purified as they are delicate. Arroyo, Engler and Schläppi use this to create charming and agile interplay, clever improvisations and show great expressiveness.

Marcela Arroyo (voc), Andreas Engler (vl), Daniel Schläppi (kb): Tres Mil Uno. CATWALK / CW 160016-2, www.marcela-arroyo.com

The sound of bells in St. Gallen

All 118 church bells of St. Gallen in one big event: "Zusammenklang" was the order of the day, musically, but probably also politically and denominationally.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - Aug 31, 2016

Karl Schimke and Natalija Marchenkova Frei. Photo: Urs Bucher,Photo: Klaus Stalder

The easiest and most impressive way would probably have been to let all 118 bells of this elongated sausage (as one St. Gallen resident called his town) swing and ring at once. That would have filled the air, but might have been a little too uniform in the long run. And so on August 21, at the big Harmony She did not stop there, but began to design and compose this vast ensemble of bells. Moscow-born music teacher and composer Natalija Marchenkova Frei missed harmony when she first heard the imposing bells ringing over the city fifteen years ago. It was then that she came up with the idea of combining these bells as if they were part of an orchestra - and thus creating a harmonious melody.

A year and a half ago, she finally began knocking on the door of the authorities to see if something like this was even possible. At around the same time, tuba player Karl Schimke, who comes from the USA and works for the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, independently set about realizing his own bell visions. The two found out about each other by chance, met up and set off together. The first step was to convince the political and church leaders. The two found open doors everywhere. All the churches in unison - what a wonderful idea for a community! Marchenkova Frei is also thinking of ecumenism. However, because the event was not defined exclusively in religious terms, it was not held as a church festival. Now, on Sunday afternoon, it served as a contemplative finale to the St. Gallen town festival.

The biggest obstacle was the technology. Firstly, the bells are normally all operated automatically; a bell ringer no longer hangs from any of them to swing them open with a rope. This automatic system had to be overridden first. On some of them, the drop hammer, which would otherwise be triggered automatically, could be operated by rope. However, this was not so easy with around fifty bells. In order to strike the bell as precisely as possible, the clappers, some of which were heavy, were pulled up very close to the edge of the bell so that a light pull on a rope was enough to strike it. The bell ringer knew exactly when and where to pull via a specially developed cell phone app.

All the bells of a city in unison. Of course, this is not an absolute novelty. Church bells ring together on national holidays and at the turn of the year, for example. A large peal was organized for Winterthur's city celebrations. And Tallinn celebrated the end of its year as European Capital of Culture with a Singing of the tower bells (Tornikellade laul), composed by Estonian Margo Kõlar for 47 bells. These are sound events that remain in the memory.

In the case of St. Gallen, however, the realization was particularly "tricky" due to the aforementioned bratwurst location. The distance between the outermost churches is sixteen kilometers. It takes a good twenty seconds before the bells of St. Gallen Winkeln can be heard in the city. And everything had to be clearly audible from an "ideal" point on the meadow below the Buebenweiher pond - a tricky task. First of all, it had to be calculated when the bell sounds would arrive there, taking into account the weather and wind conditions. Bernd Jansen from the IT company Namics, together with Kirchenturmtechnik Muff, developed the technology to control these sounds as precisely as possible: so that two bell tones that were not triggered at the same time would arrive at that listening point at the same time - because it was also about composition.

The first part was an introduction designed by Schimke, which opened up the listening space in a suggestive way. This was followed by Marchenkova Frei's composition after three quarters of an hour, which was reminiscent of everyday life: a piece lasting just under fifteen minutes, based on a very reduced sound material that was developed in 21 variations. The basic notes g-b were provided by the main churches: the cathedral and St. Laurenzenkirche. Finally, a low e spoke the Amen over the composition.

The sound fields unfolded wonderfully over the city at times, although sometimes the balance was not achieved. From the west, a wide space resounded with staggered bell sounds; almost directly in front of the meadow, the bright and somewhat intrusive sound of the Linsebühlkirche dominated, so that all the churches behind it were drowned out. This somewhat obscured the flow of the composition. Further experience would probably be needed to make the piece more comprehensible to the audience. Because many had come and attended the ringing. Luckily, all the bells then resonated together beautifully. - Of course, that can only mean one thing: A continuation would therefore be in order to deepen the experience and explore the sound above the city more intensively. The St. Gallen ringing should become a tradition.

www.zusammenklang.com

: Photo: Klaus Stalder; Natalija Marchenkova Frei and Karl Schimke

Canton resists Salle Modulable

The planned Salle Modulable in Lucerne is facing opposition from cantonal politicians. The Education, Training and Culture Committee (EBKK) of the Lucerne Cantonal Council is opposed to a special project loan. It believes that the dimensions of the Salle Modulable are too large, both spatially and financially, and that the operating costs are too high.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 30. Aug 2016

According to the canton's press release, the EBKK has proposed rejecting a special loan of CHF 6.979 million for the New Lucerne Theater / Salle Modulable by a large majority. By a narrow majority, it had previously spoken out against requests to postpone/suspend the consultation in the committee and in the cantonal council in order to await the municipal vote on the building rights contract for the Inseli site on November 27, 2016 and the results of two initiatives.

The EBKK considers the Salle Modulable to be too large in terms of space and funding. It doubts that it can meet the needs and possibilities of a producing theater. Moreover, the project requirements and the tight schedule have already been clearly defined by the Trust and are not open to further negotiation. This makes a comprehensive process of inclusion difficult and is unsatisfactory in terms of democratic policy.

Furthermore, the canton lacks a positive financial policy perspective for a project of this dimension. The expected additional costs are not compatible with the savings decisions that have recently been made and are still pending. The SFBC considers a significant reduction in additional operating costs to be unrealistic.

