Father Roman Bannwart, sitting to my left, pushes the slider down; the lights go out in the hall. The "hall" is the gymnasium of Einsiedeln Abbey School, the time: Fasnacht 1966. The orchestra plays a piece of music that I have since learned to call an "overture". It is the first overture in my life - and also the last, so to speak. And it opens Franz Schubert's Singspiel "Die Zwillingsbrüder". I sit to the right of Father Roman in the prompter's box and have to give the singers their cues in the speaking parts.

What Father Roman doesn't know, and I know even less, is that the 1966 Fasnacht opera - alongside the Twin brothers Schubert's one-act play The four-year post a long tradition comes to an end. It is the tradition of opera performances in the monastery, which has been documented in the monastery since 1808. The opera-loving monks and, under their guidance, the pupils of the grammar school dared to try their hand at many things: Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio (1833), to Donizetti's Daughter of the regiment (1860) or to Auber's The mute of Portici (1890). However: From the love drama of the Kidnapping was a father-son story (The Turkish cadets), the regimental daughter became a regimental boy, the mute became a mute - the monks and pupils were probably not supposed to be shown too much of the opposite sex on stage. In later years, this drastic "re-writing" was omitted; the two operas that I experienced were performed more or less in the original, of course with boys in the (female) soprano and alto roles. Father Roman - known throughout Switzerland as a chorale master at the time - did not always just act as chief lighting technician either: a photo in the exhibition shows him in the leading role in an opera by Albert Lortzing in 1937.

Photo: Museum Fram

The regiment's daughter became a regimental lad

In 1965, the year before Schubert and therefore as the second last opera, a piece by a then virtually unknown composer was staged. It was called Orfeo and was by a certain Claudio Monteverdi - strange music! Some 20 years later, I was to experience Nikolaus Harnoncourt's performance at the Zurich Opera House - and some of the opera's melodies seemed strangely familiar to me. The role of Plutone in the Einsiedeln performance was sung by a student called Arthur Helg - as Father Lukas Helg, he is now one of the two curators of the exhibition.

And opera not only had its place on the stage, but also in monastic services: arrangements of passages from Mozart's operas were often performed there - the same music with a new, sacred text. The in-house composers were very skillful in this kind of appropriation and - to put it soberly - also quite unquestioning. Gregorian chant, on the other hand, which today is the "trademark" of monastic worship, was hardly sung at that time.
The emblematic piece of music of the monastery, the polyphonic Hermit Salve Reginawhich the monks sing daily in the Chapel of Grace. The piece exists in various arrangements of the Gregorian (monophonic) original; and the version for male voices only, which is regularly sung in front of the Chapel of Grace today, is musically not unproblematic, as it is actually intended for an upper voice for choirboys.
 

Photo: Museum Fram

"Einsiedler Salve Regina"

In addition to Father Roman, our second music teacher and the monastery's bandmaster was Father Daniel Meier; incidentally, he played the Knusperhexe in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. He now forgot to celebrate with our year of choirboys the Salute and, after a while, indignantly reprimanded our still uncertain singing along. So although I enjoyed singing the "Salve" - its full-toned, organ-like sound had something overwhelming about it inside the Chapel of Mercy - I was still a little timid for a long time ...

Father Daniel Meier (1921-2004) was a composition student of Paul Hindemith in Zurich for several years; greeting postcards with Hindemith's own drawings even testify to a kind of friendship. Father Daniel is one of an impressive number of monastery composers (over 30 in total), some of whom have composed several hundred works; the youngest to date is the equally prolific Father Theo Flury (*1955). This shows a special development in the history of music: up until the 19th century, important composers also composed sacred music, which could be performed by talented amateurs and was therefore readily taken up by the monastery musicians. However, this changed with the radical new music of the 20th century: sacred music that could be used in Sunday services became the preserve of composers who did not want to represent a modern or avant-garde style, and the Einsiedeln composer-monks were among them. Their fate, however, is that their "utility music" is hardly ever played in the concert hall. But they did not always compose only pious music: the monastery hit is still a groovy Caecilia March for three organs, written by Father Anselm Schubiger in 1845.
 
