According to a press release from Budes, the compensation for cultural enterprises and cultural professionals is currently limited until the end of April 2022. They are now to be extended until the end of June 2022. The National Council's Committee for Science, Education and Culture (WBK-N) has requested the Federal Council to do so and the Federal Office of Culture (BAK) has submitted a corresponding proposal for consultation.

The cantons, cities and municipalities welcome the proposed extension of the default compensation until the end of June 2022. In particular, they point out that the cultural sector still faces major challenges even after the lifting of most coronavirus measures. If the situation deteriorates again, the resumption of measures should be examined.

Federal Councillor Berset also provided information on the work on the 2025-2028 Cultural Dispatch, which will involve the specialist level of the state partners and cultural associations at an early stage.

The National Cultural Dialogue was established in 2011 and brings together representatives of the political authorities and cultural representatives from the cantons, cities, municipalities and the federal government. Its work is based on an agreement from 2011 and a multi-year work program. The political authorities form the strategic steering body of the National Cultural Dialogue with the head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA), representatives of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK), the Swiss Association of Cities (SSV) and the Swiss Association of Communes (SGV).

The ISCM Switzerland notes with horror and dismay the invasion and war currently being waged against Ukraine. The International Society for Contemporary Music ISCM was founded 100 years ago out of the desire to contribute to peace and respect in the world through musical cooperation and exchange of experience. The ISCM fears for the safety of its members in Ukraine and fervently hopes that the war can be ended quickly. With its fundraising campaign, ISCM Switzerland is helping musicians in need in Ukraine via the Ukrainian ISCM sister section (ISCM Ukraine). The donations collected will be transferred in full to ISCM Ukraine, which will send them directly to musicians in need.

Link to the complete appeal for donations:
http://iscm-switzerland.ch/PDF/iscmswitzerland_spendenaufruf_ukraine2022_d-f.pdf

The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) was founded in Salzburg in 1922 by the composers Bartók, Schönberg, Berg, Webern, Stravinsky, Hindemith and Honegger, among others, and is the oldest international umbrella organization for the promotion of New Music. It is regarded as one of the most important music-cultural societies in the world and has been organizing the ISCM World New Music Days, which take place in a different country every year, since 1923. The ISCM has 66 international sections in 44 countries and has been chaired by Glenda Keam (ISCM New Zealand) since 2019.

The Swiss ISCM section (ISCM Switzerland / Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Neue Musik SGNM / Société Suisse de Musique Contemporaine SSMC), also founded in 1922, is one of the oldest ISCM sections and has organized the ISCM World Music Days in Switzerland six times in the last 100 years: in 1926, 1929, 1957, 1970, 1991 and 2004. The current board is made up of David Rossel, Arturo Corrales, Antoine Fachard and Javier Hagen (president).

http://iscm-switzerland.ch
http://iscm.org
 

According to the canton's press release, construction work on the timber building will begin in June 2022. The Klanghaus will create a musical and architectural center for natural sound music in Toggenburg.

The first work for the construction project was already carried out in summer 2021. The canton relocated part of Vordere Schwendistrasse. Work can now begin on the building. As a first step, the canton is demolishing the Hotel Seegüetli. After around two and a half years of construction, the building will be handed over to the Klangwelt Toggenburg Foundation at the end of 2024.

The wooden building comprises four acoustically unique sound rooms. There are also two outdoor stages for outdoor music experiments. Compared to the hotel, the sound house will be built further away from the lake. The demolition of the hotel and the special architecture of the sound house will significantly enhance the landscape conservation area at Schwendisee.

As a sound workshop, the Klanghaus is available to both professional musicians and amateurs for rehearsals, courses, workshops and symposia. It is also integrated into an overall tourism concept. The total cost of the building is 23.3 million Swiss francs. Of this, Klangwelt Toggenburg is financing CHF 1 million. The remaining costs for the canton amount to CHF 22.3 million. The Klangwelt Toggenburg Foundation will operate the Klanghaus.