Criticism or quota

Fritz Trümpi and Simon Obert have published a volume on the subject of "Music Criticism".

Torsten Möller (translation: AI) - 30. Aug 2016

Here the time pressure, there the work, finally the editors, who sometimes have a say when it comes to publication: music criticism seems to be a game of vabanque. This is made more difficult by the current constraints that music editor Christian Berzins pointedly expresses in his comment: "If a review is not written in a popular way - i.e. in a way that everyone can understand - it has no place in the future daily newspaper" (p. 173/174).

Who "all" are or what "comprehensible" means remains an open question. It must remain open in an anthology that cannot do everything, but can broaden the view of a complex phenomenon that has changed considerably since the beginnings of music criticism in the late 18th century. The volume, edited by musicologists Fritz Trümpi and Simon Obert, looks back, but also to the present day. In her essay in English, Katherine Baber reports on the reception of Leonard Bernstein in America and Austria (p. 33 f.). She shows that Music criticism does not only reflect works or interpretations. It is also always a reflection of various themes that go far beyond the artistic. The Cold War, anti-Semitism and the construction of national identities also played a major role in the reception of Bernstein, whose popularity increased as a result of the fact that he could be staged as something like a second Gustav Mahler in the 1960s.

The diversity of the volume is impressive. Pop criticism is included, as are thoughts on journalistic practice and journalistic approaches to new music. Unfortunately, Cornelia Bartsch's interpretative reflections on music criticism and gender seem forced. The topic is "a desideratum" (p. 59) because women - analogous to their role in the 19th century - simply had no place in criticism. Since female critics do not appear, Bartsch tries to come up with adventurous theses. She blithely mixes gender-specific evaluations of music in the sense of female versus male with those phenomena that the marketing industry and the unspeakable quota thinking bring into "criticism": "evaluation" of music according to pure outward appearances such as the stardom or sex appeal of respective performers or interpreters.

Not only are traces of the past and present visible, but also the perspectives of music critics. The days of the "great critic" seem to be numbered - the species that follows the concert reading and later gets angry about the inadequate design of the Eroica-Reprise. That doesn't have to be a bad thing, Berzins rightly observes. But what does give food for thought is the flattening, indeed the disappearance of content. It would be nice if criticism could take a stand against this - in what form is ultimately also a question of the level of musical education. Incidentally, colleagues have replaced "score" with "musical notation" in the editorial department. That's the last straw.

Music Criticism. Historische Zugänge und systematische Perspektiven, edited by Fritz Trümpi and Simon Obert, (=Anklänge, Wiener Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft 2015), 204 p., € 33.00, Mille Tre Verlag, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-900198-42-8

A network of references

Thüring Bräm is the spiritus rector of the Valendas Music Days, which he directed for the last time this year. They impressed with their musical diversity, in-depth programming and charming, often little-known venues.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 30. Aug 2016

Ogna, sculpture by Mathias Spescha. Photo: Adrian Michel/Wikimedia Commons

The Music Days in Valendas, Graubünden, took place for the tenth time from July 5 to 10. The festival, with the Altaun Chamber Choir under the direction of Thüring Bräm as a permanent fixture, this time also served as the annual event of the ars braemia association, which is dedicated to promoting Bräm's compositional work, among other things. The resulting synergies led to the expectation of a rich program, and indeed the stylistic, instrumental and not least spatial range of what was on offer was impressive. The festival motto "Er-Innerung" refers to a network of references that can be understood historically, spatially, stylistically and in part also as a reference to the history of the festival itself. Special emphasis was also placed on encounters with Walser and Romansh culture.

"Dark and light" was the motto of the first concert in Versam church on July 5. Late romantic, internalized music in the first half of the concert (Puccini, Elegy for string quartet, Pfitzner, four songs op. 33, Schoeck, three songs from op. 36) were contrasted in the second half with works of a more popular expressive style: Brahms' Four quartets op. 92 for mixed choir and piano, four songs from Elgar's Songs from the Bavarian Highlands and Bräm's 5th String Quartet Postcards from Switzerlandwhich was composed for the Lucerne Chamber Soloists in 2007 and uses well-known Swiss songs. The performers were Lia Andres, soprano, Peter Mächler, bass-baritone, the string quartet of the Lucerne Chamber Soloists, Thüring Bräm, piano, the Altaun Chamber Choir and Karel Valter, conductor.

The traditional "Brunnenkonzert" concert in Valendas brought together professionals and amateurs, locals and guests. The Altaun chamber choir was also open to newcomers that evening and performed songs in Swiss German, Romansh and English under the direction of Thüring Bräm.

"Back to the future" was the title of the third concert at the Museum Ilanz (which has probably only seemed a little paradoxical since the film of the same name), with the Ariadne myth as its point of reference. Ariadne for transverse flute and harp by composer Thomas Leininger (commissioned by ars braemia), born in 1981, draws on material from a prologue and epilogue to Georg Benda's melodrama Ariadne on Naxos and provides the performers (Karel Valter, traverso, Julia Wacker, harp) with a framework which is to be worked on in the spirit of 18th century musical practice. The Crown of Ariadne is a suite that takes up six images from the myth. The sound of the harp is expanded in Murray Schafer's composition from 1979 to include small percussion instruments and electronics from the band (Julia Wacker, harp).

