The press release states:

"The Paul Sacher Foundation has recently acquired a large number of important scores and letters from the publishing archives of Schott Music in Mainz, enabling it to substantially expand its existing collections. Formerly known as B. Schott's Söhne, one of the publishers of Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner, Schott is today one of the largest and most traditional music publishers in the world, and has always been committed to contemporary music.

Of the composers represented in the Paul Sacher Foundation, Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti, Heinz Holliger, Aribert Reimann, Dieter Schnebel and, in some cases, Igor Stravinsky, Klaus Huber, Jürg Wyttenbach and Conrad Beck have had their works published by Schott. In the past, their fair copies usually became the property of the publishing house. The Hans Werner Henze collection in particular is experiencing immense growth,
The composer was associated with the Mainz publishing house for over fifty years and had all his works published there until 2001.

Among the manuscripts that have now found their way into the Paul Sacher Foundation are Hans Werner Henze's fair copies of The Bassarids and Muses of Sicily. But also the handwritten piano score of Igor Stravinsky's Violin concertoGyörgy Ligeti's fair copies of Lontano and Chamber concert or Aribert Reimann's opera Lear are included.

In total, the parts of the Schott archive transferred to Basel comprise over 280 - in some cases extensive - manuscripts of works from the period from 1927 to 2018. In addition, there are around 3,000 original letters, which provide an insight into the creation of the works and the circumstances surrounding their production and premiere. Production documents also document the printing of the works (often in different versions);
Many of them contain substantial corrections by the composers.

The materials from the Schott archive will be processed in the course of 2020 and should be made available for research as quickly as possible."

Non-profit cultural enterprises can apply for interest-free, repayable loans from the canton to maintain their liquidity. Self-employed cultural professionals and cultural enterprises can apply for loss compensation to cushion the costs incurred as a result of the COVID measures. For guidance, overviews and decision-making aids have been published on the Homepage of the Office for Culture/Cultural Promotion of the Canton of Bern published. Here, the artists concerned can submit applications online.

After the government council had already decided on March 26 to support the cultural sector with lottery funds in the millions, it has now approved an extraordinary allocation of CHF 15 million from the lottery fund to the cultural promotion fund.
 

The international classical music fair Classical:Next would have taken place in Rotterdam from May 18 to 21. Due to the spread of COVID-19, this event also had to be canceled.

But Classical:Next is not "just" an event. Rather, the platform creates classicalnext.com the opportunity to network digitally with international players on the classical music scene. For example, "Mentoring Sessions" and "Regional and Sector Meet Ups" will soon be launched as an alternative to the conferences planned during the trade fair. As in the past, Classical:Next wants to continue to promote exchange and mutual learning. The team is open to suggestions and welcomes ideas. Communication will be in English only. You can register free of charge until April 17 and benefit from the platform's services.

Independent cultural practitioners and cultural enterprises active in the performing arts, music, film, literature, visual arts, design and museums can now submit applications for support measures to the Department of Culture. All instructions for submitting an application can be found on the website https://www.vs.ch/web/culture/coronavirus-culture. Additional information can be obtained by e-mail via SC-COVID19@admin.vs.ch be obtained.

The canton's press release also draws attention to the fact that self-employed cultural professionals can apply to the Suisseculture Sociale association for emergency aid to cover their immediate living costs. In addition, amateur associations in the fields of music and theater can be supported with a financial contribution for the financial loss associated with the cancellation or postponement of their events. To do so, they must contact the respective national umbrella organization.

The Federal Council is providing emergency aid for cultural enterprises and professional cultural practitioners, compensation for cultural enterprises and cultural practitioners as well as financial aid for cultural associations in the amateur sector with a Covid Ordinance on Culture. In a first step, the federal government is initially making CHF 280 million available for the period from March 21 to May 20, 2020.

The Federal Council has also tasked the cantons with implementing and financing some of the measures. It bases this on the constitutional responsibility of the cantons for culture. The cantonal government of Obwalden is complying with this requirement and is providing CHF 100,000 from the Swisslos fund to cover half of the compensation for losses incurred in accordance with the ordinance. The other half - as well as the financing of all other aid measures - will be covered by the federal treasury.

The Cantonal Office for Culture and Sport is responsible for carrying out the application procedures for emergency aid for cultural enterprises and for loss compensation for cultural enterprises and cultural professionals. More detailed information on eligibility and application procedures will be published on the canton's website on Thursday, April 9, 2020.
 

Emergency aid is granted in the form of repayable, interest-free loans. The aim is to ensure liquidity. Applications from non-profit cultural enterprises are dealt with on a cantonal basis. The same applies to applications for loss compensation for cultural enterprises and creative artists. In Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the Office for Culture is responsible for emergency aid and loss compensation. The relevant information sheets and application forms can be found on the canton's homepage at www.ar.ch/kulturfoerderung will be published. If possible, applications must be submitted by Thursday, April 30, 2020, but no later than May 20, 2020.

The cantonal government allocates CHF 450,000 from the lottery fund to the cultural fund, which - with the same contribution from the federal government - makes a total of CHF 900,000 available as aid for culture. If the maximum amount is used, the federal contribution to Appenzell Ausserrhoden would amount to CHF 725,000.

According to a - non-exhaustive - overview from the Office for Culture, there are up to 120 cultural event organizers and cultural institutions and around 100 cultural professionals in the canton who are affected by the current situation. It can be assumed that around 40 to 50 percent of cultural professionals will apply for compensation due to the postponement and cancellation of projects and events. It is currently impossible to estimate how many profit-oriented cultural enterprises will apply for financial support under the COVID Ordinance on Culture. The cultural associations are responsible for implementing the emergency aid for creative artists and supporting cultural associations in the amateur sector.
 

Zurich cultural institutions and cultural professionals from the performing arts, design, film, visual arts, literature, music and museums can submit an application for emergency aid or compensation for loss of earnings. As far as reasonable, it is assumed that the cultural institutions have already registered for short-time work and that the self-employed cultural professionals have applied for compensation for loss of earnings. In addition, the financial loss must be directly related to the official measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic.

Cultural institutions wishing to apply for emergency aid or compensation for loss of earnings can submit an application to the Canton of Zurich's Department of Culture from April 9, 2020. Cultural practitioners who are claiming compensation for loss of earnings can also submit their application to the Culture Office. The detailed documents are published on the website of the Department of Culture.

Cultural practitioners who wish to claim emergency aid should contact Suisse Culture, the umbrella organization for professional cultural practitioners in Switzerland. Cultural associations in the amateur sector with regional significance that have suffered financial losses due to canceled events can also submit an application for cancellation compensation to the Culture Office.

The federal government is making a total of CHF 26.5 million available to cultural workers and cultural institutions in the canton of Zurich to cover the loss compensation, and CHF 18.3 million for emergency aid. On March 18, the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich decided to also provide CHF 20 million in support for loss compensation in the cultural sector.
 

The office of the European Youth Choir Festival (EYCF) has hundreds of promotional textiles and thousands of flyers and cards that can no longer fulfill their purpose because they are time-bound. In order to recycle this material, the EJCF is looking for resourceful seamstresses and craftswomen to create new items from it. In stock are:

• 1200 hand flags in six different colors (50cm/100cm with eyelets in all four corners)
• 600 red bicycle pennants (with an eyelet in each of the three corners)
• 3000 business cards to promote the youth choir ship
• 3000 business cards to promote the opening concert
• 30'000 Leporellos
• 2000 posters in world format, A2, A3 and A4
• 130 Adhesive films for streetcar and car windows

We are looking for individual pieces that will be presented on the EJCF website with or without instructions or series products for sale at the next EJCF 2022.
Interested parties should inform the festival team as soon as possible by e-mail info@ejcf.ch or call 061 401 21 00 with your ideas and wishes as specifically as possible. The material will be sent to you or can be picked up in Basel at the reception of Settelen AG at Türkheimerstrasse 17.
 

The support includes a financial contribution of CHF 130,000 per year, the granting of usage rights in the KKL Lucerne and the provision of public land free of charge. Festival director Urs Leierer had previously announced that without broader sponsorship and additional funding from private individuals and the city, he would no longer be prepared to organize the festival at his own risk or that of the association he presides over.

The city is of the opinion that a foundation model is not suitable for securing the festival's future. Furthermore, the involvement of the City of Lucerne within the framework of a foundation under private law does not fit in with the participation strategy of the City of Lucerne.

The festival has existed since 1992 and is organized by the Lucerne Blues Session association based in Lucerne. The name "Blue Balls" has been used since 1999. The event has grown steadily over the years, both spatially and financially.

The Federal Office of Culture writes in its press release: "The cultural sector has been severely affected by the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the measures taken by the authorities to contain it. For this reason, the Federal Council approved a package of measures worth 280 million for the cultural sector on March 20, 2020. The financial aid is available and can be applied for from the cantons, the Suisseculture Sociale association and amateur cultural associations."