 

Photo: Museum Fram

"Caecilia March" for three organs by Father Anselm Schubiger

Hits of a completely different kind were contained in a print from 1520, which can also be found in the exhibition: The Liber selectarum cantionum - a magnificent volume compiled by the "Swiss" composer Ludwig Senfl - contains 25 works by the most famous composers of the High Renaissance. Josquin Desprez and (somewhat immodestly) Ludwig Senfl himself are represented with most of the works. The strange thing, however, is that the volume shows practically no signs of use; the monks seem to have bought it as an "art object" rather than for everyday use. This may correspond to the fact that the two Renaissance works that we regularly sang in church services were not by composers such as Josquin or Senfl. Rather, they were the Missa Papae Marcelli by G. P. da Palestrina and the Requiem by his pupil G. F. Anerio, which continued the Renaissance style in a somewhat tensionless, elegant melodiousness.

It was precisely this Palestrina style that was declared a model for church music in the 19th century - with not always entirely happy consequences. After all, whereas in the past everything "outdated" had been ruthlessly discarded as unfit for reuse, the music of earlier epochs was now once again taken note of and collected. This historical interest also arose in Einsiedeln Abbey; a real music library was created, the beginnings of which can be traced back to the collecting activities of Father Gall Morel (1803-1872). To name two contrasting examples, the monastery owes him a treasure such as Mozart's handwritten sketch for his Paris Symphony and the curiosity of the pseudo-Renaissance madrigals of the Englishman Robert Lucas Pearsall, who was living at Wartensee Castle (St. Gallen) at the time; he not only donated his own works to the monastery, but also the extensive music library. Donations of this kind helped to make the monastery's music library one of the largest in Europe today.

Photo: Museum Fram

Mozart's handwritten sketch of the Andante con Moto from his "Paris Symphony"

In the late 19th century, interest in early music also turned to Gregorian chant. The monastery owns the Codex 121 the oldest surviving gradual with monophonic Gregorian chants for the entire church year. The manuscript, written in Einsiedeln before the year 1000, can (naturally) only be seen as a facsimile in the exhibition - but even this, with its mysterious notation of the neumes, is capable of awakening a quiet shiver. At least today. Because it would be a lie to claim that I particularly loved Gregorian chant back then as a monastery pupil; no, it always seemed a bit boring and monotonous to me, even if Father Roman had patiently taught it to us ... So the past can still catch up with us even after more than 50 years.

The exhibition offers a musical history of its own kind: much that is otherwise important does not appear here; and what was important in the monastery was and is only occasionally taken note of outside. But this is precisely what makes the exhibition so appealing, together with the wealth of manuscripts, prints, biographies, contemporary documents and sound samples - presented in a visually inviting way and clearly structured into manageable "chapters". This structure is also followed by accompanying documentation; and Father Lukas Helg's guided tours, which are anything but academic, contribute to the exhibition's appeal. But of course this and that also remains open: Why did that tiny miniature from 1659 with Calvinist (!) psalms come to the monastery ...?

Born in Zurich, Ringger studied at secondary school and at the Zurich Conservatory, according to the Musinfo database. In 1956 he attended the Darmstadt Summer Courses. He studied with Theodor W. Adorno and Hans Werner Henze in Naples and also studied conducting in Zurich from 1958 to 1962.

Ringger also studied musicology and philosophy at the University of Zurich and completed his doctorate with a dissertation on Anton Webern. In 1967/68 he was a guest of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in West Berlin. From 1975, he wrote commissioned piano, vocal and chamber music, orchestral pieces, ballets and orchestrations. His works have been performed in London, Manchester, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Berlin, Munich and Tokyo.

Photo above: Cygnebleu / wikimedia commons

Born in Chermignon in 1965, Arsène Duc holds a degree in economics from the University of Lausanne and studied music at the Geneva Conservatory. With the Ancienne Cécilia wind band from Chermignon, which he has conducted since 1988, he won the Swiss championship title in the highest class at the Swiss Federal Music Festival, which takes place every five years, in 2011 and 2016. He won the Valais championship in 1990, 2014 and 2019.

On the international stage, Arsène Duc can boast a European Championship title, which he won with the Valaisia Brass Band in 2018, and two other runner-up titles, which he won with the Brass Band Fribourg in 2006 and with the Valaisia Brass Band in 2017.