The fourth concert "Spazi - Räume" opened up completely different sound spaces in the impressive Sumvitg Chapel (Capluta Sogn Benedetg) designed by Peter Zumthor. Haydn's String Quartet in F minor op. 20/5 formed a kind of bracket around the program, with the first and second movements played at the beginning, while the Adagio and the final fugue formed the end of the concert. The programmatic space in between was enlivened by Bräm's haunting Interior for violoncello solo from the 1st String Quartet of 1991 (Jürg Eichenberger, violoncello) and his newly composed 6th String Quartet Spaziwhich musically interprets the church space and two other spaces in the region and thus seeks to transfer an older world into a new one. The string quartet of the Lucerne Soloists acted as a convincing mediator here, while the Altaun Chamber Choir under the direction of Bräm gave a touching rendition of three chants from the Prophetiae Sibyllarum by Orlando di Lasso - songs that proclaim redemption and thus open up another spiritual "space".

The fifth concert, entitled "Walser Evening", took place in Tschiertschen church. The Walser poet Anna Maria Bacher, who lives in Pomatt near Domodossola, recited her own texts in Pomatt German and Italian. They combine introspection, observation of nature and spiritual experience to create poetry of extraordinary intensity. Some of Bräm's settings of Bacher's texts were presented by the Altaun Chamber Choir under the direction of the composer (as a world premiere Gibätt with Jürg Eichenberger, violoncello, and 3 songs from Bräm's Piccoli Madrigali). In these settings, the straightforward language of the texts finds a counterpart in tonal transparency and a mediating musical language that is not aimed at complexity. A special feature of Tschiertschen church is its historic organ, one of the last two playable house organs built by Heinrich Ammann in 1820. Hanspeter Aeschlimann played marches and dances from a collection from 1796, as they would have been played on this instrument at the time, and, as a profound counterpart, so to speak, four of Brahms' late chorale preludes (op. post. 122), whereby Aeschlimann's masterful rendition was a highlight of the evening. This spiritual music was complemented by three songs from Brahms' op. 22, Marian hymns by the young Protestant composer.

The last program (with pre-concert) juxtaposed "new and old", initially spatially; the pre-concert took place at the sculpture OGNA by Matias Spescha (1925-2008), the actual concert then in the hamlet of Acladira in the 17th century church Nossadunna della Glisch. While the previous concert was dedicated to the Walser sphere, this one was dedicated to Romanesque culture, represented by choral works by the two Surselva composers Carli Scherrer and Gion Balzer Casanova (both born in 1938), in which the traditional musical and religious tradition lives on (Kammerchor Altaun). In deliberate programmatic and stylistic contrast to this were Bräm's Ogna for four horns (horn quartet Jakob Hefti) and Mountain call for solo horn (Martin Roos), while the folk songs performed by the horn quartet mirrored the vocal movements in the instrumental. Works by Liszt, Derungs and Bruckner rounded off the program.

Overall, the Valendas Music Days offered a musical and spatial diversity and depth of programming that is second to none. Last but not least, it also provided a welcome opportunity to experience a selection of Bräm's oeuvre in concert. For Thüring Bräm, this year's edition also meant a farewell: at the end of the festival, he handed over the musical direction to conductor and flautist Karel Valter, who is very familiar with the Musiktage. It will be interesting to see how the festival develops in the future.

The next Valendas Music Days are scheduled for July 4-9, 2017. Information will be available from this fall at

www.valendasimpuls.ch

The writer attended the concerts on July 8 and 9.

Emotionally programming singing voices

Brett Manning's method is well-known among pop singers. The opera and concert singer Christian Büchel explains how he acquired it and makes the case for a holistic singing technique that eliminates the differences between pop and classical music.

Christian Büchel (translation: AI) - 30. Aug 2016

Christian Büchel with his diploma, Brett Manning to his left. Photo: zVg

After 15 years of teaching at the Kantonsschule am Burggraben in St. Gallen, I was granted a six-month sabbatical. It enabled me to learn the world's most successful systematic pop vocal system in Nashville and to work as a licensed vocal coach.

Brett Manning is the inventor of the Singing Success system. His outstanding position is explained by the fact that, as Edison so aptly put it, he "stands on the shoulders of the giants of the past". He draws on the Italian classical bel canto singing technique of Luciano Pavarotti, the speech-level singing technique of Seth Riggs and many other researches and experiences.

Singing Succes compared to other techniques

Classical bel canto voice formation works with a low larynx position and a large dome resonance as well as a support, which combined with the singer's formant (increased overtone range at 3500 Hz) leads to a very sustainable, expressive, balanced and break-free voice that can even drown out an orchestra "sounding beautiful". Interestingly, it is based on William Tellon the role of Arnold in Rossini's opera. Gilbert Duprez sang the "Do di petto", the high c2 (C5), in full "tenore di forza" chest voice for the first time in 1837. He was the first master of the mixed voice, even if he didn't call it that. He initially studied in the "old" school of nasal, lighter French opera, before moving on to Italy, where he implemented the southern power and body-emphasized voice and bel canto. This led to the greatest vocal revolution in the history of singing. Tragically, the head voices such as Adolphe Nourrit of the old French (partly baroque, castrato-oriented) school of singing were suddenly out of work. Rossini himself winkingly and ironically called the sound the "death cry of a capon" (castrated cock). To this day, this technique is the measure of all things, taught at all opera schools and masterfully mastered by Luciano Pavarotti, who is a very important source for the singing-success technique.

In Germany, the bel canto technique was further developed by lowering the larynx position and increasing the resonance and breath support. This resulted in very dark, dramatic, heavy, loud, metallic voices that were able to withstand the extreme volume of the orchestra in Richard Wagner's late romantic music dramas.

The bel canto technique found a different path in French Impressionism. The larynx was set a little higher, the voice became lighter and more agile, more ornately "perfumed" and the resonance shifted mainly towards nasality. The French language has many nasal sounds, which were also used extensively by popular singers such as Edith Piaf.