Hearing problems are widespread among professional musicians. According to studies, around a third of all orchestral musicians are affected by disorders such as hearing loss or tinnitus. A team led by Oldenburg hearing researcher Kai Siedenburg is now investigating how widespread hearing protection and hearing aids are among professionals, but also among members of amateur choirs and orchestras, and what attitudes musicians have towards the risk of hearing damage in a large-scale online study.

The researchers are conducting a survey in collaboration with the German Orchestra Association and the German Choral Association and want to conduct the first ever survey on questions relating to hearing health among musicians. The funding for the study comes from a Freigeist Fellowship from the Volkswagen Foundation, which supports Siedenburg's Music Perception and Processing research group in the Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics at the University of Oldenburg.

More info:
http://uol.de/musik-wahrnehmung
 

It provides access to over 10,000 music institutions, statistical data, interactive maps, articles and in-depth analyses of musical life. Thematically, the miz covers all key areas - from music education and training to amateur music-making, professional music-making and the music industry.

Tutorials on music research and copyright support information seekers with specific questions in musical practice. Calendars of further training courses, conferences and advertised support measures bundle offers throughout Germany.

The project was supported by special funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten (GVL) as well as the music publisher Hal Leonard Europe.

Link: www.miz.org

Salome, Elektra, Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel ... When you think of Richard Strauss, you probably associate his name with operas, tone poems or his songs. But an original composition with recorder from 1883?

Strauss' youthful works are still largely unknown today. On the last page of the autograph score of this fantasy is a reference to the reason for its composition: "O don't let me sweat too long, for a Strauss is no pleasure. The above fantasia comp. and written by Richard Strauss for bassoon and cross trumpet was performed at the 1883 Order Festival by Weschitz and [illegible]." The order is the convivial Munich Harbni-Orden gegen den tierischen Ernst, for which Strauss had already written an occasional work the previous year.

The instrumentation in the autograph score is bassoon, mouth flute (in the single part: mouth flute) and guitar. According to research by Franz Trenner and Peter Thalheimer, Nikolaj Tarasov ultimately confirmed that Strauss meant a recorder instrument by mouth flute. A soprano recorder in c is recommended for today's practice. Although the score is marked "Guitarre", Strauss notated it as a piano part on two staves, but also arranged it for guitar for the present edition.

The Fantasy by the 19-year-old composer is based on the famous theme "Nel cor più non mi sento" from the opera La Molinara by Giovanni Paisiello and joins a dozen other compositions on the same theme by Beethoven, Sor, Hummel and Paganini, for example. After a short introduction and the theme divided between the two melody instruments, a variation for recorder and bassoon and a virtuoso finale follow. Strauss' compositional mischief is not only evident in the sudden singing note in the flute part. With this four-minute fantasy, the sparse original recorder literature of the 19th century has been expanded to include a cheerful work for an extremely appealing instrumentation.

Richard Strauss: Fantasy on a theme by Giovanni Paisiello, for soprano recorder, bassoon and guitar (piano), edited by Peter Thalheimer, first edition, EW 1129, € 14.80, Edition Walhall, Magdeburg

Louis François Dauprat (1781-1868) worked as an orchestral horn player and horn teacher in Paris and was one of the most important natural horn players of his time. He also composed numerous works, mostly for study purposes for his pupils, including six horn concertos and chamber music for horn and horn ensemble. His Sextet op. 10, in which each of the six horn players plays in different tunings, i.e. each with a different tuning bow, is probably of interest to music history. The rich collection of music for horn and wind chamber music in Edition Kunzelmann has received a welcome addition with the edition of the Sonata for Horn and Harp op. 3, lovingly supervised by Simon Scheiwiller.

Louis François Dauprat : Sonate pour cor et harpe op.3, edited by Simon Scheiwiller, GM-1962, Fr. 23.00, Edition Kunzelmann, Adliswil

Anette Weber has headed the opera division of the Zurich Opera House since the beginning of the current season. She was previously casting director at the Hamburg State Opera and the Semperoper Dresden.