The Rünzi Prize, endowed with CHF 20,000, has been awarded since 1972. According to the foundation charter, it can be awarded by the Council to any person who has brought special honor to Valais.
 

Norbert Möslang is a visual artist, composer, musician and violin maker. He has become internationally known both for his award-winning music for Peter Liechti's films and for his artistic work with "cracked" everyday electronics. He processes hidden levels of electronic systems or devices into sound, develops performances or creates multimedia installations.

Dominik Kesseli has been very active in the St.Gallen music scene for years. His work is characterized by its range from classical to punk as well as his elaborately staged performances.

Tobias Bauer holds a doctorate in economics from the HSG and has been working as a writer since going temporarily blind almost ten years ago. The Kulturkosmonauten project is a mobile, flexible format of participatory artistic workshops for young people. Fabienne Lussmann belongs to the young generation of artists in the city of St.Gallen.

The recognition prize is endowed with CHF 20,000 and is awarded to people who have made a special contribution to the city through their cultural activities. The four sponsorship prizes are endowed with CHF 10,000 each.

The Collegium Novum Zurich is a renowned soloist ensemble for contemporary music. In collaboration with the ensemble's artistic committee, Johannes Knapp will develop new cultural perspectives and shape the program from the 2020/21 season onwards. The aim is also to expand the circle of young listeners through new forms of presentation and strengthen the ensemble's position internationally. Jens Schubbe is still responsible for the concert program for the 2019/20 season. The management remains in the hands of Alexander Kraus.

Johannes Knapp, born in 1990, studied cultural management, violoncello, philosophy and musicology in Frankfurt am Main and Saarbrücken. After working in Salzburg (Biennale) and Lausanne (first as Artistic Coordinator and later as Managing Director of the Swiss Association of Musicians), he was appointed Managing Director of the Concours Nicati in 2018. For the competition, he launched a category for innovative performances at the interface between contemporary music and other forms of expression. Johannes Knapp regularly appears as an author for major music institutions, such as the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and the Lucerne Festival. He gave up his post as trade union secretary of the Swiss Musicians' Association in September 2019 to devote all his energy to the Collegium Novum Zurich.
 

The three will each receive prize money of CHF 10,000 and an additional scholarship in the form of participation in the Lucerne Festival Academy 2019 worth a further CHF 10,000.

Born in Switzerland in 1991, Martina Kalt studied viola with Geneviève Strosser and violin with Adelina Oprean at the Basel University of Music. She completed her bachelor's degree in 2015 at the Lübeck University of Music with Barbara Westphal. Since 2009, she has already gained a lot of orchestral experience, for example with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

Spanish oboist Marta Sanchez Paz, born in 1995, is currently studying at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne. She completed her Bachelor's degree in 2017 at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel under Emanuel Abbühl. In the 2019/20 season, she will complete an internship with the Basel Symphony Orchestra.

Francisco Olmedo Molina, born in Spain in 1990, completed his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts with David Bruchez and at the Basel University of Music with Mike Svoboda. For years, he has dedicated himself primarily to the contemporary repertoire and has already been engaged by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Musikcollegium Winterthur and the Philharmonia Zurich. He also teaches trombone at "Superar Suisse".

The "Fritz Gerber Award" was announced for the fifth time this year via the Lucerne Festival Academy. Musicians were able to apply for the open call, and recommendations from universities and well-known artists were also once again accepted. This year's jury once again consisted of Michael Haefliger, Director of the Lucerne Festival, composer and conductor Heinz Holliger and lecturers from the Academy's Teaching Faculty.

With this decision, the Grand Council is sending out a signal for Basel as a city of music and thus acknowledging the work of recent years and "ultimately also the high capacity utilization figures and continuous increase in concert attendance of the Basel Symphony Orchestra", writes the orchestra. The increase from the 2017/18 season to 2018/19 was around 20 percent.

After the vote, Elisabeth Ackermann, President of the Government, also emphasized "the importance of a standing orchestra (professional orchestra)" and that "the high level of satisfaction of the Basel Theatre with the symphony orchestra" had significantly influenced the unanimous result (with no abstentions or votes against).

