Arrangements of well-known operas and symphonies set "in harmony" enjoyed great popularity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as did the Airs du Mariage de Figaro (deuxième livraison) by Amand Vanderhagens. An opera arrangement is particularly suitable for a stylistic examination of the music of this period: Performers can use the opera as a basis to align their playing with the dramaturgical events of the plot. They find the key to spoken-instrumental music-making in the vocal score. This corresponds to a central concern that Leopold Mozart expressed in 1756 in his Attempt at a thorough violin school (pp. 108 and 109) formulated: "And who does not know that singing music should always be the focus of all instrumentalists?"

In order to meet this requirement in the performance-oriented new edition and to enable a differentiated performance of the vocal part on the instrument, the libretto texts were integrated into the score and into the part material of Vanderhagen's Figaro-arrangement. The gesture of the Italian language and the emotional content of the arias can thus be directly reflected in the instrumental performance. The technical means used for this, such as differentiated articulations, small-scale dynamics, profiling of rhythmic figures as well as phrasing and agogic shaping, are derived from the linguistic style. In addition, with the kind permission of the Bärenreiter publishing house, the original performance markings (articulation, dynamics, slurs) from the Urtext of the New Mozart Edition have been transferred to Vanderhagen's arrangement and marked in color.

Like Leopold Mozart, Amand Vanderhagen also conveyed the following in his teaching work Méthode nouvelle et raisonnée pour la clarinette (1785) gave advice on a stylistically appropriate realization of the music of the late 18th century. Both teachers discussed questions of articulation, dynamics, voice leading, rhythm and phrasing in detail. In addition to the practically arranged sheet music, the new edition contains a comparison of individual sections of both teaching works. These comparisons confirm that Leopold Mozart's violin school was already regarded as a seminal work for the art of music-making during his lifetime and that it was also incorporated into music pedagogical works of later eras.

AIRS du Mariage de Figaro, Mise en Harmonie par Amand Vanderhagen, for 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and 2 bassoons, new edition by Heinrich Mätzener, Institut für Musikpädagogik, Hochschule Luzern - Musik, 2013
Research report and grade issue

In her dissertation Photographs and attributions - literary modes of writing the photographic act in Flaubert, Proust, Perec and Roche Johanne Mohs has examined literary discussions of photography since its invention by Louis Daguerre in 1839.

Using three examples, she was able to show how in the mid-19th century with Gustave Flaubert, at the beginning of the 20th century with Marcel Proust and in the 1960s and 1970s with Denis Roche and Georges Perec, important representatives of French literary history transferred photographic recording principles to their writing.

As part of the Intermateriality Professorship, which the literary scholar and concert flutist Thomas Strässle brought to Bern University of the Arts (HKB) in 2009, the conference proceedings edited by Strässle, Christoph Kleinschmidt and Johanne Mohs and published by transcript-Verlag have also been published. The interplay of materials in the arts. Theories - Practices - Perspectives published.

With this campaign, the FUKA administration supports "cultural productions and events that are particularly convincing". The offer includes tickets for concerts, theater and dance performances, readings and film screenings as well as publications and CDs.

The detailed offer is published one week before the kiosk opens in the Anzeiger Luzern and on the website www.fuka.stadtluzern.ch announced. The kiosk will be open on Wednesday, December 11, 2013, 12 noon to 1 p.m.

The offers will be handed in at the Heiliggeist Chapel in Stadthauspark. The entrance to the Stadthauspark is located at Hirschengraben 17b. A maximum of one bid per person will be accepted. Orders and reservations are not possible.

pd. Born in the US, the 54-year-old was Artistic Director of the series until 2012 Art from the time of the Bregenz Festival. Previously, Laura Berman was head music dramaturge at the Theater Freiburg and freelance dramaturge for the Wiener Festwochen, the Bavarian State Opera, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Berliner Festspiele, the ballet of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and the Zurich Ballet.

Laura Berman currently runs the artist and project agency Laura Berman_Next.
In 2013, she produced new operas by Ben Frost and Shara Worden, two artists from the alternative pop scene. This year, Laura Berman is preparing three new music theater productions for the Schauspielhaus Wien. In 2013, she was also a freelancer at Pro Helvetia, where she researched new music theater in Switzerland.

How the Theater Basel the designated director Andreas Beck is looking forward to this collaboration: "Laura Berman, like me, has found the focus of her theater work in recent years in the contemporary. In her, I have long found a competent and highly experienced colleague who has a broad knowledge of opera and modern dance as well as contemporary composers. Thinking about the repertoire not from a classical position, but from the art of our time, from the contemporary artist or piece of art - whether in opera or drama - is fundamental for me in the programming of Theater Basel"
 

The gradual introduction of all-day childcare at public schools today largely meets a social need and represents a profound change for the entire educational landscape. Music lessons at music schools and private music lessons are particularly affected by this. The more space public school takes up in pupils' lives, the more challenging it becomes to reconcile other educational activities - in terms of content and time - with it. For example, different pedagogical forms, individual and group lessons and, last but not least, different institutional forms and cultures must be coordinated. Just as there are not only a As there is no single solution for the all-day school model, there is also a variety of approaches in the area of cooperation. The discussion about this is in full swing in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The discussion is most advanced with regard to the discussion of various cooperation models between elementary school and music schools in Austria, where this takes place within the framework of the BAGME (Federal Working Group for Music Education on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture). The fact that the level of the discussion and the consideration of music education specifics here certainly serves as a model for neighboring countries became clear in contributions on the cooperation between schools and music schools at the primary level (Peter Röbke), on "complex networks of effects of music learning" (Gerhard Hofbauer) and on the challenges that music schools face as a result of all-day school models (Michael Seywald). Werner Schmitt and Gerhard Müller took a look at the situation in Switzerland based on past and current approaches to talent development at the Konservatorium Bern music school. Examples of supplementary extracurricular musical education programs and platforms, which can of course also provide decisive musical impulses, were also provided by a review of the history of the Carinthian Children's Summer (a sustainable artistic-educational project as part of a major classical music festival, Gerda Fröhlich), as well as a portrait of the Federal Music Academy Rheinsberg/D Quartersounds (Ulrike Liedtke). For the time being, the project of an art school in Central Switzerland with special support for gifted students is still a dream of the future (Urs Vogel).

Continuous participation in the political process is essential
The final discussion expressed the unease that exists in all three countries about the often low priority that political decision-makers regularly give to music education problems in the course of education policy (reform) projects ("the ear of politics is often far away from us"). It became clear that the music associations must become even more involved in the political process in future and also make concrete demands of the responsible authorities instead of only getting involved on a case-by-case basis or even turning away from politics after setbacks. The Swiss constitutional article "musical education" was also mentioned in this context, the implementation of which is hardly less of a challenge for the associations than the previous referendum campaign, despite the excellent result of the vote.

Music education should start as early as possible
At the same time, an overarching problem was identified in the anchoring of music practice and musical education in society. Even among the generation of parents now aged 30-45, a lack of interest in music can often be observed, especially when it comes to classical serious music. Because musical education cannot only take place in daycare centers, on the contrary, it should start at home in the family, parents would now also be trainees - which can be achieved, for example, through offers such as parent-child singing. Overall, the panel was confident that future generations of pupils could be won over to active music-making in the long term. The brilliant evening concert "Alle Neune!!! Plus one (=South Tyrol)" (Austrian regional youth choirs) may have contributed to this confidence.

Since 2012, Solothurn has been awarding up to twelve sponsorship prizes of CHF 15,000 each to promote young talent. Young artists and cultural practitioners from all disciplines who live in or have a close connection to the canton of Solothurn can now apply to the Board of Trustees for Cultural Promotion for a 2014 sponsorship award.

The application deadline is also open for two residencies in the artists' studio at the Cité International des Arts in Paris for 2015 (January to June and July to December). Artists of all ages and from all disciplines will be given the opportunity to work freely in Paris for six months. The same conditions apply as for the sponsorship awards.

Anyone wishing to apply for one of the maximum twelve sponsorship awards 2014 and/or for a residency in the artist's studio in Paris in 2015 can do so until January 10, 2014. The application form can be downloaded from the Internet at www.aks.so.ch can be obtained.

The Paul Sacher Foundation Basel is celebrating the centenary of the ballet, which was completed on March 8 (February 23) 1913 in Clarens on Lake Geneva and premiered in Paris on May 29, with a literally weighty anniversary edition in three volumes. In addition to facsimiles of the fair copy of the score and the piano version for four hands, it has published a Avatar of Modernity. The Rite of Spring Reconsidered titled study volume with 18 richly illustrated essays in English. In the collection of texts edited by Hermann Danuser and Heidy Zimmermann, studies on the genesis and reception history alternate with those on the mythical and folkloristic sources of this "composition of the century". Although the visual material is also full of discoveries, it is irritating that the program of the premiere is shown twice, but there are no illustrations of the first editions of the four-hand piano version (1913) and the score (1921), which was published later due to the war.

In his introduction to the reproduction of Stravinsky's fair copy of the score in a large format of 45 x 34 cm, Ulrich Mosch also meticulously discusses the various layers of subsequent corrections, the later metronome markings and tempo markings. He even provides information about the lost copyist's copy which the conductor Pierre Monteux used for the premiere, taking into account the corrections entered by the composer during rehearsals. In 1974, Paul Sacher acquired the fair copy of the score in black ink, the most important source for the revolutionary masterpiece, directly from Stravinsky's widow. The composer had made numerous changes since the rehearsals for the premiere until he published the final version in 1967 after a lengthy revision process. Astonishingly, he lent the fair copy, which had become an irreplaceable hand copy, to Vladimir Golschmann and Ernest Ansermet in 1920/21 when they conducted the second ballet production after the premiere.

The editor even provides information about blue entries by conductors and red markings by employees of the Russian Music Publishers (Berlin), about a page bound in the wrong direction and about the two restorations that the top-class manuscript had to undergo.

Stravinsky's handwritten arrangement for piano four hands had already appeared in print a few days before the premiere of the orchestral score in Sergei Koussevitsky's Russian Music Publishing House. The manuscript, which has survived in an unusual form and is still in the possession of Stravinsky's descendants, is made up of two collaborative parts. The first is available in a copyist's transcription, the second in the composer's neat, crisp fair copy with the annotation "Réduction pour piano à 4 mains par l'auteur". The editor Felix Meyer, director of the Paul Sacher Foundation, not only describes the "previews" of the ballet at the piano and the history of this version, which has been recorded several times, but also the many subsequent corrections in a detailed and excitingly descriptive manner.

Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps, anniversary edition, facsimile of the fair copy of the score, edited by Ulrich Mosch, 146 p., € 175.00, Verlag Paul Sacher Stiftung (Boosey & Hawkes), London 2013, ISBN 978-0-85162-813-4 (out of print)

id., facsimile of the piano version for four hands, edited by Felix Meyer, 118 p., € 99.00, ISBN 978-0-85162-822-6

Avator of Modernity. The Rite of Spring Reconsidered, ed. by Hermann Danuser and Heidy Zimmermann, 502 p., € 79.00, ISBN 978-0-85162-823-3

The fragment on which this work is based, written by Felix Mendelssohn, comprises a chorale movement by O head full of blood and wounds as well as an unfinished variation to it, which breaks off after a good 26 bars. There is no certainty that Mendelssohn's fragment is connected with the improvisation that he played in Leipzig's St. Thomas Church on 6 August 1840 and about which Schumann reported: "The conclusion was a fantasy by Mendelssohn. Schumann reported on it as follows: "Mendelssohn concluded with a fantasy (...); it was based on a chorale, I am not mistaken, on the text 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden', into which he later wove the name Bach and a fugue movement, and rounded itself off into such a clear, masterful whole that it would have been a finished work of art in print".

On the occasion of a conference in Leipzig, the fragment initially served the St. Gallen organist and style improvisation specialist Rudolf Lutz as the basis for an improvised version, which then became the written version published here in a second step. An interesting work report, published in the congress report This magnificent, impressive instrument - The organ in the age of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (Breitkopf and Härtel 2011, including a recording of the sonata), documents Lutz's approach and shows impressively how analytical and stylistic considerations on Mendelssohnian (organ) composition and the creative approach of the experienced improviser - and in particular (like Mendelssohn) trained in Bach - interpenetrate, stimulate and complement each other. The result: a work lasting a good quarter of an hour, which is a welcome counterpart to Mendelssohn's six "canonical" sonatas and perfectly approximates his idiom (not least through some charming echoes of the composer's original works). Despite all the artistry, however, the impression of an "over-composed" movement is never created; the sonata retains the freshness and impetus of an outstanding improvisation.

In terms of playing technique, the three movements are roughly in the range of Mendelssohn's more difficult (3rd/4th) sonatas. Even though only two of the 18 pages of the score go back to Mendelssohn and the rest were not written until 2007. This "new" sonata should be an interesting addition to the German early Romantic repertoire!

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy / Rudolf Lutz. Sonata in d on "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" for organ MWV W 27, edition and completion of a fragment from the Bodleian Library Oxford. Carus 18.120/00, € 15.50, Carus Verlag, Stuttgart 2013

In an effort to promote singing in the family, Carus-Verlag has already published a whole series of beautifully designed songbooks (cf. SMZ 4/2010, S. 35), also a volume for Christmas. The Christmas carols are also available in choral settings, in several versions: for four-part mixed choir, for three-part choir with two female and one male voice and, most recently, for choir of equal voices (SSA/SSAA). The volumes offer a large pool of stylistically diverse and singable arrangements from all eras. Numerous renowned composers from Poland, Denmark, England, Japan, South America, Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania have been recruited for the choral settings. Traditional movements are also represented.

The three-part choir book takes the current instrumentation situation into account. It offers 84 movements of easy to medium difficulty. The four-part book is aimed at choirs with large ensembles. It contains around 130 arrangements for four to eight voices. 69 movements can be found in the volume for choirs of equal voices. They can be performed a cappella or with a keyboard instrument. The editions for choir directors each include a CD recording with a selection of song movements, recorded with the Orpheus vocal ensemble or the Ulmer Spatzenchor.

Christmas carols, choir book for three voices, for female voices and one male voice a cappella or with keyboard instrument, edited by Armin Kircher; choir director's book with CD, CV 2.130/00, € 29.90; choir edition, CV 2.130/05, € 14.90; Carus, Stuttgart 2012

id., Chorbuch vierstimmig, for four or more voices a cappella or with keyboard instrument, ed. by Klaus Brecht and Klaus K. Weigele; Chorleiterband mit CD, CV 2.140/00, € 34.90; Chorausgabe, CV 2.140/05, € 16.90

id, Chorbuch gleichstimmig (SSA/SSAA), edited by Klaus K. Weigele, Klaus Brecht and Hans de Bilde, Chorleiterband mit CD, CV 2.135/00, € 23.90; Chorausgabe, CV 2.135/05, € 11.50 Carus, Stuttgart 2013

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's cello concertos are enjoying growing popularity. The viola da gamba sonatas (Wq 136, Wq 137, Wq 88) are still somewhat overshadowed by the well-known sonatas for the same instrumentation by his father Johann Sebastian (BWV 1027-1029).

The chamber music works, each in three movements, date from C. P. E. Bach's time in Berlin as harpsichordist at the court of Frederick II of Prussia. In terms of instrumental appeal, they are in no way inferior to the sonatas by his father. The German musicologist Ernst Fritz Schmid (1904-1960) wrote in 1931: "The viol solos are both very gratefully written for the instrument; in no other chamber music work from his Berlin period, apart from a few flute solos, did Bach take the character of the instrument for which he was writing so much into account (...)"

The two early sonatas (Wq 136, Wq 137) are set for basso continuo accompaniment. The later 3rd sonata in G minor (Wq 88) uses the three-part obbligato type and thus follows the model of the sonatas of the father.

The Henle edition leaves nothing to be desired: the music is clear and easy to read, the paper quality is excellent; the solo part contains fold-out pages which perfectly solve the turning problems. The separate continuo part for the first two sonatas also contains the solo part in small engraving.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, viola da gamba sonatas Wq 88, 136, 137, edition for violoncello edited by Wolfram Ensslin and Ernst-Günter Heinemann, continuo realization by Wolfgang Kostujak, with additional marked violoncello part by David Geringas, HN 991, € 35.00, G. Henle Verlag, Munich 2012

Under the title Play me an old melody various church associations, in collaboration with two renowned publishers - Reclam and Carus-Verlag - have taken on the topic of "Singing knows no age".

After a similar publication with the most beautiful old church hymns was published in 2012, the Play me an old melody well-known hits from the twenties to the fifties, canons, popular songs and selected folk songs in an attractive hardcover book beautifully illustrated by Barbara Trapp. The songbook is published in large print; the songs are in low pitches.

It is true that older voices feel more comfortable in lower registers, but not every older voice mutates into a bass or alto! In some songs, the tessitura could have been adjusted upwards a little more optimistically.

Chord symbols above the melodies enable simple and uncomplicated accompaniment. A very successful edition!

Spiel mir eine alte Melodie, Die schönsten alten Schlager und Volkslieder. New songbook from the "Singen kennt kein Alter!" initiative, 128 p., € 19.95, Carus/Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-89948-181-5

Tjark Baumann has published an original booklet with Fidula-Verlag, which is particularly suitable for choral work and could well support many a church musician and choirmaster in the vocal training of their choirs!

According to the motto: "A picture is worth a thousand words", the booklet includes 30 large-format picture cards that deal with various vocal training topics such as voice placement, posture, breathing and legato singing. On the back of the humorous cards, the author gives instructions for use, explains vocal training details and supports the choir director in teaching the topic well. The booklet contains further didactic comments.

Although not all of the images appear to be completely beyond reproach in a physiological sense, the compilation reflects both the diversity and contradictory nature of various voice training approaches. For example, the picture cards on "opening the voice" or "support" mix the very correct with the physiologically questionable.

The individual elements can be put together individually by each choir director according to their ideal sound. The cards on posture, voice position and breathing are very helpful, and an amusing interpretation on the subject of register will certainly help amateur singers to understand this subject better than with mere words. The corresponding picture card placed on a music stand in front of the choir conveys the desired vocal and tonal effect without much thought. In this way, helpful information can be absorbed unconsciously through the eye.

The pictures are suitable for both children's and adult choirs.

Tjark Baumann, Stimmbilder, 30 picture cards for choir, singing and voice training lessons, with drawings by Irmtraud Guhe, 36 p., 30 annotated picture cards, € 19.90, Fidula, Boppard 2013, ISBN 978-3-87226-942-3

The collection Clarinet trios from around the world contains ten trios in different musical styles from all over the world, edited by Florian Bramböck. The Austrian composer and arranger performs on stage as a saxophonist with various bands and was a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra. He also works as a teacher in Salzburg and Linz.

Half of the pieces are Bramböck's own compositions, the rest are arrangements of well-known titles: there is the thirties hit You are beautiful with me to be found alongside Miriam Makeba's classic Pata Pata or the Irish ballad Danny Boy. The arrangements sound very good, are lively and don't just go straight ahead, but offer interesting harmonic or rhythmic twists. In his own compositions, Bramböck offers an oriental, playful Danse Marocainea rousing boogaloo Mardi Gras or a rhythmically challenging cha-cha-cha with the amusing title El puesto de las butifarras (The bratwurst stand).

The pieces are at an easy to medium level of difficulty and require rhythmic confidence and experience in playing together. Technically, they do not place excessive demands on the performers. The range is generally up to c''', but in some pieces the first part goes up to a maximum of e'''. By selecting pieces typical of the genre, Bramböck makes it possible to work on different styles as examples in ensemble lessons.

All the pieces in this booklet are equally enjoyable to play for the performers and a pleasure to listen to for the audience.

Florian Bramböck, Clarinet trios from around the world, UE 35568, € 19.95, Universal Edition, Vienna 2013