The 22/23 season marks an artistic turning point at Ballett Zürich: ballet director Christian Spuck is entering his last season. His successor Cathy Marston is already presenting her first new production. A total of 14 choreographies - including five world premieres - will be presented in the four premieres and four revivals.

Schulz is moving from the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden to Zurich. He previously worked at the Salzburg Festival and as Artistic Director and Commercial Director of the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg. In 2015, he was appointed artistic director designate of the Berlin State Opera. In 2025, he will succeed Artistic Director Homoki at Zurich Opera House, who is leaving the post at his own request.

Back in 2015, Paolo Crivellaro, Professor of Organ at the Berlin University of the Arts, published his book The North German Organ School (Carus), which offers a comprehensive collection of annotated sources on the performance practice and instrumentation of this organ landscape. Now a comparable work is being published, focusing on the French Ecole classique.

After an initial overview of the repertoire, the sources and the liturgical context of the music from the beginning of the 17th to the middle of the 18th century, the specific instrument is described in detail before the characteristic mélanges of the French school are discussed on the basis of registration notes and illustrated with numerous quotations and musical examples. Chapters on the difficult question of inégalité, tempo, ornamentation and fingering supplement the wealth of information with those aspects of historically informed performance practice that are central to this extremely "codified" music, which requires a great deal of background knowledge. Crivellaro succeeds in shedding light on these topics in a clear presentation using annotated sources available in the original wording and in German translation, and briefly summarizes the current state of research; the extensive bibliography provides information and references for in-depth reading. Short portraits of the 25 most important composers (from Eustache du Caurroy to Claude-Bénigne Balbastre) and their works round off the book.

Since Crivellaro largely refrains from "evaluating" the sources or giving specific interpretative advice on individual works, his handbook does not exempt the reader from familiarizing himself with the music on the instrument, trying things out and literally "feeling his way" towards this tonal language, but it lays an excellent foundation for a stylistically adequate approach to this repertoire, which will certainly set standards and be of great benefit to non-French-speaking readers in particular - the book is also available in an English and an Italian translation.

Paolo Crivellaro: Organ & Interpretation - the French Ecole classique, 358 p., € 45.95, Blockwerk Editiones, 2021, ISBN 978-3-9821872-0-4

The conductor Erich Schmid probably needs no introduction to the older generation. As conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Beromünster Radio Orchestra, he held a central position in Swiss musical life for many years after the Second World War. And between 1968 and 1978, he was also increasingly active as a guest conductor with various English orchestras.

The fact that Schmid was also a prolific composer, at least in the 1930s, is probably less well known. A CD box set published by ZHdK-Records in 2013 offers a good introduction to the music of this busy composer (ZHdK-Records 30/2013). The pianist Christoph Keller recently published Erich Schmid's piano music in two volumes with Boosey & Hawkes/Bote & Bock.

Even the early Little music for piano from 1926 reveals a lot about Schmid's compositional potential. Two of the three short pieces are written with a great deal of youthful verve and mischief, while the middle piece (slow and expressive) reveals an astonishing lyrical talent. With the Three piano pieces from 1929, Schmid then ventured into free atonality.

"So I compose ... piano pieces that I can't play," he wrote to his friend Erich Itor Kahn. In fact, the three thoroughly fascinating sound sketches are not easy to realize pianistically; smaller hands will encounter great difficulties.

The following Six pieces for piano op. 6 are clearly influenced by Schmid's famous composition teacher Arnold Schönberg. On the one hand, it is admirable how confidently the 25-year-old pupil has already mastered the twelve-tone technique, but on the other hand, craftsmanship is very much to the fore. The composer does not escape certain stereotypes (such as his preference for descending phrases).

The 1941 Splitter show a completely different Schmid: a march, a waltz and a foxtrot contrast with song arrangements and an enchanting berceuse. "With their comparatively easy playability, the pieces are suitable as an introduction to a piano oeuvre that still awaits discovery in large parts", writes editor Christoph Keller rightly about these Splitter.

