The silent world?

Translation Pia Schwab

Jean-Damien Humair (translation: AI) - 02. Oct 2013

Translation Pia Schwab

Of the four elements, water undoubtedly nourishes our imagination the most. It plays a role in all religions, with countless legends and symbolic ideas revolving around it. Water is essential for life, according to Islam even its source. It purifies, as in Christian baptism, the Jewish mikvah or the Hindu bath in the Ganges. It is also believed to have healing powers: the water from Lourdes, the legendary fountain of youth or the well of Mimir in Germanic myths.

Water protects, extinguishes fire, soothes pain, reminds us of the security of the womb. In French more (sea) and mère (mother) have the same sound, which is probably a coincidence in terms of linguistic history. However, poets and writers never tire of playing with this harmony between the water world and the world of the unborn. For a long time, civilizations developed on the shores of seas, lakes and rivers. And even today, the latter often mark national borders: Water protects against invasions. But it also brings disasters, be it through overabundance - floods, tsunamis, drowning - or through scarcity - drought and infertility.

Water holds and hides another world on our planet: the underwater world, to which we humans have only very limited access. It is said to be home to monsters of all kinds, from giant octopuses to sirens that mesmerize sailors with their singing. The water is associated with a wide-ranging world of sounds and music.

It is almost a little strange that Jacques-Yves Cousteau made his famous underwater documentary film The silent world has called it. Physically, sound travels faster and further under water than in the air. Whale songs can be heard over more than 3000 kilometers. And water has inspired musicians for centuries: La mer by Claude Debussy or Charles Trenet, On the beautiful blue Danube by Johann Strauss, Les jeux d'eau by Maurice Ravel. From the ocean to raindrops, all watery manifestations were set to music.

In this number, the composer Cyrill Schläpfer explains very aptly that you have to listen to water sounds, the sound of waves for example, for a long time in order to appreciate their content. It takes time to move from the world of air to the world of water, to immerse oneself - figuratively speaking - in this other world (from which real divers are only allowed to emerge gradually). So let us listen calmly to the Silent world in this number.

Cordially
Yours

Jean-Damien Humair

Highly honored and poorly paid

While the ship sank beneath them, they persevered by playing. Many legends surround the fate of the musicians on the Titanic. The sober facts about their employment conditions, on the other hand, are less uplifting.

Pia Schwab (translation: AI) - 02. Oct 2013

Commemorative postcard, State Library of Queensland / flickr commons

While the ship sank beneath them, they persevered by playing. Many legends surround the fate of the musicians on the Titanic. The sober facts about their employment conditions, on the other hand, are less uplifting.

On March 14 of this year, astonishing news broke in the English press: Wallace Hartley's violin had resurfaced. The German news magazine The mirror headlined the following day: "Titanic bandmaster's violin discovered in attic". In fact, the British auction house Henry Aldridge and Son presented a "sensational find" to the public. Andrew Aldridge reported that he had had the authenticity of the instrument tested by forensic engineers and researchers at Oxford University for seven years and that there was no doubt about it.

This was supposed to be the violin that the musician tied to his chest in a leather case decorated with initials before he fell into the water. His frozen body was recovered ten days after the accident. The violin is said to have been sent to his fiancée. She had given him the instrument as a gift. When she died, the historic piece was forgotten ... However, after the shipwreck, a very precise record was kept of what the victims found had on them. Hartley was wearing his musician's uniform with the green facings, epaulettes and buttons of the White Star Line. However, there was no mention of a violin.

The reporting on the reappearance of the instrument clearly indicates that journalists have doubts about the authenticity of the find with the salt water stains. However, there is no doubt about the undiminished public interest in the Titanic disaster, which occurred exactly 101 years before the violin was presented.

: Reminder sheet of the AMU; wikimedia commons

Deteriorating employment conditions
Wallace Hartley was a violinist and leader of the eight-piece band on the Titanic. They usually played in two groups. A piano trio entertained the guests in the lounge of the a la carte restaurant and in the Café Parisien. To emphasize the continental flair, a Belgian violinist and a French cellist were engaged. A quintet played in the dining room or in the First Class Lounge. Percy Cornelius Taylor played both piano and cello. It was therefore possible to perform as a (low) string quintet (two violins, two cellos, double bass) or as a piano quintet. It is assumed that all eight played together for the first time on that fatal night.

Employment on ocean liners was in great demand among musicians at the time, although working conditions had deteriorated in the period leading up to the Titanic's maiden voyage. Previously, the shipping companies had hired the musicians directly. Now agencies came on the scene, but of course they also earned money. A report by the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), written by John Swift, states: "While the Titanic was owned by the White Star shipping company, its musicians had been engaged by the shipping agency, C. W. & F. N. Black, and booked as second-class passengers. Black was able to offer more favorable conditions by reducing the musicians' pay from the original 6 to 10 pounds to 0 to 4 pounds, withdrawing the monthly uniform allowance of 10 shillings and deducting the cost of sheet music from the musicians' pay. Protests by the United Musicians' Union (AMU), a forerunner of today's Musicians' Union, were unsuccessful."

The musicians had to master a varied repertoire, including salon and dance music as well as excerpts from orchestral works and operas. They played the popular hits of the day, but also accompanied devotions on board. They were allocated a room on deck E near the laundry where they could practise in the morning.

Heroism instead of life
Hardly any report on the sinking of the Titanic fails to mention the heroic chapel. The Worcester Evening Gazette quoted the survivor Mrs. John Murray Brown five days after the accident: "The band went from deck to deck and played all the time. When the ship sank I could still hear the music. The last time I saw the musicians, the water was up to their knees." But even the various eyewitness accounts, which were meticulously compiled by a commission of inquiry, disagreed on many points.

The ship collided with an iceberg at 11.40 p.m. on the night of April 14/15, 1912. An hour later, the band began to play on deck, ten minutes before the first lifeboat (half empty!) was lowered into the water. People still had very different perceptions of the danger. And the cheerful sounds ("lively airs") that were played possibly added to the confusion. The aim behind the instructions to the musicians was to avoid panic.

By 2.10 a.m., all the available boats had been launched, but a good two thirds of the people were still on deck or somewhere in the labyrinthine underbelly of the ship's belly. The steamer was leaning so menacingly that it was obvious that it would soon sink. "At that moment, bandmaster Hartley tapped on the bottom of his violin. The ragtime music ceased, and the sounds of the Episcopal hymn Automn floated across the deck and drifted far out over the water in the still night. In the boats, the women listened as if to something wonderful." This is how this fateful moment is later reported - romanticized like a novel (Walter Lord, The last night of the TitanicScherz 1955).

: The last piece played?; National Postal Museum, Washington

The witnesses agree that music was played only a few minutes before the final sinking and before only screams could be heard. However, they disagree about the piece. The press, which pounced on the survivors, probably also contributed to the creation of multiple legends. The New York Times of April 21, 1912 ran the headline: "The band of the sinking ship chose the right hymn." It quoted the rescued radio operator Harold Bride, who sang the spiritual hymn Automn wanted to have recognized. It contains the suggestive line: "Keep me upright in mighty floods of water". Other witnesses remembered the chorale Closer my God to you. Later commentators pointed out that at the time there were two well-known pieces with the name Automn the chorale and a kind of sports palace waltz to whistle along to.

This point will probably never be clarified. What is certain is that the spiritual-heroic version was spread by many retellings and that the musicians of the Titanic were heroized to a particular degree. Of course, it was also possible to make money from this veneration. Resourceful publishers printed music sheets with the pieces in question and the picture of Wallace Hartley or they brought out new pieces that dealt with the catastrophe musically: Just as the Ship went down - a Song of the Sea or The Wreck of the Titanic - a descriptive Composition for Piano solo.

None of the musicians survived the disaster. The bodies of three of them, including Hartley, were recovered. The novelist Joseph Conrad, who had gone to sea himself, mocked the posthumous stylization: "It would have been much nicer if the Titanic band had been saved instead of having to go down playing - whatever they were playing, the poor devils ..."

: "A beautiful Song Inspired by the Wreck of the Titanic"; wikimedia commons

Inglorious aftermath
The FIM report continues: "After the accident, the surviving relatives of at least one musician, but probably all of them, received an invoice and a statement of costs from the agency. Incredibly, the statement of costs explained that because the deceased musician's contract had expired at the moment the orchestra could no longer play, his fee was insufficient to cover all the costs he had incurred, including the White Star shipping company's lapel inscriptions on his jacket, the sewing of White Star buttons on his uniform and his sheet music. This was communicated without any sympathy or condolences."

The letter to the family of the 21-year-old violinist John "Jock" Hume confirming these outrageous demands has been preserved. The agency also demanded the return of five shillings from the family, which it had advanced to the young man to buy a new suit. It referred claims for compensation from the bereaved to the White Star shipping company. However, the company also refused to pay (just as it stopped paying its employees' wages at the exact time of the sinking) and again referred the matter to the Black Agency. Only thanks to benefit concerts by various orchestras was it finally possible to pay the families compensation. The commemorative sheet printed by the musicians' union with portraits of the eight musicians on board also brought in money, selling 80,000 copies within a month.

Presumably fueled by the shabby attitude of the shipping company and agency, accusations were made by relatives that the musicians had been deliberately sacrificed. The father of French cellist Roger Bricoux interviewed a surviving crew member and was told "... that the musicians were instructed to continue playing the whole time (...) that none of them were wearing life jackets and (...) that they were to be sacrificed on the basis of these instructions in order to prevent chaos from breaking out on board." (FIM report)

It stands to reason that the band would not really have radiated normality with life jackets. But when Wallace Hartley's body - with or without his violin - was recovered from the icy waters, he was wearing a life jacket.

The PDF of the article can be here can be downloaded.

Eve-Maud Hubeaux wins Tebaldi competition

The young mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux, who has already won prestigious international prizes in addition to the Swiss Youth Music Competition, was unanimously awarded first prize and the special prize for the youngest participant at the International Renata Tebaldi Competition in San Marino.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 01. Oct 2013

Eve-Maud Hubeaux studied piano and singing at the Lausanne Conservatory. She completed further studies at Christophe Balissat's Atelier Scénique and in master classes with Peter Galliard, Julian Gavin and Laura Sarti, among others.

In July of this year, Eve-Maud Hubeaux has already won the 2nd prize at the international Hans Gabor Belvédère Competition (Muziektheater Amsterdam) and the Kirsten Flagstad Festival Grant.

Eve-Maud Hubeaux was a member of the opera studio of the Opéra national du Rhin (Strasbourg / Colmar) where she took part in various productions until the end of the 2010/2011 season. In November 2010, she also made her debut at the Frankfurt Opera as Waltraut in Wagner's Valkyrie.

New works with reference to Stravinsky's "Histoire du Soldat"

The "Stravinskij revisited" project brings together Russian and Swiss partners with the cultural heritage of both countries and brings them into a dialog.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 01. Oct 2013

Robert Delaunay: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1972)

The two performing ensembles of the project Stravinsky revisited represent the lucid-Apollinian and dark-Dionysian principles: the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble is the most active and renowned specialist ensemble for contemporary music in Russia. It plays in a chamber ensemble formation that is already "traditional" for contemporary music, with flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion. In contrast, the Kontra-Trio über plays in an instrumentation that goes beyond any traditional sound framework. With double bass flute, double bass saxophone and tuba, the Swiss trio explores the very deep, chthonic sounds.

The five world premieres each take a different musical or thematic approach to the Histoire du Soldat by Igor Stravinsky (Fairy Tale, Marching, Soldier, Devil's Pact, etc.). Works by Vladimir Rannev and Vladimir Gorlinskij from Russia as well as Roland Moser and Katharina Rosenberger will be performed. These are commissions for one of the two ensembles. There will also be a remix of fragments from Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat. This was composed jointly for the two ensembles by the Swiss composer Thomas K.J. Mejer.

Tour dates

Modern technology and copyright

The ninth edition of the "Musiksymposium - The Music Metting Day" focused on innovations at YouTube and discussions about the blessings and curses of streaming services such as Simfy and Spotify.

Michael Gasser (translation: AI) - 01. Oct 2013

The ninth "Musiksymposium - The Music Meeting Day" was opened by Michael Grossenbacher. Until 2009, the Bernese singer was part of the a cappella group Bagatello, two years later he put on his first solo show: "Therapie". He talked about a teenager who recently asked him which of his two dream jobs he should choose: baker or musician? "My answer: Do you want to earn money? Then become a baker."

Which means that the Swiss Association of Music Publishers The event, which was held for the first time in Zurich's Hallenstadion, quickly arrived at a key question: What does a musician have to do to be able to make a living from his art? At least in part. Although the following presentation by Oliver Heckmann, Director of Engineering YouTube, did not provide a conclusive answer to this question, the representative of the company, which was founded in 2005, did show ways in which money can be generated via YouTube. Also in Switzerland. This is possible thanks to the activation of www.youtube.ch - the site has been available to content producers and advertisers since April.

For Swiss music creators who are registered with Suisa, the money pots of the Google Inc. subsidiary remain closed for the time being, as the cooperative of music authors and publishers and YouTube are still in disagreement about how much compensation should be paid per clip played. "We are negotiating and I believe that an agreement will be reached soon," said Heckmann optimistically.

Partner programs have also been activated for Switzerland. These allow producers to create their own "channels" on YouTube, which Julia Graf alias Miss Chiveous has already done, for example. With success. As of mid-September, the Bernese has built up a following of 564,935 subscribers. However, Graf is not a musician, she gives make-up tips. There are still no musicians who are members of Suisa in the partner programs. Here too, an agreement must first be reached between the collecting society and YouTube. "In order to be accepted into a partner program now or later, you also have to meet certain conditions," Heckmann explained. For example, anyone who has already committed a copyright infringement is no longer eligible.

Heckmann painted a prosperous scenario for the future, talking about the billion YouTube users, last year's 50 percent growth and the six million videos that are uploaded to the portal every month. There is no doubt that the chances of being able to earn a franc or two via YouTube one day are intact. However, the amounts involved remain to be seen. For comparison: in the USA, YouTube pays out around 10 dollars per 1000 video streams, which then has to be divided among all rights holders. The average musician will not be able to make a living from such sums. It would be an extra income. What did Heckmann say? "The better known a musician is, the quicker he should get in touch with us."

The "middle class" earns almost no money anymore

At the "Download vs. streaming" panel, Steffen Holly expressed understanding for consumers. "I myself am also enthusiastic about the existing offers," said the Head of Business Unit Media Management & Delivery. The "middle class of musicians" in particular would suffer from this. "They hardly earn any money anymore." A fact that Dennis Hausammann, co-owner of iGroove Switzerland, illustrated with figures: "Around one million streams are needed for a musician to be able to pay their monthly health insurance contribution alone." "Smaller" artists generate the majority of their income via iTunes and not via streaming services such as Simfy or Spotify, said Hausammann. Julie Born, Director Sony Music Switzerland, argued that new technologies should be given a chance. "In Sweden, three million paid premium streaming subscriptions have already been purchased, in Switzerland there are only around 75,000 so far."

Alexander Herbst, CEO of Simfy, explained: "We are already paying out a seven-figure sum to the major labels. And a much smaller amount to the independents." But he was convinced that this would be regulated. "There will probably be a more honest distribution." His company, which is based in Berlin and has around 20 million songs in its streaming offering, is currently making ends meet, but: "Even for us, the trees don't grow into the sky." Poto Wegener, Director of Swissperform, criticized that the amount currently paid out by Simfy and Spotify per stream was far too low. And he identified a lack of transparency as one of the main problems. "I would finally like to know from the streaming services what is paid out on average per stream." Alexander Herbst's answer: "We only disclose how many streams happen."

Despite all the differences, the majority of participants in the discussion seemed to believe in the future of streaming services. And that musicians could generate more income again in this way. "I think that the trend is now moving back in the direction of artists and at the expense of labels," concluded Steffen Holly.

Chamber music for ears and eyes

In collaboration with the Gesellschaft für Kammermusik Basel, the bmn label is launching a new series of recordings. Music to listen to as well as to watch.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 01. Oct 2013

"Chamber music fans are considered conservative and not very tech-savvy. However, this is a prejudice that is easy to refute. The Basel Chamber Music Society (www.kammermusik.org) is now launching a label on which it documents its concerts in the Hans Huber Hall not only acoustically, but also visually.A special feature of the label is that the recordings will be released in parallel on 'normal' CD and Blu-ray Disc. The first edition documents the concert on August 23, 2012 with the Zemlinsky Quartet, in which the string quartet "Madrigaux" by Jean-Jacques Dünki was premiered, followed by Alexander Zemlinsky's first quartet in A major. Also included on the Blu-ray Disc is the interview that Elmar Budde conducted with the composer Dünki. The sound quality is even better than that of the conventional compact disc, provided you have a suitable playback station."Sigfried Schibli, Basler Zeitung, June 20, 2013

The aim of the visualization of the concert is to avoid distraction. By taking the real concert situation as the starting point for a single, consistent shot that focuses - also through concentrated lighting - and only shows what can really be seen in the concert. A conversation with one of the musicians or composers is also recorded on the Blue-ray disc.

The following have been published so far:

Beethoven Quartet: Beethoven String Quartets op.18,4 & op.59,1, bmn20121
Zemlinsky Quartet, First PerformanceJean-Jacques Dünki, MadrigauxAlexander von Zemlinsky, String Quartet No. 1 in A major op. 4, bmn20131
Hansheinz Schneeberger & Bettina Boller, Violin Duos: works by Bach, Bartók and Berio, bmn20132
Valentin Valentiyev, piano, Debut: works by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, bmn20133
Franziska Hirzel & Jan Schultsz, Wagner and his ContemporariesHans von Bülow, Three songs op. 1, Song cycle by Carl Beck op. 8 (first recordings); Richard Wagner: Wesendonck songsFranz Liszt, Above all peaks, high love, bmn20134

Catalog

Future of the "Women and Music" archive under threat

The international research center has been in existence for 30 years. From 2014, the City of Frankfurt's Department of Culture will no longer provide funding for it.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 01. Oct 2013

For over 30 years, the "Women and Music" archive has been dedicated to promoting female composers, their work and their works. It is an integral part of Frankfurt's cultural landscape and makes an important contribution to cultural policy by collecting, preserving and publishing the creative achievements of female composers. The magazine published by the archive VivaVoce is the only German specialist journal on the subject of female composers and performers.

According to the foundation, the "Women and Music" archive has been funded by the state of Hesse and the City of Frankfurt's Department of Culture in recent years. From 2014, the City of Frankfurt has announced that it will cut all previous funding for the archive and, following discussions, is sticking to its decision. The reason given is the need to save money. The continuation and safeguarding of the archive's many years of successful work is now acutely threatened by the cuts.

The archive is taking various measures to secure the future of this institution. Among other things, it has launched a petition to the city councillors of Frankfurt for the preservation of the archive's funding and thus for a secure future for this unique institution. It can here be supported.

Action and warning strike day for German orchestras

Around 100 German state and municipal orchestras are going on strike simultaneously and nationwide today (September 30). They are protesting against the refusal to pay collectively agreed wage increases since 2010.

Music newspaper editorial office (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

Action and warning strike day in Erfurt. Picture: DOV

After the Federal Labor Court ruled that state and municipal orchestras no longer have an enforceable legal claim to public sector wage increases (Schweizer Musikzeitung reported), the tone between the social partners is becoming more heated.

According to a press release from the German Orchestra Association (DOV), the orchestras are "simultaneously demanding the preservation of Germany's unique orchestral culture". This is the largest such protest action in Germany since the 1950s, in which the Berlin Philharmonic and other renowned top orchestras are also involved.

On October 1, 2013, collective bargaining talks will begin in Berlin between the DOV and the German Stage Association on how the wage settlements in the public sector will be applied retroactively to state and municipal orchestras since 2010.

The Swiss "Wagners"

A chapter of family history that has long been kept under wraps has been carefully reappraised.

Jenny Berg (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

It comes as no surprise that Richard Wagner's extensive family also has a branch in Switzerland. But that this was unknown even to close family members until some time ago is more surprising. In their new monograph, Verena Naegele and Sibylle Ehrismann reveal how this came about and what the Swiss Wagner descendants are all about. The Beidlers. In the shadow of the Wagner clan is more than just a companion volume to the exhibition that the two music journalists conceived on this topic and presented at the Zurich City Archives in summer 2013. It is an independent examination of the complex events that led to the break between the Beidler and Wagner families - and at times reads like a thriller that you will be reluctant to put down.

In a sophisticated overture, the authors begin with the explosive paternity trial and evaluate unknown sources for the first time: Isolde, Richard Wagner's first-born daughter, married to the Swiss conductor Franz Beidler, fought for her right to bear the name Wagner. However, as she (like her siblings Eva and Siegfried) was born at a time when her mother Cosima was still married to Hans von Bülow, she was legally a born von Bülow. The authors describe the consequences of the lost trial for the Beidler family, in particular for the first Wagner grandson Franz Wilhelm Beidler, in detail, but not with great attention to detail. In a matter-of-fact tone, but with a focus on their subject, they cover a broad arc from Lucerne via Bayreuth and Berlin in the 1920s to Zurich, where Franz Wilhelm Beidler helped shape Swiss cultural life for many years as secretary of the Swiss Writers' Association.

"Beidler - the name was unknown to us," says Nike Wagner in the foreword to this meticulously researched volume, which now closes a gap in the Wagner genealogy.

Verena Naegele and Sibylle Ehrismann: The Beidlers. Im Schatten des Wagner-Clans, 336 p., Fr 38.00, Rüffer & Rub, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-907625-66-8

Reminiscent of Satie

In VIT, Rico Gubler brings together advanced, witty pieces for alto saxophone and piano - each preceded by a text.

Valentin Marti (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

VIT are "Very Important Things" that have become an integral part of our daily lives, such as the Tweezersthat Roach or the Port authority. They all receive an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek portrait here in an advanced musical language that is not too difficult to understand. The seven short pieces for saxophone and piano are dedicated to saxophonist Jean-Michel Goury on the one hand and Erik Satie on the other. Alongside titles such as Gymnasticswhich at best refers to the Gymnopédies or the obituary of the Dodo as a possible parallel to the Embryons desséchés it is above all the fact that each piece is preceded by a descriptive, sober text that is reminiscent of Satie in its distance from the musical-poetic event that follows.

Each of the seven pieces has a clear form, is derived from a simple basic material and is imaginatively crafted. An often recurring motif is the handling of disturbances. Unison parts are suddenly interrupted, either because the saxophonist is pondering a note or the pianist wants to demonstrate his virtuosity. Or the saxophonist experiments with microtonal changes in unison, which must drive the pianist, who is incapable of doing so, mad. In return, the saxophonist has to follow the common playing instruction of "pure intonation", which at best elicits a tired smile from the pianist. Another frequently recurring motif is mirroring, whether within the sequence of the twelve-tone rows or in the formal structure. The lively first piece (the Watering can), for example, is perfectly symmetrical.

The pieces can be played as a suite, but can also be inserted individually between other works. The wit, the conciseness and the loose connection with each other make it possible.

Rico Gubler, VIT Very important things, for alto saxophone and piano, FH 3446, € 17.80, Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig 2012

Remembering, circling ...

The oboe quartet genre has grown in many ways.

Matthias Arter (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

Xavier Dayer. Photo: George Leintenberger

There is hardly any other genre that has achieved classical significance with so few relevant pieces as the oboe quartet. Until 20 years ago, there were just three really well-known works, namely those by Johann Christian Bach, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and Benjamin Britten. Fortunately, the situation has improved in recent years, and thanks to new compositions by Isang Yun, Elliott Carter, Rudolf Kelterborn and Harrison Birtwistle (all composed at Heinz Holliger's instigation and premiered by him), more diverse programming is now possible.

Xavier Dayer's "Mémoire, Cercles" now joins this illustrious series of successful compositions. He describes his work as a meditation on the question of what would happen if total oblivion made all memory completely impossible. Using a sophisticated variation technique, he changes and disguises a basic melodic idea (which never appears in its basic form) and traces the shape of a human brain in a rondo-like circular form. This sounds magical, at times enigmatic, yet very varied and multifaceted and extremely virtuosic. The rhythmic and dynamic design is consistently expressive and repeatedly creates interesting relief structures, especially when the melodic lines between the individual instruments intertwine and cross over.

Those who wish to take up the rewarding challenge can look forward to a clean and well-considered edition. Turnarounds that work and generous engraver's notes (often on a separate staff) aid understanding of the music and make it easier to rehearse what is certainly not an easy work.

Xavier Dayer: Mémoire, Cercles, for oboe, violin, viola and violoncello, MCX87, Fr. 35.00, Editions Bim, Vuarmarens 2012

A treasure chest (not only) for pianists

Hans Freys wrote virtuoso country music for solo piano. Among other things, he was inspired by ragtime.

Franz-Xaver Nager (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

Solo pieces for piano are as rare in classical literature as they are in jazz, but they are quite a rarity in folk music. Hans Frey (1913-1973) from Lachen was once celebrated as an undisputed master in this genre by niche enthusiasts and was also fêted by Radio Beromünster. Without any musical training or knowledge of music himself, but equipped with plenty of talent and an absolute ear, the piano tuner from Ausserschwyz left behind 43 dances for solo piano. To mark the centenary of his birth and fortieth anniversary of his death, Wollerau music dealer Mathias Knobel has now published these polkas, ländler, mazurkas, marches and schottisches, some of them virtuoso, as a complete collection of sheet music.

As is well known, country music has only given the piano a secondary role as a rhythmic and harmonic accompanying instrument, and in some places it is even frowned upon completely. Frey, who obviously also heard ragtime and stride pianists, was not content with such a sideman function. Even in his youth, he occasionally invited fellow pupils to "Concert & Syrup" in the Bären, where he was also allowed to practise due to the lack of his own piano. At his first and only piano lesson, the exasperated teacher is said to have sent him away immediately because he played everything straight away. Soon the village notables took him out of the schoolroom to show off the child prodigy to their guests.

Fredy Reichmuth, Knobel's long-time collaborator on accordion and piano, has meticulously transcribed the notes from Frey's own recordings in the original keys. His penchant for the black keys is already reflected in the first two numbers in D flat major. Whilst the left hand can play quarter notes between octave basses and three-part chords, the right hand can indulge in quaver runs in thirds or sixths. So this is not exactly literature for beginners, especially not when Frey allows himself a septuplet to accommodate a chromatic passage between two bar lines.

This beautiful volume of sheet music, which also contains a compact biography with photos, is probably technically out of reach for amateur ländler pianists. It is therefore all the more suitable for curious outsiders who want to check their possible prejudices about "simple" country music. The 43 dances should appeal primarily to pianists looking for a native, down-to-earth complement to Chopin waltzes or Fats Waller. As the majority of the Ländler repertoire is only available in simplified notation (melody, possibly second part and chord ciphers), the detailed Frey sheet music could also be of interest as study objects for analysis and stylistic arrangement. In addition, Frey's recordings are available on two CDs - with regard to phrasing, dynamics and ornamentation practice: Memories of Hans Frey, Vol. 1 + 2

Volume of sheet music: Hans Frey (1913-1973), pianist and composer of Swiss folk music, transcription: Fredy Reichmuth, editor: Mathias Knobel, all 43 compositions in original version, A4 format, 136 pages, paperback cover, Fr. 56.00, Knobel music store, Wollerau 2013

Study baglama in Berlin

Following the conclusion of the 2nd International Baglama Symposium, talks were held between the Faculty of Music at the Berlin University of the Arts and the State Conservatory of Turkish Music in Istanbul: The baglama is to be included in the curriculum of the UdK Berlin.