Speech-level singing by Seth Riggs (a teacher of Brett Manning) is one of the best-known modern pop vocal techniques. It pays less attention to the edges of the vocal folds and activates the mixed voice primarily through the pharyngeal resonator (palatal resonance sound).

Musical voice training (e.g. Natalie Weiss or Jo(sephine) Estill) uses the so-called belting technique, which sometimes uses too high a chest voice function and usually a high larynx position.

Ken Tamplin's Open Throat Technique is mainly based on the very open, internally broad singing style of a single coach without a systematic approach and is therefore very one-sided.

According to Catherine Sadolin from Copenhagen, the Complete Vocal Technique is based on scientific research and comprises (according to Wikipedia): three basic principles (support, twang, and avoiding lips or jaw tension), four modes (neutral, cranking, overdrive and edge), timbres (light and dark) and effects (distortion, vibrato, screams, embellishments, etc.). In my experience, it is aimed more at advanced singers who are looking for a new perspective for their vocal training.
As interesting as these aspects may seem, the voice is more fascinating because of its emotional programming and less because of its cognitive scientific nature. I would even say that the voice can actually only be addressed and programmed emotionally.

The functional voice training of Cornelius Reid (with whom I took lessons in a master class in Munich) also emphasizes the muscular, scientific approach. The question of which muscle or muscle group is responsible for which vocal function is interesting, but fails to recognize that the voice usually has to be activated emotionally in order to touch the audience emotionally.

The Alexander Technique, developed by Shakespearean actor Frederick Alexander, was initially aimed at the speaking voice and works mainly with physical exercises to avoid incorrect tension and unfavorable habits. It is often used in addition to a singing technique (e.g. also at the Munich Academy of Music).

The technique of the Singing Success System

For me, the most comprehensive, systematic and effective singing technique, the Singing Success System, uses some of the above-mentioned techniques, adds many new principles, combines them, organizes them and leads to vocal success as quickly as possible. Through systematic exercises, the voice almost reaches the range of a piano keyboard. Brett Manning demonstrates an incredible vocal range of six octaves on YouTube and live in the studio every day. No coach of the above-mentioned techniques can achieve this. Manning is the first male voice to master the snare register in the low register and the whistle register in the high register to such an extent that he can reach notes an octave higher than the famous high C of the highest female voice (soprano) and more than an octave lower than the low C of the lowest bass voice.

Here is the quintessence in a nutshell:

The four cornerstones in the teaching of Singing-Success are

1. LOVE
... and genuine interest are the most important basis

2. SELF-CONFIDENCE
... we develop through support and expertise

3. VOCAL TECHNIQUE
... activates vocal skills

4. LISTEN
... means paying attention to all aspects of personality

The three most important principles of this technique are

1. inform the MIND: understanding for the cerebral type of learner

2 Acclimate the EAR: Hearing the right sound for the auditory learning type

3 Coordinate the VOICE: Coordinating the voice for the experimental learner type

all three in EQUAL ULTIMACY: All three principles should be used in equal completion.

The acronym "T-E-M-P-S" describes the five most important components of singing

Technical (vocal technique)
Emotional (feelings)
Mental (thoughts)
Physiological (body)
Spiritual (Spiritual)

Important principles here are:
"Light and right - not strong and wrong"
"First speak it - then sing it"
"You rather catch it - than you teach it"

The TEMPS components are discussed individually in five lessons as part of the training; the three foundations, three principles and three coach characteristics in six further lessons. At this point, only one special description should be mentioned: It is recommended to connect the two hemispheres of the brain by listening to J. S. Bach's Air and activating the corpus callosum (brain beam). Eye movements to the left and right with closed eyelids support the connecting effect of music with regard to the activities of the emotional-right and rational-left hemispheres of the brain.

However, the most important goal of this singing technique is the so-called mixed voice. The most difficult transition (called a passaggio or bridge) to achieve a wide vocal range is at the upper end of the chest voice:
In a bass voice it is around cl.a, cl.b or cl.b; in tenors and altos it is around e1, f1 or f sharp1 and in sopranos the chest voice usually ends at the concert pitch a1, b1 or b1.
In order to make this transition, the support, i.e. the breath pressure, is usually activated in classical music in order to support the vocal folds in their ability to stretch for higher notes and to strengthen the muscles. In the Singing Success system, there are three new strategies for singing higher:

1. thin out vocal folds, reduce pressure and weight
2. resonance and vocal fold coordination are used with the help of the nasal pharyngeal resonator when switching to the next gear (to the head voice register).
3rd Damping of the vocal folds. At the upper end of the chest voice, the stretching vocal fold muscles are gradually combined with the compressing muscles, resulting in fewer and fewer vocal folds (shortening to approx. 1/3) vibrating as the pitch increases, like a zipper, and thus producing higher notes. This results in the so-called mixed voice, which mixes the head and chest voice. Singing students are advised not to think too much about it, but to "catch" the technique for themselves by imitating the singing exercises.

Lesson structure

At the beginning of the lessons, students are encouraged to always record their learning steps acoustically, e.g. on their cell phone, so that they can repeat them daily at home as a practice guide. There is no other singing technique in the world with so many freely available YouTube videos on every conceivable vocal problem. In addition, over 100 exercises are systematically recorded on 7 technique CDs of the Singing Success 360™ system. This basis is supplemented by 7 style CDs, the CDs Mastering Mix, the videos and recordings of Mastering Harmony and Mastering vibrato. There are also 3 DVDs with the Top 7 Exercises by Dave Brooks, Jessie Nemitz and Brett Manning as well as a huge archive of lessons on Singing Success TV for subscribers. This means that every student can systematically practise the singing principles alongside the singing lessons with CD aids.
Here is a very brief description of the exercises and the typical course of a lesson.

1. welcome

Questions about state of mind, honest, interested small talk, projects

2. warm up

Sums "M" or "NG" 123454321 as a major or minor scale, possibly also "swing-phrased" 1-23-45-43-21. Women: small f or higher; men: large G or higher.
Fluttering lips with sound and holding cheeks up with thumb and index finger
"BBB" 1-3-5-8-5-3 1358531 and with the "Rossini" major scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 (first described in L'art de chanter. According to Heinrich Panofka (1853), Rossini's scale was inspired by Beethoven's Septet in E flat major op. 20) or tongue flutter "RRR" with tone. Beginning tone Women: approx. cl.g Men: approx. gr.G

Note: Deep diaphragmatic abdominal breathing is used. However, breathing exercises are not overemphasized because the vocal exercises should determine the breath and not the breathing exercises the vocal functions. Depending on the pitch of the voice, the exercises for men start with a small c (or lower) and for women with a small f (or slightly higher).
The vocal approach is initially like that of a child: intuitive and emotional. The transition to the head voice is deliberately made easy and playful without fear of the breaks. Shouldn't singing exercises already move us to tears or make us laugh? Absolutely!

3. head voice exercises

"Hui" whooping as if on a swing by glissando (up and down) e.g. imitating a police siren "Ui" or "hu-hu" as a call (53) or 54321 in the head voice.
"U" or "BU" 1-3-5-8-8-8-8-5-3-1 with intermediate breath (sounds a bit like a monkey).
"Oui" 5432-4321-3217-1 or 13-24-35-42-31-29-1
"i" or "u" staccato 1358531
"GUGU" or "Uiuiui" 8888531 or 1358888531 or Rossini Scala 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1
"U" or "UOU" soft swinging trumpet "B", "Gi" or "Go" Rossini scale 1-3-5- 8-10-12- 11-9-7- 5-4-2- 1
Important: relaxed soft digastric muscle (base of tongue) up to the whistling voice
Tone sequence is played chromatically or with 153853-1538~~~~~~531 (= mixed octave)
"B(U)" Kugelfisch staccato 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 astonishing, hold your nose, the air pressure in the mouth tilts the larynx downwards and high, quiet and dense head voice tones are produced. The head voice is developed with all vocal genres up to the whistling voice, which is the first special feature of the Singing Success technique.

4.a) Vocal Fry* (=snoring voice)

"ich bin sooo müde" Imitating a sleepy morning snoring sound on the "M", the vowels "A" or "O" tone sequence: 54321 goes into the extreme low register until the tones are just snoring; rather quiet and relaxed, but with a dense, snoring vocal close.
1. buzzing on "M" in the swing-phrased minor scale 1-23-45-43-21
2. "oh yeah" spoken glissando in the snoring voice
3. "M" 54321 into the vocal fry (snoring voice) snore
4. "O" 12345678-987654321 snoring from vocal fry to chest voice

4.b) Chest voice

The edges of the vocal folds are first coordinated thinly and densely and then expanded with more mass, volume, support and depth. To expand the snoring voice and strengthen the chest voice, the following exercises from Mastering Mix used:
1. "BABA" 123454321 start snoring and slide into the chest voice; men: gr.A, women: kl.f
2. "Uaa", "HA", "Ä" 123454321 Vocal Fry to chest voice; men: gr.G; women: low kl.g
3. "Ä" 13 24 35 42-13 24 35 42 1 this is the widest vowel; women please not too gravelly, men not too chesty; men: gr.G; women: low kl.f
4. "HEY" without pitch but honestly angry: "Hey, that's my bike you're stealing"; glissando up and down
5. "YEAH YEAH YEAH" 54321 with an accent on each Yeah; men: kl.d; women c1 downwards
6. "O" 123454321 (=slim O); men: gr.A; women: low kl.f
7. "YEAH YEAH YEAH" 1358888~~531 first exercise with vibrato; men: gr.G; women: low kl.f

4.c) Edge Voice

To expand the snoring voice, the Mastering Mix-course, the vocal fold edges are trained in the following exercises:
1. "A" 123454321 delicate vocal fry with relaxed chin, less resonance-related, more vibration-related, glissando up towards the head voice eliminates all vocal breaks; men: cl.d; women: cl.a
2. "A" 123454321 in the "Messa di voce" describes a vocal seat and the even swelling and subsiding of the voice in terms of volume. It begins and ends in "mezza voce". This means "with half a voice" and describes a dense, edge-related pianissimo. Please do not "squeeze" too much, but "light and right"; men: small f; women: e1
3. "A" or "Mmm"; "U"; "Meow" staccato! Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1; marginal therapy: clear onset without musculus digastricus (without involvement of the tongue base muscle) Men: gr.F#; Women: kl.f#1
4. "A" 2 legato notes & 1 staccato note Rossini Scala 1-3-5 8-10-12 11-9-7 5-4-2 1 (similar to a waltz feeling); men: gr.G; women: kl.es
5. "UUU UOA" 1358~~~~8~~~~8~~~531 Swelling edges; men: c1 downwards; women: f1 downwards
6.13531 like "GLUGG" Extreme rim voice (like speaking sounds under water or the sound of drinking from a bottle, a puffer fish feeling); please practise rarely and carefully! Men: kl.e; women: kl.h
7. "BA" with accented consonant Rossini Scala 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1; men: gr.F#; women: kl.es

Short recovery break ("How are you feeling right now, which songs/singers do you like?")

5. pharynx sounds*

The "forgotten" resonator (from: The Vocal Truth of the voice scientist E. Herbert Caesari)
The switch point between head and chest resonance is primarily the soft palate. The activity of the so-called uvula and the palatal arches are decisive for the correct, balanced relationship between oral and nasal resonance when singing. Similar to the balanced vocal fold vibration ratio between the head and chest voice, a resonance balance or mix is also created here. The pharyngeal resonance chamber is called pharyngeal resonance in German. The soft palate and the mix sound are trained as follows:

"NG" as in the word "sing" Nose and palate or throat resonance sounds or humming with buzzing and nasal resonance "M" with the Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1
"M-M" 1358531 staccato: like when you mean "no" with your mouth closed.
"M" 1-8-1 octave glissando across the transitions.
The buzzing of the rim voice must work at any pitch or merge into a slightly dense head voice in the high register.
Here you can also find more Mastering Mix-Specializations for the "pharyngeal sound" (= pharyngeal throat sound)
1. "NG" legato 123454321 Men: cl.c, women: cl.a glide through the transitions with the trumpet-like sound
2nd "NG", 2nd time "M" fast legato: Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 at the transitions it can be shaky, the fast tempo trains the muscles; men: gr.F; women: kl.d
3. glide "NG" or "M" interval glissando like a siren (without exact pitch) up into the head voice and down into the vocal fry
4. "ONS" French sound 12345~~~ 4321 first pharyngeal sound with open vowel and vibrato. clear glottal beginning (not with airy "H"); men: gr.A; women: kl.g
5. "O-O-O", "A-A-A" 333-333 3~~~~ 222-222 2~~~~ 111-111 1~~~~ Monkey sound or tennis shoe squeak like a cough; men: very high c#1; women: f2, it feels light on the inside and loud on the outside.
6. "NEY" 1358888531 very fast tempo, no dumpling sound, not throaty; men: kl.c; women: kl.f
7. "NiNi" very fast: Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1; men: gr.C; women: kl.f#
8. "NEH" (= "nea" or "ne") 1358888531 not-too-crying sound, for the first time a balanced beautiful mix sound
9. "MIAU" Glissando up and down, rather wild and reproachful

6. mixed voice*

6. mixed voice*
Head voice with dense edge vibration, more mass and stronger support
a) Light Mix:
"M" 1-8-1 glissando or in "W(u)" or "SCH(i)" with the Rossini scale
"NG" Rossini Scala 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1
First time "GUGU", second time "NUNU" Rossini Skala
"M" the second time loudly with "MAAAA!" Sing the Rossini scale twice, bend your upper body forward
b) Heavy Mix:
"MAM" 8888~~~~~531 or 1358888531 rather loud and very whiny: mix repetition and 1358888~~~~ 531 repetition & long vibrato
"BA" or "GA" 8888531 or Rossini Scala; hold the larynx elegantly low as in Count Dracula
"MIAU" 8888531
"NÄNÄ" or "MÄMÄ" rather ugly with tongue stuck out in the Rossini scale
"MUM" (= MAM) 1358888531 and 1358888~~~~~ 531
There is a "light mix", "balanced mix" and the "heavy mix" 1358888531
Say "Mi-" 1-5-"au" "mi-" 5-1 "au" Glissando 1-55-1 "Yeah-Yeah" or "Ne-y ne-y"
Stabilize mixed voice with hold tones 1358888--531

To summarize, the Mastering Mix CD 5 The basic workout or the most important basic exercises for the development of the mix as the most important common thread for the lessons.
1. "BBB" Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 with "finger grip" on the cheeks to achieve a dark bubbling loose motorboat sound; men: gr.F; women: kl.f
2. "Wee" = "OUI" 8888531; men: high c2; women: high g2 (relax the base of the tongue and the digastric muscle!)
3. "MAM" Rossini Scala 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1; men: gr.H; women: kl.d
4. "GO" = "GOU" 1358888531 hold and release at the same time "Donʼt oversing"; men: kl.c; women: kl.g for high notes lean upper body forward or make throwing motion
5. "BA" very fast with a deep larynx and sleepy; men: gr.F; women: kl.es; Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1
6. "No!" 1358888~~~~531 annoyed like a small child who is very serious. Keep your larynx low and use vibrato; men: kl.c; women: kl.g
7. "NUH" (="Nua") Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1; men: gr.G; women: kl.es
8. "NUNONA" and "NINENÄ" 1358~~8~~8~~~531; men: cl.c; women: cl.g (cf. CD 7 Singing Success). When opening the vowels "U" and "l" with vibrato, only switch very carefully to "A" and "Ä" and make sure that you don't lose the mix and the chest voice suddenly pushes the larynx upwards.
9. warmdown: "MAM" without exact scale tones 2-3 times (with a minute break in between) from very high to very low tones to relax the weight of the previous exercises.

There are three types of "vocal chord connections" (vocal fold contact types), which are helpful in different ways depending on the vocal disposition.
1st edge connection (edge contact): Starting with edge coordination, more muscle tissue is gradually involved. The edge exercises help to re-coordinate and strengthen the vocal fold edge vibrations during the transitions between chest and head voice by first reducing weight, mass and pressure.
2. pharyngeal connection (palate contact): The palatal resonance exercises help the voice to learn the blend between full and edge resonance by mixing head and chest resonance in a balanced way at its center or palate.
3rd Hoot connection (Juchzerkontakt): The low position of the larynx in the Juchzen or covered or "cupo" tone of classical voice training gives the voice space to grow. This increases volume, size and the singer's formant, which amplifies a voice in the most sensitive human hearing range of 3500Hz and thus achieves carrying power across an orchestra.

The "simplest workout" consists of the following exercises:
1st lip flutter BBB Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 or octave arpeggio
2nd chest voice exercise: 123454321 "mam" or "a" at a comfortable depth
3rd head voice exercise: "oui", "gu" chromatic 123454321 or octave arpeggio Beginning at 1st transition: soprano: a1; alto and tenor e1; bass: cl.a
4th Pharyngeal: "Ney" or "nah" Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 or octave arpeggio
5th edge exercise: squeaky "m" staccato octave arpeggio
6th mix exercise: "MUM" (= "MAM") or "bah" 1538888531 or 1538888---531 Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1 or octave arpeggio
7.song with mixed voice application

One of the most important tips for the singing teacher: "Do not overteach... let the student figure it out by himself" ... loosely translated: "Don't help the student too much... let him find it himself".

As a preview to the extensive 7 Style CDs from Singing Success 360 I would like to mention the following exercises as examples: They come from the Style CD No.3 Lesson 2 and are called "Licks, Trills and Runs", which means "Phrases and Ornaments".

1st major pentatonic scale 123 235 356 568- 865 653 532 321; the 4th and 7th notes of a major scale are omitted. Women: cl.g; Men: cl.c#

2nd minor pentatonic scale 134 345 457 578- 875 754 543 431 3171; the 2nd and 6th notes of a minor scale are omitted, resulting in one triplet more than in a major pentatonic scale; women: cl.g, men: cl.c#

3rd harmonic minor scale adaptation of Bach's D minor harpsichord concerto, emphasize 1st note: 5127-1342-35645- 85 64 53 42 31 27-1; women: cl.a; men: cl.a

These phrases are then used freely to improvise over a constant chord progression. e.g. |: B minor G D A 😐

The other 6 CDs of the Mastering Mix Systems are beyond the scope of these explanations and are therefore only mentioned briefly: they are used to deepen the technique and to apply the techniques in songs and have been systematically described by me in English. These documents are of course available on request.

CD 6: The transitions (=Bridges or Passaggio)
CD 7: Mixed voice types (=light, hard, balanced, nasal, denasal, 3 larynx positions)
CD 8: Normalization of the mix (lip fluttering, baby crying, laughing, blowfish, tongue groove)
CD 9: Mix with vowels only (combining all vowels in the entire range)
CD 10: Mix applications in phrases with 5 Masterclass singers
CD 11: Mix applications in 2 songs with vocal-interpretative explanations
CD 12: Morning Warmup & Post-Concert Warmdown Exercises

Short break for the student ("Which song would you like to sing, let's listen to it briefly ...")

7. application

Heavy or light mixed voice in one song:
First speak the text emotionally with vocal fry aspects and then use the consonants as emotionally emphasized stepping stones for the vowels. First seek a relaxed balance with snares and vowels.
Sing the melody with "NÄNÄ" for the hard mix or "MAM" for the light mix.
The above-mentioned improvising "licks", "trills" and "runs" are also often used as embellishments in the desired style. These embellishments and the typical style sound are presented in the 7 style CDs of the Singing Success 360 System systematically practiced and applied in each of the 10 most important modern pop styles with an example song.
To develop a distinctive, slightly breathy rough sound and achieve a distinctive "texture" personality sound, the following exercises are used: voiced consonants such as "W" or "Sch" (="J") or "Z" and all dense vowels with a slightly breathy "H" in between are used with the Rossini exercise.
They also help with voice therapy to help a voice that is too weakly supported with breath, squeezed or over-squeezed to achieve a dense mixed sound. Other therapeutic exercises are: free glissando with vocal fry, "NG" and gentle "edge" exercises (see 4b).

Brett Manning often has to deal with overstressed voices, usually as a result of too many concerts sung with the wrong technique. For many singers, these are existentially threatening situations. In addition to voice therapy exercises, Manning also teaches what is known as "screaming" in hard rock. There is a healthy, distorted way of "screaming": babies are the biggest rock stars ... they "scream" for hours without getting hoarse. "UÄ-UÄ-UÄ"

Key questions in song design: Who? When? What? Why? Where? How?
Putting together several songs for a concert: pay attention to the overall flow and balance between relaxed and energizing songs; develop a clever emotional dramaturgy; wave-like sequence until the climax at the end with a gentle encore.

8. warmdown

As with an athlete, a relaxed "run-out" after training is important to relax the muscles and prevent muscle soreness. The following exercises help with this: "BBB" loose lip fluttering in depth to "sing out" 54321 or "Ououou" 54321 or gentle Rossini scale 1-3-5-8-10-12-11-9-7-5-4-2-1

Homework: Certain exercises on the CDs are recommended as revision tasks or simply to repeat the lesson recording.

Impulses from the classroom

Nashville is the capital of country music. It is also nicknamed "Music City USA": all the major international pop music labels have their studios in the so-called "Music Row" (16th Avenue), where Brett Manning also has his singing school. The best studio musicians and studio singers in the world live in Nashville. In contrast to the big city of New York or the film city of Los Angeles, the American Southern dialect is very pronounced in Tennessee and has always been represented purely linguistically in the so-called mixed voice. Typical elements of this dialect are high-pitched sobbing, but also a deep male snoring voice and strong resonances in the palate (cheek, forehead and nose resonance "mask"). In addition, the following terms can be found to characterize the style: Honesty, openness, religiosity, ("Bible Belt" and Southern Gospel), traditional, rural, uncomplicated and hospitable. The vowel "A" is often added to a word: Word example: "Watch my hand" ("häAnd") or "ÄmbiuläAns" for "Ambulance" this is the so-called "Southern Drawl" (Southern accent).

The Singing Success exercises on a total of over 1000 tracks and around 43 CDs and DVDs and countless online videos help to repeat the techniques and automate them in the subconscious. They complement the Vocal Coach and are part of the important daily workout routine.
These singing exercises are so systematically effective that you can trust the sometimes unusual exercises even outside your usual comfort zone and thus achieve singing success.

Brett Manning is living proof that the limitations in the voice are primarily mental. He has mastered all areas of the voice (even the whistling voice of women) and can explain and teach how this soul instrument works best. His personality is that of an honest explorer who in turn learns daily from each student and staff member. No vocal coach has more freely available YouTube videos that literally show a solution to every vocal problem. What an incredible opening and enrichment of the vocal landscape.

Canton of Bern shows "Melody of Noise"

The documentary film "Melody of Noise" by Gitta Gsell about musical sound inventors from Switzerland has been included in a selection of candidates for the Bern Film Prize, which will be shown as a "Sélection" in the canton's cinemas.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 29. Aug 2016

According to the synopsis, the film accompanies "musicians for whom the existing is not enough". Jet engines in music who have passionately dedicated themselves to new, unknown, never-before-heard sounds. They build new instruments, work with everyday noises and often the superficial noise becomes sound.

Director Gitta Gsell, who previously made the film "Bödälä - Dance the Ryhthm", portrays musicians who are searching for new sounds. The protagonists are Bruno Spoerri, Julian Sartorius, Stefan Heuss, Bubble Beatz, Peter Roth, Andres Bosshard, Saadet Türköz and Big Zis.

The films of the Bernese "Sélection" are shown as a selection of current Bernese filmmaking at the "Berner Filmpreis Festival / Le Festival du prix bernois du cinéma". Over the following ten days, the participating cinemas and cultural venues will screen the "Sélection" films, in many places accompanied by discussions with the filmmakers. Visitors to the festival have the opportunity to award two audience prizes.

The conclusion and highlight of the "Berner Filmpreis Festival / Le Festival du prix bernois du cinéma" is the announcement of the winners of the Audience Awards and the Bernese Film Awards 2016 on Sunday, October 30, 2016, 4.30 pm, at the Lichtspiel cinema in Bern.

More info:
www.bernerfilmpreisfestival.ch

Agreement on the use of the Salle Modulable

The Lucerne Theatre, Lucerne Festival, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Südpol and the city's independent theater and dance scene have agreed on spatial and technical solutions for a producing theater with a view to the Salle Modulable.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 26. Aug 2016

According to a statement from the Lucerne Theatre Foundation Board, the solutions "enable productions of various sizes, while still meeting the requirements of the Butterfield Trust and can be realized within the existing investment framework".

In addition to the expanded spatial program, the cultural partners now also favor an operating model that does justice to the processes of the producing theater and the interests of all users. The cornerstones of the consensus solution are

New, smaller auditorium configurations allow both innovative and traditional productions to be staged under realistic conditions all year round. Stage size, orchestra pit and space can be optimized for small and large productions ranging from baroque to romantic opera and contemporary works. This makes the use of the large hall interesting for the independent scene as well.
Either direct solutions were found for the previously missing usable areas or they were included in the official space program for the architectural competition.
The operating model developed is suitable for the processes of a producing theater company and also takes into account the coordination between the future users. Artistically, the theatre will be significantly shaped by an artistic director who is not above the artistic directors of the other user organizations, but is committed to the Theater Werk Luzern TWL vision. The artistic directors work together as partners. A third management level is no longer favored.

Image: Visualization of a possible interior view, large stage in the Neues Theater Luzern / Salle Modulable: open flat floor arrangement with several stages.

New York stay for Thierry Gnahoré

Rap musician Thierry Gnahoré and film and video maker Tim Dürig will live in the City of Bern's studio in New York from February to July 2017. The scholarship is endowed with CHF 15,000.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 25. Aug 2016

Thierry Gnahoré, 22, represents a new Bernese rap generation, according to the city's press release; under the alias Nativ, he has also become a household name outside of the Bernese rap scene. At the beginning of 2016, he won the Lyrics Award for the best free album.

His latest project "Candomblé", which was released online, was downloaded over 2000 times within 48 hours. Thierry Gnahoré describes his style as "a mixture of funk, soul, jazz and straightforward hip hop, heavily influenced by the East Coast rap of the 90s".

He wants to travel to New York "equipped with a laptop and a drum machine, develop musically, exchange ideas with local musicians, take part in jams or cyphers and find out what influence the environment has on the music".

Tim Dürig, 24 years old, acquired his know-how as a film and video maker self-taught during his training as a mediamatician. In recent years, he has concentrated his film work on collaborations with musicians, mainly from the local but also the international hip hop scene. In New York, he is planning a documentary in collaboration with Gnahoré, among other activities.

Canton of Berne honors Barbara Balba Weber

Music mediator Barbara Balba Weber has been awarded the Canton of Bern's cultural mediation prize worth CHF 10,000. The Lichtspiel / Kinemathek Bern association has been awarded the 2016 Culture Prize worth CHF 30,000.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 24. Aug 2016

Barbara Balba Weber had already developed programs as a young concert organizer in which the works comment on and "mediate" each other, writes the Canton of Bern. Today, she is an expert in artistic music education. She repeatedly enables children, young people and adults to have a direct encounter with the musical work of art and always guarantees "surprising and unique listening experiences and a real 'understanding' of the music, far beyond the mere musicological classification".

Barbara Balba Weber heads the national "Kompass Musikvermittlung" process and recently launched "pakt bern- das neue musik netzwerk". She works and teaches as a professor at Bern University of the Arts and is a guest lecturer at universities throughout the German-speaking world. She is currently writing a dissertation on artistic music education.