With the award, which is endowed with CHF 10,000, Ambrosetti wants to honor personalities who have rendered outstanding services to jazz in Switzerland. They combine "different genres, generations and grooves and speak an open, curious language with playful musicality at the highest level". In addition, they carry Swiss jazz into the world with their extensive international network.

This year's winners are Känzig & Känzig. Anna Känzig reached number 6 in the Swiss charts with her album "Sound and Fury". Now the versatile singer has teamed up with her uncle: Heiri Känzig is one of the leading jazz bassists internationally - he has performed with the Vienna Art Orchestra, Charlie Mariano and Chico Freeman, among others. What Känzig and Känzig have in common is their open musical horizon. For their first joint project, they have chosen the Great American Songbook as their source of inspiration.

The prize will be presented in person by Franco Ambrosetti on July 30 at the Hotel Walther, Via Maistra 215, Pontresina.

Olivera Tičević, Montenegrin soprano, completed her Master's degree in Specialized Music Performance at the HKB with Christan Hilz. She has won numerous competitions. In 2010 and 2013 she was voted the most promising artist of the Baroque Austria Academy, followed by an international career with concerts in Vienna, Stockholm, Heidelberg and Tokyo.

French pianist Valentin Cotton completed his master's degree in interpretation at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in Michel Dalberto's class. He has won prizes at several international competitions, including first prize at the Concours de France and the Montrond International Competition, as well as the Schenk Prize from the foundation of the same name in Switzerland.

For the first time, however, the other four specializations of the Master's course were also taken into account in the judging process: Music Mediation, Research, New Music and Chamber Music. The music educator and clarinettist Laura Müller was able to assert herself within this reorientation of the competition with a transdisciplinary education project at the Creaviva Children's Museum at the Zentrum Paul Klee.

Every year, HKB students completing their Master's degree in Specialized Music Performance Classical Music perform at a soloist diploma concert. The Sinfonie Orchester Biel Solothurn accompanied this year's concert in Biel under the direction of its chief conductor Kaspar Zehnder. Afterwards, the students with the best overall score in the demanding three-part Master's examination were once again awarded the Eduard Tschumi Prize, each worth CHF 5,000.

Who has ever heard a symphony by Fritz Brun (1878-1959)? You may still recognize his name, as he was chief conductor of the Bernische Musikgesellschaft (now the Bern Symphony Orchestra) for over 30 years. But few people know this: Brun was the most important Swiss symphonist of the early 20th century, although not the most important Swiss composer of his time. Others, such as Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin and Othmar Schoeck, carried more weight. But Fritz Brun was the only one to devote himself primarily and with eminent talent to symphonic music, comparable to Anton Bruckner, for example - even in his underestimated importance. It is to be hoped that this will soon come to an end. The publication of Fritz Brun's complete orchestral works in this recording could provide an impetus for him to finally receive the recognition he deserves. It is true that many Swiss symphony orchestras have performed works by Brun in recent decades, there have also been radio recordings, and some of his symphonies have been released on LP and CD. But it is not without irony that an outsider conductor has had to bring his work to the public's attention, and with two foreign orchestras to boot.

The conductor is Adriano, born Adriano Baumann in Fribourg in 1944. He realized this complete recording with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra in the period 2003-2015. After studying music at the Zurich Conservatory, Adriano worked as a film music composer, editor of Honegger's film music and prompter at the Zurich Opera House. At the suggestion of Ernest Ansermet and Joseph Keilberth, he finally turned to conducting and from then on devoted himself to the interpretation of little-known works under the stage name Adriano, including the film music of Arthur Honegger as well as orchestral works and operas by Ottorino Respighi. He also champions little-performed Swiss composers such as Hermann Suter, Albert Fäsy, Pierre Maurice and Emile Jaques-Dalcroze.
The idea of a complete recording of Fritz Brun's symphonic oeuvre was born in 2002, when Adriano approached Hans Brun, Fritz Brun's son, with a request for financial support for his project. He and subsequently the Brun heirs, now represented by the composer's grandson, Andreas Brun, provided significant support for the ambitious undertaking over the following years.