The ordinance is limited to two months and a first tranche of CHF 280 million will be distributed as follows:
"- Emergency aid for non-profit cultural enterprises (CHF 100 million) and creative artists (CHF 25 million)
- Loss compensation for profit-oriented and non-profit-oriented cultural enterprises and creative artists (CHF 145 million)
- Financial aid for cultural associations in the lay sector (CHF 10 million)"

Financial aid can be applied for from the Suisseculture Sociale association, the amateur cultural associations and the cantons, the latter only after they have signed a service agreement with the federal government.

The Federal Office of Culture and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia are monitoring the situation together with the cantons and cultural organizations (in particular Suisseculture Sociale) during these two months. On behalf of the Federal Council, they will draw up an assessment of the situation and examine the possibility of extending the period of validity of the ordinance.
 

Around 200 years after his death, Ludwig van Beethoven is still one of the most frequently performed composers in the world. In the 19th century, domestic music ensured that citizens could enjoy his works not only in the concert hall, but also at home. Beethoven's complicated compositions were adapted into simpler versions that were easy to play at home.

However, little research has been conducted into the Hausmusik arrangements to date. Scientists from the Detmold/Paderborn Musicology Seminar, the University of Oxford and the Beethoven-Haus Bonn want to change this with a new research project.

The first results of "Beethoven in the House" are expected in spring 2021. Once the research project is complete, all findings, the software developed and the data generated will be made freely available online.

More info:
https://www.uni-paderborn.de/nachricht/93421/

With his first symphony, Beethoven redefined the genre, which was firmly established at the beginning of the 19th century and popular in public concert life: in purely external terms, the work was no longer part of an opus with three or six individual compositions (such as the string quartets op. 18). Moreover, it is already characterized by an individual, if not "higher" idea. Although the tone and gestures are still fully aware of the conventions shaped by Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven asserts his own claim to originality in Symphony No. 1 in C major op. 21 from the very first bar: for example, the slow introduction to the first movement does not begin with a radiant flourish, but leads directly to the subdominant with a seventh chord, then reaches the VI degree (again via a seventh chord) and finally the dominant in bar 4. Finally, in bar 4, it reaches the dominant G major.

For contemporaries with open ears (or an absolute ear), this introduction must have sounded revolutionary at the successful premiere on April 2, 1800, especially as C major is only really defined as the tonic much later, with the introduction of the Allegro. But that's not all: the finale is also preceded by a brief Adagio in which Beethoven does nothing other than to descend the scale of the dominant note by note in an exciting manner. In this enchanting simplicity, it is a simply brilliant inspiration.

The fact that this first symphonic work was preceded by two prematurely abandoned attempts has remained largely unknown to this day. Beethoven had begun sketches for a movement in C minor while still in Bonn (111 bars have survived), and there are notes from 1794/96 for another symphony in C major (listed as "Unv 2" in the catalog of works). Beethoven returned to the latter sketches a few years later when working on his Opus 21: he used the theme originally intended for the first movement in a modified form for the finale. Strange.

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

The Forum Wallis has announced that it is evaluating whether the festival could take place later in the year or whether it should be postponed until next year.

The 6th Ars Electronica Forum Valais competition will be held in 2020. The deadline for entries has already expired.

The Forum Valais is the festival for new music of the Valais section of the International Society for New Music (IGNM-VS) and takes place every year at Whitsun at Leuk Castle. According to the festival, highlights in its 14-year history include Stockhausen's Helicopter String Quartet with the Arditti Quartet and Air Glaciers, Cod.Acts Pendulum Choir and performances by ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Recherche and Ensemble Modern.

The effects of the coronavirus are hitting the cultural city of Winterthur directly and hard, according to the city's press release. In order to provide cultural institutions and cultural professionals with concise information about the measures already taken at federal, cantonal and city of Winterthur level, the Culture department has set up a "Corona Infopoint" on the city's website. The most pressing questions are answered in an FAQ.

In addition, the city of Winterthur finances legal advice for cultural actors, which is organized and coordinated by the Kulturlobby Winterthur association. A team of lawyers specializing in employment law, social security law and contract law answers questions received from association members by telephone or in writing.

More info:
https://stadt.winterthur.ch/themen/leben-in-winterthur/kultur/infopoint-corona
 

As the management announced in mid-March, the current measures and entry regulations of the New Zealand government no longer allow events of this size to take place. The local organizers, the Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ) and the Asian Composers League (ACL), are endeavouring to hold the 2022 festival at the same venues while largely retaining this year's programme.

Esther Flückiger was chosen to represent Switzerland at the ISCM World New Music Days in New Zealand (Link to the news from 13.11.2019).