And anyone who wants to take a closer look at Erich Schmid and his work will be very well served by these two booklets. In addition to a detailed critical report, reviews of his works and facsimiles, they also contain a biography that is well worth reading.

Erich Schmid: Piano Works 1 and 2, edited by Christoph Keller, Works 1, BB 3545; Works 2, BB 3546; € 55.00 each; Boosey & Hawkes / Bote & Bock, Berlin (Schott, Mainz) 

Antoine Gilliéron - The war that has been taking place in Ukraine since the end of February has touched the hearts of the HEMs of our country as well as questioning culture and training spaces in their universalist but also sometimes political vocations. How can we contribute to peace today, perhaps even more than in normal times, as tertiary music education institutions?

The eight high schools of music that make up CHEMS have taken a firm stand against the war in Ukraine (cf. Further information) and, while clearly distinguishing individuals from the political regime, adhere to measures aimed at cutting ties with artists representing the current Russian political power as well as to question or even interrupt the cooperation in force with the Russian universities and conservatories which publicly displayed their support for the war at the beginning of March, which is deeply incompatible with the values defended by the conference. Very attached to pacifism, to the rapprochement between peoples through music as well as to the principles of non-discrimination, solidarity and tolerance, the CHEMS affirms its desire to welcome Ukrainian artists fleeing their country but also musicians. Russians and Belarusians in its teaching and student body, even when these people are unable to publicly display their disapproval of the military invasion. Thus, it is crucial for the conference to emphasize the need to differentiate between individuals and regime, to highlight the freedom of art and research as well as the importance of maintaining the possibilities of travel and visas for all people with a nationality that is affected in one way or another by this war. The conference also takes a worried look at attempts to cancel culture and rejects with all its might attempts to suppress from the programs the masterpieces of Russian music which are also part of our exceptionally rich musical heritage.

Thus, from the history of music to the history of Russian instrumental schools, through the partnerships and historical relations that our schools have with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the reflection will allow us to take a broader view of the cultural relations that unite these countries with ours. In addition to this perspective, concrete initiatives are being taken to improve the situation in our schools and, to a greater extent, internationally. Whether it's concerts for peace, fundraising for charitable works or aid, the use of the soft power that culture represents, for example by showing its support for Ukraine through various communication channels, or mobilization to help students.es of our institutions (at the financial and psychological level) but also to welcome Ukrainian students.nes who have been released from the war in order to offer them continuity in their studies (including the Erasmus, Horizon Academic and Scholars at Risk systems), the Swiss music schools - in addition to sending a message of solidarity to the community affected by this war and of unity towards all and everyone - are making a major contribution to highlighting the need for art to contribute to the collective construction of peace.

Johann Sebastian Bach's chorales are not just objects of study or teaching pieces, but represent the unique combination of theology and music. Their function is prayer, reflection, commentary or confession. Even during Bach's lifetime, his chorales began to take on a life of their own and were collected. And when his music fell silent after his death, they preserved his memory for posterity.

The musicologist Thomas Daniel, a well-known Bach specialist, has published a new edition with Breitkopf & Härtel All chorale movements as an Urtext edition of all four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach. For this purpose, the chorales were divided into two parts of roughly equal size: The chorales from the cantatas, motets and passions, which are certain to be by Bach, are found in the first part, while the second part contains chorales from later sources and prints. By drawing on new sources, the authentic chorales are for the first time clearly separated from the chorales with partly dubious authorship. In addition to an informative preface and a separate introduction to the edition for both parts, the edition also contains for the first time individual notes on each chorale, which are printed directly in the music section. In addition, there are helpful indexes with which the movements can be searched by text beginning, BWV number, melody composer and librettist.

A highly recommended new edition that no music cabinet should be without.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sämtliche Choralsätze for four-part mixed choir, edited by Thomas Daniel, choral score, ChB 5377, € 24.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden