The Geneva musician Christophe Sturzenegger really is a versatile talent! His previous recordings as a horn player and pianist with works by Strauss, Glière and Schumann testify to his outstanding ability on both instruments. His latest CD with incidental music now presents him as a composer and conductor.

Le Colibri

The music to Le Colibri was created as a joint production with the successful writer Elisa Shua Dusapin from French-speaking Switzerland, winner of the 2019 Swiss Literature Prize. The story of two young people on their way to adulthood was commissioned by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) and Geneva's Théâtre Am Stram Gram, one of Europe's most important theaters for children and young people. Sturzenegger's music is neo-romantic, excellently orchestrated and a pleasure to listen to even if you don't know the plot. A graphic novel of Dusapin's work created in collaboration with the illustrator Hélène Becquelin, together with Sturzenegger's music as an audio book, received the Swiss Children's and Young People's Book Prize in 2023.

La Reine des Neiges

From the second work on the CD, La Reine des Neiges after the fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, written two years before the Disney blockbuster, can be heard in both a concert suite and a half-hour version with spoken text (convincingly interpreted by Joan Mompart). Andersen's fairy tale, labeled «unsuitable for children» at the time it was written but now often set to music, tells the story of the children Kay and Gerda, who are separated from each other by malicious magic, but find each other again in the castle of the Snow Queen on Spitsbergen and are redeemed.

The musical idea behind the piece was to create a work of music theater with the cast of Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat with the accompaniment of a small ensemble. The performance by the Théâtre Am Stram Gram was played countless times in Switzerland and France and received much praise. Although this recording does not replace the theater experience, it gives a vivid impression of it. The music is reminiscent of compositions by the «Groupe des Six» or Stravinsky and is once again very instrumentally appropriate and effectively written. It is played by members of the OSR under the direction of Christophe Sturzenegger with verve and beautiful sound. With an appropriate text version, the piece could also cause a sensation in German-speaking countries.

Musiques de scène : Le Colibri, La Reine des Neiges. Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Musique et direction Christophe Sturzenegger. Klarthe Records

As President of the host Swiss Music Council and member of the National Council, Stefan Müller-Altermatt opened the exchange between politicians and representatives of various music associations by naming the dichotomy between «financial policy reality and cultural policy responsibility».

As federal expenditure is expected to rise faster than revenue in the coming years, the Federal Council, under the leadership of FDP Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter, has presented «Relief Package 27» (EP 27) with 59 cost-cutting measures. During the meeting, Raphael Capaul from the FDP's General Secretariat presented deficit bars that were threatening to plunge into the red and warned against tax increases as a last resort. Speakers from the industry explained what the cuts could mean for musicians' incomes, which are already under severe pressure.

Relief package burdens music professionals

Alex Meszmer from Suisseculture explained that the cultural sector was affected by at least 22 of the austerity measures, but that it was difficult to pinpoint their specific effects. For example, fewer international projects by Pro Helvetia also generate less copyright compensation, which means that the damage for music creators is far greater than is evident in the austerity package. Meszmer jokingly spoke of an «Easter egg hunt after KKS». He recalled that the Federal Council had emphasized at the presentation of the Cultural Dispatch 2025-28 that it wanted to guarantee appropriate compensation for cultural professionals and improve their working conditions. Parliament had also adopted improvements to social security as a legislative objective. However, nothing has actually happened so far. The income of cultural professionals has been declining since 2016 and further cuts or even just the freezing of funds will further reinforce this trend.

At Pro Helvetia, the EP 27 envisages savings of CHF 1.5 million. As Director Michael Kinzer and Head of the Music Department Dominique Rovini explained, it is hardly conceivable that the Arts Council will withdraw from major platforms such as the Centre culturel suisse. This would mean that around 150 fewer projects with 500 participants would be supported and the current approval rate of around 34% would fall further, with a direct impact on the income of music professionals. Albane Dunand from the Fondation romande pour la chanson et les musiques actuelles pointed out that cutbacks hit those already living in precarious circumstances the hardest. Similarly, in times of austerity, programs aimed at greater equality and diversity are the first to disappear.

Rico Gubler from the Swiss Conference of Music Universities emphasized that the cuts or freezing of funding would lead to smaller and less attractive professional fields. The research landscape would also be affected. The effects of the increase in tuition fees had not been thought through to the end and in some cases were hardly foreseeable. (A KMHS statement on the increase in tuition fees will be published in the issue of Swiss Music Newspaper which will be published on March 26).

Great haste, unclear consequences

During the discussion, Michael Kaufmann from Sonart pointed out that the austerity package would also send a negative signal to the cantons and municipalities, which would then have to follow suit with cuts, resulting in a loss of several times the amounts mentioned in EP 27. The whole thing is incredibly diffuse, Müller-Altermatt confirmed: «We have various federal levels that are responsible for promoting culture and music. We have very indirect financial flows via these levels, we have federal offices, funding bodies and we have very broad effects. If you cut funding for tourism, for example, this also affects creative artists.»

Meanwhile, discussions on EP 27 continued in the National Council immediately after the industry meeting. The differences between the two chambers will be resolved before the end of this session so that the deadline for a possible referendum - which the Greens have already announced - can be met. This means that a referendum can still take place this fall. The umbrella organization Suisseculture is still discussing whether it wants to support a possible referendum, because if EP 27 is rejected, EP 29 is already on the table with possibly even more drastic savings.

In the face of a referendum, all voters will have to ask themselves whether, as Müller-Altermatt so aptly put it, they simply want to describe cultural promotion as an expression of a noble state that does more for its population than what is absolutely necessary. Or whether they see culture as a strategic infrastructure that is vital.

The next PGM meeting will be held on June 3 on the topic of «Social security, minimum salaries and occupational risks».

No one would probably claim that music can avert the climate catastrophe. But what can it do about the problem that humanity is (increasingly) living beyond its means?

The most obvious thing to do: actively address the topic. This is what the Basel Chamber Orchestra did on February 5, 2026 at the Tinguely Museum with the music theater project «Unter Strom», created and performed by violinist Eva Miribung, violinist Mathias Weibel and director and actress Salomé Im Hof. They had come from «far away» and had heard that there were problems on earth. Their play is not a lament, but «wants to offend you, to poke you in the head». This was the announcement after the three astronauts marched onto the stage via Tinguely's Utopia machine to perform their self-made «energy song». There, Tinguely's oracle prophesied that humans would disappear at some point - «a bit of music first».

The next 60 minutes were a kind of speed run through music history, with pieces and songs that were cleverly dramaturgically linked and focused on nature, energy and the band's own horizons. For example, the Swedish «Water Canon», Lueget, from mountains and valley, I'll Follow the Sun of the Beatles, Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth the Sparks or Bob Dylan Blowin’ in the Wind. The program mainly consisted of popular songs, but also included classical pieces by Leclair, Liszt and Berio. The trio used an acoustic violin, an electric violin, a synthesizer, a mandolin and a loop station. The electric instruments were unplugged at the end of the performance.

Wit, confrontation and irritating clatter

Between the musical numbers, theatrical interludes led from one piece to the next, but at the same time had the function of involving the audience. Like a survey on what the good life actually means. The answers were recorded and looped to form the second voice in Vivaldi's Sonata in F major. Or in a quickfire session in which the audience had to answer either/or questions («organic or regional», «meat or tofu», «train or bike», etc.). The program had wit, the highlight in this respect being the rewritten Our Father to an oil tanker.

The confrontational nature of the performance ensured that the audience could never simply sit back and relax, but had to remain mentally involved and critical. An atmosphere of being lulled into complacency was prevented by the fact that the Tinguely machines were repeatedly switched on in the middle of the pieces. - Anyone who knows them (a fine example of re- or upcycling, by the way) can imagine that the rattling and crashing in a concert is mightily irritating.

Converted classroom play

The evening was definitely artistically convincing. And it's commendable that the chamber orchestra is dealing with the subject matter in depth. That is more than many other orchestras do. However, there was a lack of direction. One suggestion at least came at the very end, when it came to the frustration of not being able to do anything. Following the example of Georg Danzer, it was turned around into the freedom of not having to do the same as others, of simply doing nothing. A logic of abstinence that will not lead humanity as a whole out of its misery, but as an individual philosophy of life is certainly not a bad one.

The fact that orchestras such as the Basel Chamber Orchestra swallow up a lot of resources due to their size - and the concert tours - is of course a paradox. However, «Unter Strom», part of the Nachtklang series, short performances by members of the orchestra in museums, is a good example of redimensioning and synergies; the concert ticket was also an admission ticket to the museum. And as the trio also performs the piece in schools, the evening was recycled, so to speak. Turning the subject matter into a program is important in any case - perhaps this will lead to more answers than questions at some point.

It will be instructive to get to know the broad musical spectrum of the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt by listening to his recording of Ingvar Lidholm's Poesis and also that of Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony and Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor. The now 98-year-old conductor, who has nothing of the stature of a podium star about him, but is loved by the great orchestras worldwide and is therefore repeatedly engaged, is able to lead them to top performances with his amiable correctness, his self-discipline and his responsibility towards the work.

Topics of conversation

Mission Music is the title of the book containing nine conversations between music critic Julia Spinola and Blomstedt. The last one, conducted in Leipzig last May, resulted in an extensive additional chapter for this third edition.

Very different areas and situations are examined, especially those of the two German orchestras he led as chief conductor, the Staatskapelle Dresden 1975-1985 and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig 1998-2005. Of course, the position of the conductor is discussed, as well as internal problems of the orchestras; Blomstedt also held chief conductor positions in Oslo, Copenhagen and San Francisco during his long life. His insistence on the old German orchestral set-up was extremely interesting, as was his approach to works of new music and his attention to the audience with brief explanations. No pretentiousness, but an intensive effort to pass on the expert's insights in an understandable way.

Repertoire focus

The interviewer repeatedly succeeds in obtaining penetrating answers about the motivation behind his worldwide activities, while the private side of his life is revealed completely without voyeurism. His commitment to Nordic music, especially to Carl Nielsen, Franz Berwald and Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, his close relationship to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his late approach to Anton Bruckner and Richard Strauss are evidence of the specialties of his repertoire. He has performed Bruckner's nine symphonies twice with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, from 2005 to 2012 and in 2023. The extensive discography in the appendix reflects the fact that the ninety-year-old has also recorded his third complete recording of the Beethoven symphonies as well as several symphonies by Brahms, Stenhammar and Voříšek.

Herbert Blomstedt: Mission Musik - Gespräche mit Julia Spinola, 199 p., € 26.00, third, expanded edition, Henschel/Bärenreiter, Leipzig/Kassel 2025, ISBN 978-3-7618-2417-7 (Bärenreiter)

Sol Gabetta is Lise Cristiani - at least that's what the blurry cover of her latest album is supposed to suggest. It celebrates the 200th birthday of the French cellist with insights into her concert repertoire, works by Offenbach, Schubert, Rossini and others (Sony classical 12372444).

Parallel to the sound recording, a 53-minute documentary film was made in which the Argentinian cellist and her husband, the French violin maker and restorer Balthazar Soulier, follow in the footsteps of this mysterious musician. With the cello to the end of the world alludes to Cristiani's concert tour to Siberia in 1847. In 1852, at the age of 27, she died of a cholera infection, which she had contracted on a trip to the Caucasus, where she played for soldiers.

The atmospherically dense film chronologically recounts the life of the first female cellist to perform in public. The cello was considered immoral, even scandalous, for women because it had to be held with legs apart. The journalist Waldemar Kamer, who found the birth record in an estate, reports on Cristiani's origins and how she grew up as an illegitimate child with her grandparents.

Visits to original locations, combined with historical images, provide an insight into the Paris of her childhood. Sol Gabetta not only discovers Cristiani's concert programs together with Balthazar Soulier, but also plays her cello for a few minutes in the Stradivari Museum in Cremona. Here, however, the film remains on the surface. We would have liked to know more from Sol Gabetta about the exact sound of the instrument, which cost 7,000 francs at the time and is now worth around 20 million euros. Was it particularly robust so that it survived these extreme climatic conditions on its travels without damage? Balthazar Soulier could certainly have told us something about this. And what can we say about Cristiani's playing based on the repertoire? After all, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed his only Song without words op. 109 for cello and piano is dedicated to her. Unfortunately, apart from quoting a few contemporary reviews, this also remains in the dark.

With the cello to the end of the world - Sol Gabetta in the footsteps of Lise Cristiani. Film by Simone Jung. Hessischer Rundfunk/Arte. Available in the ARD media library until December 2026.

Link to the movie

Theodor Kirchner, educated in Leipzig and Dresden, accepted a position as organist in Winterthur at the age of 20 on the recommendation of Felix Mendelssohn. He worked in Switzerland for 30 years as a music teacher and conductor and started a family. A Swiss obituary states that he «stood at the center of musical endeavors in Zurich and Winterthur for a quarter of a century». In the difficult years after his return to Germany, he was supported by his friend Brahms.

In addition to 1000 piano pieces, he composed a great deal of chamber music, including some with pedagogical intentions such as the seven short string quartets Only drops. The moderately difficult pieces of varying character comprise only 16 to 60 (fast) bars. The rhythmically interwoven Romantic style requires all instruments to pay attention to the whole event. The notes for teaching by Anna Erdmann-Schiegnitz in the appendix to the edition contain important interpretative and technical aids.

Theodor Kirchner: Only drops. Very small pieces for string quartet, edited by Wolfgang Birtel, SE 1059, € 14.00, Schott, Mainz

Prokofiev began writing vocalises for voice and piano for his beloved singer Nina Koshetz in New York in 1920. He finished these five Songs without words during a tour in California. In Paris in 1925, Joseph Szigeti, Paweł Kochański and Cecilia Hansen asked him to arrange the melodies for violin. Kochański helped to rearrange the violin part; the piano part remained unchanged. They were published by Edition russe de Musique in Berlin in 1925. They have been part of the important violin repertoire ever since. A Barcarolle marks the beginning, followed by a Lullaby, a Mysterious Musing, a Scherzando (Seguidilla) and a Nocturne.

The new edition contains many small corrections, which are explained in the notes, and appears with a generous set of notes.

Sergei Prokofiev: Five Melodies for violin and piano op. 35a, edited by Fabian Czolbe, with an additional violin part marked by T. A. Irnberger, HN1539, € 13.00, G. Henle, Munich

In contrast to related areas such as basso continuo, there is hardly any literature on the subject of score playing. This is certainly due to the complexity of the subject matter, which also includes specialist areas such as sight-reading, instrumentation, harmony and stylistics. The didactics are correspondingly difficult to present clearly.

The now out-of-print two volumes are a successful attempt in this respect School of score playing by Günter Fork (published in 1980), which, however, could not prove their worth in the classroom due to their size. The four booklets are still relevant Score playing by Heinrich Creuzburg (published in 1956), in which, however, piano arrangements are proposed that are completely impractical. As far as this aspect is concerned, Alfred Stenger's Score playing, made easy from 2004 is an interesting approach, although the «made easy» is deceptive, because playing scores is not easy!

Comprehensive access, concrete assistance

Now Paul Suits presents a new, cleverly structured book in English and faces up to this fact: «There are artistic fields in which inspiration outweighs perspiration. In score reading the reverse is true [...]» The instructions are concise and the author's many years of teaching experience are evident throughout.

Suits teaches how to read the transposing instruments by learning the so-called «old clefs»: if you replace a marked clef with another one, the reference tone shifts, resulting in a transposition. If you also correct certain transposition signs, a transposing part can be read directly. This is preceded by a useful reading exercise to help learners familiarize themselves with the reference system of each new clef. Excellently selected literature examples are then used to guide you through all clefs and transpositions occurring in the orchestra.

Suits recommends figured bass and absolute chord symbols for grasping harmonic relationships. The chapters «Arranging the Score at the Piano» and «Dealing with unplayable Pieces» are particularly valuable. The methods and examples suggested are practical: reducing an orchestral movement to its harmonic framework and subsequently adding playable parts on the one hand, and regular reading and inner listening without an instrument on the other. Suits understands «score playing» comprehensively and uses the title Score Reading with intention: «In working with my students, techniques of playing, singing, imagining, and analyzing the score are all employed, often alternating in rapid succession.»

This book, full of helpful suggestions, is highly recommended to anyone who wants to tackle the difficult discipline of score reading!

Paul Suits: Score Reading: Time-honored Principles and New Approaches, 124 p., € 37.00, Tredition, Hamburg 2025, ISBN 978-3-384-57748-1

There are movies that you see. And there are movies that you hear. Anka Schmid's latest work Melody clearly belongs to the second category. «A soundtrack with a picture», you could also call it. First screened in the Sounds category at the Zurich Film Festival on September 28, 2025, and in regular cinemas from March 2026, it is much more than a music documentary: it is a poetic mosaic about how singing can become a lifeline, ritual, resistance, consolation and a sense of belonging.

The protagonists are as diverse as their voices. There is the Black woman Joanna Kora, who transforms her experiences from the Black Lives Matter movement into song and, as a music teacher and lead singer in the Go and Sing choir, inspires hope and enthusiasm with every note. The Appenzell dairymaid who protects not only her cows, but also herself, night after night with the Alpine blessing. The hip-hopper from Ticino, torn between anger at the lack of support for alternative youth culture and her deep roots in her homeland. The Kurd, whose voice was not taken away by seven years in prison and who now sings songs to his young daughter in Switzerland so that she, as a Kurd without a country, does not remain without culture. And the last death singer on a Greek island who, after the loss of her husband, finds support and purpose in life through song alone - and asks the anxious question: Who will sing her lament when she herself is no more?

Singing is more than sound

Schmid tells these stories without pathos, carried by the music and the faces of the singers. The camera captures the radiance, the tiredness, the passion. But the real centerpiece is the soundtrack. Sound engineer Reto Stamm largely dispenses with electronic distortion, conveying the voices pure, undistorted, in all their physicality. You can hear pauses in breathing, friction, imperfections - and that is precisely what makes the film so real.

At the end, when young women from the women's strike fill the square singing and drumming, the circle closes: singing is more than just sound. It overcomes boundaries, brings strangers closer together than any argument. Schmid's film shows that we can meet in the joy of singing, regardless of origin, language or skin color. A documentary that not only stays in the ear, but also in the heart.

Melody. Anka Schmid, Written and directed by. Frenetic-Films. In cinemas from March 5, 2026.

Trailer

The selection of these 17 Swiss folk songs is representative: the most popular from all four language regions are included. Some of them are «art songs» that have become commonplace due to their popularity. The Basel composer and recorder player Raphael Benjamin Meyer presents arrangements in his own publishing house Basilisk, which can be played by any instrument in a trio or as a duo with a piano accompaniment, which results from the lower two voices.

Very helpful is the offer to download individual parts for transposing instruments or with a different clef free of charge via QR code from the publisher's website basilisk-edition.ch to download. In a performance with a string trio, for example, the second part is in viola clef and in the «correct» octave so that it does not overlap the first.

The movement is skillfully done; it is more in the direction of «art music», but sounds extremely good and will give young musicians in particular a lot of pleasure in their first chamber music experience. As is usual in most song collections, there are no tempo markings, only once is it called «Swing». The level of difficulty is low, experience in reading music is an advantage. The lyrics are given with all verses for all songs, which also enables vocal renditions. However, the songs must be transposed for a comfortable singing pitch.

Popular songs with and without author

As familiar as these folk songs may be to the older generation, they will be lost to children and young people if there is less and less singing in elementary school. Today, music schools are taking on the task of preserving our musical tradition. Songs like Luegid vo Bärg and Tal, Le ranz des vaches, Guggisberglied, Le vieux chalet, Aprite le porte, Dorma bain and From Lozärn towards Weggis and many more are brought to the younger generation of musicians or brought to mind thanks to these arrangements.

Less popular songs with well-known authorship such as Weischus dü (Eugen Meyer, *1934), You ask me who I am (Heidi Stucki, 1915-2012) and Anneli where did you go yesterday? (Gottfried Bohnenblust, 1883-1960) have found their way into this collection.

Swiss Trios, for recorders, strings or other instruments arranged by Raphael Benjamin Meyer, score and parts (online), RM 21, Fr.23.50, Basilisk Edition, Basel

Clara Schumann rightly enjoys the reputation of an outstanding musician of the 19th century. Her fame outshone even that of her husband Robert. As a virtuoso, composer and teacher, she shaped an entire era. Her not overly large compositional oeuvre has been increasingly performed in recent years. Zurich Opera House is currently staging an entire ballet evening based on the life of this exceptional artist. Around thirty composers dedicated piano works to her, although she only included very few of them in her repertoire.

The Swiss pianist Kathrin Schmidlin continues with her double CD released by Claves Dedicated to Clara Schumann for works by ten composers and one female composer, most of whom have never been heard in the concert hall. She was advised in her choice of works by Walter Labhart. Schmidlin studied in Zurich, Nuremberg and Basel with Karl-Andreas Kolly, Wolfgang Manz and Tobias Schabenberger. Her previous CDs have been dedicated to works by female composers and have received very positive reviews.

From Bargiel to Smetana

This recording offers an extraordinarily interesting cross-section of piano music from the Romantic era. Among the composers are Alexander Dreyschock and Stephen Heller, famous piano virtuosos, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Vinzenz Lachner, respected conductors, Woldemar Bargiel, Clara Schumann's stepbrother, and Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann, important university teachers, and Eduard Bernsdorf, one of the most important music writers.

A great familiarity with the piano can be heard in all her works. Of course, the same applies to Johannes Brahms, who wrote a work that has also been arranged for various instrumentations by numerous other composers. Gavotte by Christoph Willibald Gluck, and for Robert Schumann, whose so-called Ghost variations, written shortly before his death, are a very peculiar piece that does not necessarily reveal itself on first hearing. Elisabeth von Herzogenberg's Allegro appassionato was dedicated to Clara Schumann by her husband after her death. Bedřich Smetana's 4 sketches prove that his piano music has been unjustly forgotten. In addition, the pieces by Bargiel and Bernsdorf, the latter as a premiere recording, are particularly worth listening to.

Kathrin Schmidlin plays with passion and great technical skill. The virtuoso pieces are particularly inspiring. Unfortunately, the piano sound is very direct, as if recorded from too close, even pedal noises can be heard. In addition to its artistic quality, this committed recording can also be recommended for its repertoire value.

Dedicated to Clara Schumann. Works by Bargiel, Lachner, Dreyschock, Heller, R. Schumann, E. von Herzogenberg, Brahms, Hartmann, Mendelssohn, Bernsdorf, Smetana. Kathrin Schmidlin, piano. Claves Records 3122/23

To avoid the danger that the inevitably lengthy introductory explanations could ruin the pleasure of listening: Antitopèia offers an incredibly dynamic and atmospheric blend of global influences and local performance, bringing us its experimental boldness with a lot of warmth.

At its core, the band The Sea Around Us consists of the Zurich drummer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Mario Marchisella and the Italian-South African clarinettist, bassist and synth specialist João Orecchia, who currently lives in Marseille. The two met in Johannesburg in 2008, when Marchisella was staying there as part of a Pro Helvetia residency with his life and work partner Marianne Halter - the two are involved in video and other art installations. They quickly recognized a «kindred spirit», which subsequently led to all kinds of other projects in South Africa and Switzerland.

Now the creative exchange has finally found expression in an album. The work began with a week-long meeting in Marchisella's Zurich studio. The daily, hour-long «jams» were all recorded and then - back at home - combed through separately for promising passages.

At a second meeting, they supplemented selected original recordings with additional instrumental parts and electronic arrangements. Now they felt the need for more ingredients. The vocal artist Saadet Türköz, the word performance artist Gilles Furtwängler and the violinist/electronic artist Magda Drozd each spent half a day in the studio and responded to the sound material presented to them with their own contributions.

Not least thanks to a South African-influenced bass carpet pad, resolute drums and atmospheric synth stabs, these pieces are almost carnal in their sensual richness.

The Sea Around Us: Antitopèia. Mario Marchisella, Drums, Guitar, Piano, Bass; João Orecchia, Bass Clarinet, Synthesizer, Bass. Guests: Magda Drozd, Violin, Electronics (1, 2, 3), Saadet Türköz, Lyrics & Voice (2, 4), Gilles Furtwängler, Lyrics & Voice (1, 6). Digital and vinyl. Audioscope/Irascible

There is a special breed of complete musicians among organists: almost universally educated, equally skilled in interpretation, improvisation and composition (whereby the latter is often somewhat neglected), well versed in literature and theology, active in the direct confrontation with the social and liturgical network of the church service; in addition, there is knowledge of organ building and teaching. Craftsmanship and spiritual superstructure truly go hand in hand.

Daniel Glaus combines all of this in his work. Born in Bern in 1957, he worked as organist at the Stadtkirche Biel from 1985 to 2006 and from 2007 as organist at Bern Minster, where he was responsible for church music and evening music. This was associated with a professorship for organ and composition at the HKB. He taught composition and instrumentation at the ZHdK. He retired from these positions at the end of 2022. But Glaus was never just a church musician: his encounters with his teacher Klaus Huber and later especially with Luigi Nono also led him to think beyond the purely musical in his works. History is just as present in his music as the immediate present.

This is reflected in his works with string quartet, which mark his development. The first quartet, composed in 1980 during his studies at the Bern Conservatory, is already fully formed and reflects his early exploration of classical forms (fugue, scherzo, chorale), but also of the twelve-tone technique in an independent way. The third title Naezach from 2001 is a quartet version of the first movement of the third of four orchestral Sephiroth Symphonies and refers to Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. The fourth, which was premiered at the Bern Music Festival in 2023, unfolds an even greater richness of sound. Spectral sounds are embedded in expansive sound fields, often raw, even untamed, but then again beautiful as in a Gregorian, even alpine blessing-like chant.

The dramatic confrontation with beautiful sound, in a way that is as fascinating as it is self-critical, appears again and again in Daniel Glaus' work: It is a sign of resistance, of listening. The music does not make itself completely submissive, it always challenges. This remains the case even in the poetic cantata Chammawet Ahawah for soprano, harp and string quartet. A polyglot love song, based on the Old Testament Song of Songs, but as intimate as it is at times impetuous. Glaus has the best interpreters at his disposal for all of this: Christina Daletska and Consuelo Giulianelli in the cantata and the phenomenal Arditti Quartet on the entire CD.

Daniel Glaus: Works for and with string quartet. Arditti Quartet; Christina Daletska, soprano; Consuelo Giulianelli, harp. Neos 12508

Grieg's Suite From Holberg's time is one of the main pillars of the repertoire for string orchestra. However, for the racy rhythm in the first movement, the beautiful cantilenas in the multiple divided parts of the middle movements and the virtuoso rigaudon in the solos to come into their own, performers of a high standard are required. For me, this suite is a piece for professional, at best semi-professional chamber orchestras. And a wonderful introduction to music for ambitious young string players!

All the more reason for me to welcome the publication of this new edition by Henle, which offers all the comforts that are indispensable today: Bar numbers in the score and in all parts, large-format paper in thick quality, parts set 3/3/2/2/1, clear music notation and a pagination suitable for performance. If you are traveling digitally, you can also purchase the score and parts in the Henle app.

First for piano, then for string orchestra

Edvard Grieg composed the suite in 1884 to mark the 200th birthday of the Norwegian polymath and poet Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), whom he also referred to as the "Molière of the North". The version for string orchestra was preceded by the version for two-handed piano (also available from Henle, HN 432). It is less well known today than the arrangement for string orchestra completed by the composer in February 1885. It seems that Edvard Grieg already had the string sound in mind when composing the piano work. The fourth movement "Air" is one of the most beautiful string pieces, music for the desert island!

The editor Ernst-Günter Heinemann cites the first editions of the score and parts published by Peters in Leipzig (1886) with the composer's handwritten entries as essential sources. Grieg himself conducted the premiere in Bergen on March 13, 1885 (from handwritten parts). The autograph, which subsequently served as an engraver's model for the publisher, is unfortunately lost. Bowings and occasional fingerings, which are entered in the parts, were probably already there and correspond entirely to the author's ideas. They have been included in this Henle edition. But - don't worry - there are only a few of them, and they are all good!

Grieg cannot deny himself

If the Holberg Suite even if it is "Romantic" Baroque, which has little in common with today's knowledge of historically informed musical practice, it is nevertheless a valuable contemporary document of the reception of Baroque music in Grieg's time. The work allows us to take note with a smile of how its Romantic creator always remains recognizable through the Baroque idiom, despite his remark in a letter to Julius Röntgen in 1884: "It is actually a good exercise, as an exception, to hide one's own personality."

Edvard Grieg: From Holberg's time. Suite in the old style op. 40, version for string orchestra, edited by Ernst-Günter Heinemann; score, HN 3320, € 22.00; set of parts, HN 3322, € 45.00; study score, HN 7012, € 10.00; G. Henle, Munich