PM/SMZ (translation: AI) - 30. Sep 2013

The first international baglama symposium in Germany, organized by the Berlin State Music Council, ended on 15 September 2013 at the Berlin University of the Arts. Following the symposium, which dealt intensively with the theory and history of the instrument, talks were held between the Faculty of Music at the UdK Berlin and the director of the Istanbul State Conservatory of Turkish Music, Cihangir Terzi, to discuss possible collaborations between the two universities.

The Udk Berlin has announced that the baglama is to be included in the curriculum of the Berlin University of the Arts. The aim is to get more people with a migration background interested in studying music as a teacher and to make a significant contribution to the integration of pupils with a migration background by integrating this traditional instrument into lessons, particularly in elementary school.

Similar to the guitar in Germany, the baglama plays an important role in the social life of migrants of Turkish origin, as well as in Turkey itself. Within a very short space of time, it has developed into an instrument with increasingly virtuoso playing techniques and high artistic standards. In the meantime, the baglama has also become an integral part of commercially successful music and - especially through its use in pop music - has gained a firm place in the everyday lives of young people, regardless of their cultural background.

Playfulness and wit

"Lorie" for Bb trumpet and piano inspires with echoes of Irish folk music.

Willi Röthenmund (translation: AI) - 29. Sep 2013

Jean-François Michel (*1957) enjoys a very good reputation in Switzerland as a brilliant trumpet player and as professor of trumpet at the University of Music (Lausanne, Fribourg, Sion). As a soloist, the former principal trumpeter of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra also performs on the international stage and offers master classes. An equally central and successful field of activity for Michel is composing chamber music pieces in various styles and levels of difficulty.

Lorie is a light, modal composition in three short movements with strong references to the stirring folk music of Ireland with Celtic roots. The first movement is a jig with a lively Dorian melody, which is partly accompanied by percussive elements (rhythms are to be struck on the wood of the piano and on the edge of the mouthpiece), reminiscent of the rhythmic tapping of the dancers' shoes in an Irish reel. The slow middle movement is characterized by a simple melody in a major key and, with its legato character, offers a contrast to the two outer movements. The final movement - like a fiddle tune - with dotted rhythms and a Mixolydian melody with shifts to major and minor, is also full of energy, joy of playing and wit.

The piece, which lasts around five minutes, would be very suitable as a competition piece for the intermediate level.

Jean-François Michel: Lorie, for Bb trumpet and piano, (=Swiss Composers Series), TP332, Fr. 20.00, Edition Bim, Vuarmarens 2011

A complicated history

The Glagolitic Mass, a great piece of church music in two scores and a piano reduction.

Josef Estermann (translation: AI) - 29. Sep 2013

Janáček's signature. Source: wikimedia commons

Janáček's Glagolitic Mass for soloists, choir and orchestra has a complex genesis. There are major differences between the version before the first performance in 1927 and the final printed version. Jirí Zahrádka, the editor of this new edition, solved the problem by also presenting two scores (the "September 1927" version as BA 6863; and the final version as BA 6862). The later version was taken into account as the version valid for performances. It is instrumentally richer, easier to study and shortened in some important passages.

The piano reduction presented here follows this later version. The Church Slavonic text was arranged by the Slavicist Radoslav Vecerka; the performance material is available on loan from Bärenreiterverlag.

Leoš Janáček: Mša glagolskaja, piano reduction after the Critical Complete Edition, edited by Martin Zehn, BA 6862-90, € 34.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2012