With One Hand Piano piano teacher Barbara Arens has succeeded in presenting 40 pieces that are more than just a makeshift solution for teaching injured pupils. They are certainly very welcome in this case too and help to bridge the time in a meaningful way. However, they also enable differentiated musical/technical work. Whether different articulation or dynamics in one hand, large hand shifts, double stops or polyphonic voice leading, there are imaginative pieces for many typical pianistic challenges, from easy to moderately difficult. Playing difficulties, which are usually tackled with dry special exercises, can thus be worked on in a musical context, which has a positive effect on practice motivation and learning success.

The stylistic palette ranges from classical to film music to folk and many pieces can be played well by either the left or the right hand. Why not perform a special kind of piece at a school concert - with the left hand, so to speak!

Barbara Arens, One Hand Piano, 40 pieces for left or right hand, EB 8646, € 16.00, Edition Breitkopf, Wiesbaden

The idea for this booklet of Swiss folk music was born in 2012 during the Federal Young Musicians' Meeting in Zug. This festival has existed since 1978 and takes place every four years. The Swiss Folk Music Association, founded in 1963, gave it as a gift to young musicians and itself for its 50th birthday. It is intended as a contribution to the preservation and dissemination of traditional Swiss folk music from the Alpine region.

The 15 compositions by Albert Betschart, Hans Moser, Peter Berchtold, René Armbruster and Sergej Simbirev are set for three or four voices, with a duo playing the melody and a violin plus a violoncello (bass, trombone, tuba etc.) or a guitar or piano playing the bass and the "counterbeat". Sometimes the melody also appears in bass clef, so that the "basses" can also play the melody. The parallel editions in C, Bb and Eb make it possible to play together in a wide variety of instrumentations. The information on simple accompaniment options with written chord indications and guitar fingerings is also helpful. A chapter on dance styles and their rhythmic patterns completes the explanatory section.

The booklet is aimed primarily at music teachers who want to get their pupils interested in Swiss folk music. The melodies and accompanying parts can be played from the second year of lessons.

Bärenstark, 15 old and new dances, order no. 1023-C/1023-Bb/1023-Eb, Fr. 25.00 each, Mülirad-Verlag, Altdorf

18 pearls from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods and even from the 20th century (Satie: Ne bois pas ton chocolat avec tes doigts) are well set in this new booklet, the second by the pedagogically experienced editor. They encourage rhythmically stimulating playing in the lower registers (only once is 5th position necessary in the first violin). Bowings are arranged, fingerings are left to the teacher or the players.

Ursula Erhart-Schwertmann, First Violin Trios, easy arrangements for 3 violins, Volume 2, score and parts, D 20 186, € 24.95, Doblinger, Vienna 

Anne-Kathrin Topp will take up the position on June 1, 2015. During the transition period, Hiromi Gut from Zurich, who studied at the HSG St. Gallen, completed a singing degree in Lausanne and also worked as a ski instructor in Davos, will manage the office on an interim basis.

Born in 1985, Anne-Kathrin Topp comes from Berlin and studied cultural management in Bremen, Kaiserlautern and London. She gained professional experience as a Robert Bosch cultural manager (in the Russian Federation). Most recently, she was head of the music office and personal assistant to the general music director at the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra.

Schumann's op. 86, here in a new edition with a clear piano reduction by Johannes Umbreit, did not have it easy at the beginning. Although new in terms of instrumentation and described by Schumann as "something quite curious", publishers and audiences did not immediately accept the work, which was completed in 1849. First the Bonn publisher Simrock and later Breitkopf & Härtel turned the composer down. It was not until April 1850 that the work was accepted for publication by the Hamburg publisher J. Schuberth & Co.

The first performance took place privately in October 1849 in the home of the valve horn virtuoso Joseph Rudolf Lewy in Dresden. Carl Heinrich Hübler, also the author of a concert piece for four horns and orchestra, was also a member of the horn quartet. The actual premiere took place on February 25, 1850 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus. Remarkably, the first horn player of the horn quartet, Eduard Pohle, decided to play the breakneck part on his more familiar natural horn. The performance is said not to have been unproblematic: "too difficult and too long", noted one listener.

This piece is still incredibly difficult to play - and yet it is one of the most popular and most frequently performed works in horn literature today.

Robert Schumann, Concert Piece for 4 Horns and Orchestra op. 86, edited by Ernst Herttrich, piano reduction by Johannes Umbreit, HN 1138, € 28.00. G. Henle, Munich 2014

Pieter Dirksen approaches the reconstruction of a trio sonata, the final version of which has come down to us as the Organ Trio Sonata in E minor BWV 528, with meticulousness and an analytical mind. He notes that this sonata is the "simplest case" of all organ sonatas, none of which can be regarded as original compositions, but rather as arrangements of pre-existing instrumental movements. It is to be hoped that the arranger will not lose heart and also take on the more complex challenges of the other five sonatas, as the present result of Sonata No. 5 can be described as extremely successful.

Thanks to its generous part material, the edition offers various performance possibilities, the most important of which are those in G minor (with oboe) and E minor (with the oboe d'amore transposing a third). Historically based on various sources, a French oboe (a=392Hz, playing in G minor) and viola da gamba/basso continuo in the church key (a=465Hz, playing in E minor) could also be played together, which according to today's custom (a=440Hz) would lead to a sounding result in F minor ... With all due respect for Dirksen's meticulous research, it is recommended that after studying the other versions (and the informative reconstruction report!), we recommend trying out alternative octaves and ornamentations here and there and then finding your own solutions.

Two arrangements for wind quintet offer a completely different view of Bach, an instrumentation invention of the late Classical period and therefore, it seems, not predestined for Baroque music. The selection of the Prelude and Fugue a 5 voci (B flat minor BWV 867) from the Well-Tempered Clavier proves to be successful, however, as the polyphony and dialogizing form of the composition is enriched by a new component, that of tonal variation, and thus contributes to the comprehensibility of the music. The arranger Christian Vitalis refrains from giving any indications regarding articulation and dynamics; here a differentiating ensemble work is necessary. For minor adjustments in voice leading and thematic completeness, the study of the original is also expressly recommended. In the other work, Prelude and Fugue in G minor BWV 885, the arrangement does not bring the same benefit, because the original four-part writing is not always successfully translated to the five instruments. The presentation of a concise dramaturgy of the work suffers from an often seemingly arbitrary back and forth between flute and oboe. We can only hope for further arrangements of five-part works from Bach's cycle, as these could represent a real enrichment of the repertoire.

Johann Sebastian Bach, Trio Sonata for oboe (oboe d'amore), viola (viola da gamba) and basso continuo after BWV 76/8 and 528, reconstructed by Pieter Dirksen, KM 2306, € 18.50, Breitkopf & Härtel

id., Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor BWV 867, (Well-tempered Clavier I), arranged for wind quintet by Christian Vitalis, E.D. 11287, € 15.80, Edition Dohr, Cologne 

id., Prelude and Fugue in G minor BWV 885, (Well-tempered Clavier II), E.D. 11288, € 17.80

Antonio Vivaldi's nine sonatas for cello and basso continuo are now available in several Urtext editions and are very popular among cellists. The situation is different with his 27 surviving cello concertos, which represent a pioneering work by the "Prete rosso" in terms of music history. Numerous commercially available editions still do not meet the demands that have been placed on the musical text since the advent of historically informed performance practice.

The initiative of Edition Walhall in Magdeburg deserves special mention here. In their series Il Violoncello Concertato she presents eight of Vivaldi's most important cello concertos (including the famous double concerto in G minor) in a critical edition. The editions - six of which are already available - can be described as exemplary and are suitable for both concert and teaching use. A detailed preface and a critical report provide interesting information on each work. For practical performance reasons, editor Markus Möllenbeck has dispensed with fingerings and bowings. The combined solo/continuo parts are a big plus. They can be used practically in lessons or, thanks to the continuous figuring, can be used in concert by basso continuo players.

It is to be hoped that this series will be continued.

Antonio Vivaldi, 8 concertos for violoncello (score, set of parts, piano reduction with combined solo/continuo part), edited by Markus Möllenbeck, Edition Walhall, Magdeburg

The Committee for Science, Education and Culture of the Council of States (WBK-S) would like to support the cultural sector despite the current difficult financial situation and recognizes its importance for the cohesion and economy of the country, writes the Swiss Federal Council. The majority has therefore decided not to support any proposals for cuts and to follow the Federal Council's proposal of CHF 1.12 billion for the years 2016 - 2020 for all areas covered by the Federal Office of Culture, the Pro Helvetia Foundation and the Swiss National Museum.

This will increase the annual budget by an average of 3.4% compared to the 2012 - 2015 funding period. A minority of the committee is requesting that the dispatch be rejected and would like the Federal Council to draw up proposals for cuts of CHF 65.1 million. The Council of States is scheduled to discuss the matter in the 2015 spring session.

It was a passion for tracking down new music trends that led Thomas Burkhalter to found Norient twelve years ago. To this day, the network for local and global sound and media culture serves as a guide for music trends from all over the world and was also a decisive factor in the creation of the Norient Music Film Festival: in 2008, Burkhalter, an ethnomusicologist by profession, and journalist and media artist Michael Spahr were recognized with their documentary film Buy More Incense to the International Music Film Festival "Muzyka i Swiat" in Krakow. Their contribution, which dealt with Indian and Pakistani secondo musicians in London, was awarded the Audience Award. "We were impressed by the event," says Burkhalter. So much so that the two decided to try their hand at organizing a festival themselves.

Two years later, the Norient Music Film Festival was launched in Bern. Then as now, it lasts three days and takes place in Bern's Reitschule cinema. While the first edition attracted around 600 spectators, the last time the number was well over 1,400, which means that the limits of what is feasible have been reached in the federal city, but one thing is clear: "We want to stay at the current location, not least for atmospheric reasons." Nevertheless, there have been and still are changes: in 2013, Michael Spahr decided to hand over the co-management; Thomas Burkhalter currently decides on the program alone - at least in the final instance. And since this year, the festival, which is financed by the city and canton of Bern, the Burgergemeinde, the Migros Culture Percentage, the Südkulturfonds and admission fees, has also had a presence in St. Gallen for the first time. To make the effort of bringing guests and live acts to Switzerland worthwhile, as Burkhalter explains.

He viewed around 150 films for the last edition, eleven of which were included in the program. "Once again, the quality gap was very wide," recalls the 41-year-old. In other words: Only a few works had the artistic potential he had hoped for. Even though the festival now receives many films - mostly as streams or downloads - his helpers and he still have to search for them themselves, explains Burkhalter. "Our network is a great help here." Researching blogs is also essential and, if necessary, you can do your own research via Google - using search terms such as "hip hop, Bali and documentary".

Burkhalter cannot confirm that the overall quality of music films has increased in the recent past. "Nevertheless, I think that the standard of the films we show has risen over the years." In any case, the selection process is becoming ever stricter. "And more complex." For a film to make it into the selection, a director should engage as intensively as possible with the musicians portrayed and avoid platitudes. "And, of course, a film needs a captivating story or an exciting format."

Burkhalter's personal highlights of the last festival edition include Human Shieldsa feature by Irish radio producer Bernard Clark on the Gaza war, also Syrian Metal Is Warwhich is about Syrian metal musicians and how they deal with the civil war. "Director Monzer Darwish shot the film at risk and now lives in exile in Algeria." And what message does the Norient Music Film Festival want to convey to its visitors? "Everything we do aims to show that exciting films and music can also be created in a digital world," answers Burkhalter. And thus expresses the fact that there is also artistic life outside of commerce.

To date, only one Swiss contribution has been included in the program. The works offered so far have sometimes lacked explosiveness. "Too often they were just portraits of local bands." When Burkhalter compares the first edition of the event with the most recent one, he is struck by how much the festival plays with formats. "We not only allow, but explicitly encourage, such diverse formats as radio, audiovisual performances, live shows and lectures." The Norient Music Film Festival is a playground where people can - and should - experiment, says Burkhalter. And there are already clear signs of anticipation for the next edition.

The 7th Norient Music Film Festival will take place from January 14 to 17, 2016.

www.norient.com

The combo Hildegard lernt fliegen was founded by Bernese singer Andreas Schaerer and manages without a harmony instrument. Their compositions are a potpourri of styles, ranging from complex polymetrics, balladesque soundscapes, chamber music, noise art, polka and jazz. In 2008, the ensemble won the nationally important Jazz Prize of the Zürcher Kantonalbank.

The Echo Jazz is awarded by the Deutsche Phono-Akademie, the "cultural institute of the German Music Industry Association", for the "most successful and best performances by national and international musicians". In 2013 it was presented in Hamburg's Fischauktionshalle, in 2014 at the Kulturfabrik Kampnagel. Independent observers have repeatedly criticized the Echo Jazz as a presumably commercially oriented, meaningless award that the industry bestows upon itself.

The expert opinion also states, writes SRF, that the song is not similar to Beyoncé's song "Run The World" in terms of melody or harmonies, as claimed.

Musicologist and expert Peter Oxendale, who has already produced over 3,000 expert opinions on copyright issues in the course of his career, was commissioned. In his expert opinion, he also comes to the conclusion that no original elements from the song "Run The World" were copied and that the two songs are different musical compositions.

The "Eurovision Song Contest" will take place in Vienna on May 19, 21 and 23, 2015.

In a review article in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B the team is convinced that it is possible to reconstruct the foundations of human musicality with the help of animal behavioral research. For example, comparative research could be used to investigate whether animal species share certain musical characteristics of human musicality.

Just as there are parallels in the music of different cultures, there are similarities in the sounds and perception between different animal species, according to the Viennese researcher. For example, some songbirds have to learn their songs as young birds - this is a relatively rare ability in the animal world and a prerequisite for new songs to emerge.

Some animal species, like humans, can even assign music to composers or genres. Little research has been done on this so far, but it seems that not only are there many parallels to human musical abilities in the animal world, but also that many animal species perceive components of music in the same way that we do, and that at least some enjoy similar aspects of music as we do.

Original article:
Hoeschele, M., Merchant, H., Kikuchi, Y., Hattori, Y., ten Cate, C. (2015). Searching for the origins of musicality across species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 370(1664). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0094
 

In addition, the festival presents over 50 other contemporary works and composers from 25 countries, ranging from classical chamber music formations and orchestral concerts to pure electronic music, for which an international competition has been specially organized.

Guest musicians include the Egyptian Contemporary Music Ensemble from Cairo, Spazio Musica Ensemble from Cagliari and Ensemble d'Arts from Valencia, all of whom will be playing in Switzerland for the first time at the Forum Wallis. They will be joined by Steamboat Switzerland with Michael Wertmüller's Time cryThe Mondrian Ensemble with a tribute to the 80-year-old Valais composer Pierre Mariétan, as well as internationally active Valais ensembles.

The IGNM Day will once again take place on Whit Monday: It provides a platform for the Swiss local sections, as well as representatives of the ISCM (International Society of Contemporary Music), the ECPNM (European Conference of Promoters of New Music), the ZENET festival network and delegates from the canton and Swissfestivals to meet and exchange ideas informally.

More info: www.forumwallis.ch

The Music Schools Act is intended to enshrine music education as an integral part of public education in the Canton of Zurich. The law is intended to promote cooperation between music education institutions and ensure quality by recognizing music schools and setting minimum requirements for the range of courses on offer.

Responsibility for music schools remains with the municipalities. They will continue to have the task of ensuring that pupils have access to a music school. However, the municipalities are free to decide whether they run their own music schools, cooperate with other municipalities or with private providers. The proportion of parental contributions, which may not exceed 50 percent of the eligible operating costs of music schools, also remains unchanged from the current regulation. The cantonal contribution to the costs is to remain at 3 percent. The draft law now goes to the Cantonal Council for consultation.
 

Second and third place went to the Italian Quartetto Lyskamm and the Japanese Quartet Berlin-Tokyo. The competition was also awarded in the categories voice with piano (1st prize: Kimberley Boettger-Soller and Melissa Gore) and piano trio (no 1st prize, 2nd prize: Trio Atanassov).

The Belenus Quartet was founded in Basel in 2004 and is currently coached by Isabel Charisius (Alban Berg Quartet) and Claudius Herrmann (Gringolts Quartet). In 2010/2011 the quartet also studied with Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) and Oliver Wille (Kuss Quartet) at the Musikhochschule in Basel. From 2008 to 2012 the quartet was taught by Stephan Goerner.

The jury for the string quartet section consisted of Alja Batthyany-Vegh (Austria), Vladimir Balshin (Russia), Christophe Coin (France), Arvid Engegard (Norway), Stephan Goerner (Switzerland), Kikuei Ikeda (Japan), Vera Martinez (Spain) and Jagdish Mistry.

The triennial International Chamber Music Competition "Franz Schubert and the Music of Modernism" was launched in 1989 by the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG). In 2015, 392 people from 48 nations submitted their applications.