The result now available is something to be seen (and heard!): a complete recording of Brun's orchestral works comprising eleven CDs. Adriano has combined all of Brun's published works for the ten symphonies, including the Rhapsody for orchestra, the symphonic poem From the Book of Jobthe concertos for piano with orchestra and violoncello with orchestra. Plus the vocal cycles 3 Songs and chants for alto and piano by Othmar Schoeck (orchestrated by Fritz Brun) and Brun's 5 songs for alto and piano - arranged by Adriano for mezzo-soprano and string sextet.

This comprehensive appreciation is a unique achievement that allows us to get to know Brun's oeuvre as a whole. Like many of his composing contemporaries, Brun began in the footsteps of Beethoven, Schumann, Bruckner and Brahms; he developed his style independently in the area of gradually expanding tonality, without ever questioning it. He found his personal musical language as early as 1901 in the First Symphony and remained true to his style until the Tenth, which he composed at the age of 75.

Characteristic of Brun's style are the chamber music structures that loosen up the orchestral flow and give it character, the tangible shaping of large movements and the rich late Romantic harmony. This is particularly evident in the first movement of the Fifth, which Brun himself considered problematic. In movements 2 and 4, he creates virtuoso fugati with twelve-note themes in the free tonal space, as Bartók and Hindemith also did.

This publication is enriched by a recording of the Eighth, which Fritz Brun realized in 1946 as conductor with the Beromünster Studio Orchestra. And the Variations for string orchestra and piano on an original theme can be heard in a recording by the Collegium Musicum Zürich under the direction of Paul Sacher and with Adrian Aeschbacher from the same year.

Fritz Brun: Complete Orchestral Works.
Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra
Adriano, conductor
(11 CDs) Brilliant Classics 8968194

The website https://lieder.giigaebank.ch brings around 350 song lyrics from "Ä altä Älpler" to "Zwüscha Bärgä" into the trouser bag - thanks to smartphones. According to the website, these are songs that are often sung at social gatherings in the Muota Valley and Illgau, but whose lyrics are not always remembered correctly. The aim is to preserve the tradition of open singing in the Muota Valley.

This online collection is based on two songbooks, one published in Muotathal in 1979 and the other in Illgau in 1988. The association points out that many of the authors of these songs are unknown and are therefore "in a gray area of copyright law". Individual entries could therefore be deleted on request.

A search function leads to specific song texts, but you can also use the alphabetical index for inspiration.

At the moment texts are available, perhaps audio files will be added at a later date.
 

© Giigäbank Association

Screenshot of the website lieder.giigaebank.ch

Dominik Ettlin - The lower jaw is a horseshoe-shaped bone. Its two ends form the temporomandibular joints with the base of the skull. The position and movements of the lower jaw are regulated by the activity of the masticatory muscles. Disorders in the temporomandibular joints or muscles usually manifest themselves with clicking or rubbing noises accompanying movement and/or pain, for example when chewing or yawning. Occasionally, the opening of the mouth is restricted (temporomandibular joint blockage). The symptoms typically fluctuate over time and depending on the position of the lower jaw.

The lower jaw is in a relaxed or physiological floating position when the upper and lower teeth do not touch when the lips are closed. Unphysiological movements or postures such as excessive gum chewing, frequent teeth clenching or night-time teeth grinding can promote overloading of the masticatory system. The lower jaw also adopts a persistently unphysiological position when playing certain wind instruments or singing. Popular expressions such as "doggedly approaching a task" or "gritting your teeth and getting through it" or "chewing on a problem" reveal the close link between chewing muscle tension and emotions. Accordingly, emotional stress can also lead to tension and discomfort in the masticatory apparatus.

Good quality scientific studies on the subject of temporomandibular joint complaints in musicians are few and far between. In a Dutch study, music students complained more frequently than medical students of complaints in the areas of hands, shoulders, neck and jaw. A survey of 210 students found a significantly higher risk of developing temporomandibular joint complaints in those who played wind instruments compared to musicians of other instruments. An even more detailed analysis of the distribution of complaints by instrument was provided by a survey of 408 professional musicians from two classical orchestras in Germany. Because making music with woodwind instruments (flute, bassoon, clarinet and oboe) requires a persistently unphysiological lower jaw posture, it is not surprising that functional disorders and pain in the temporomandibular joint were described more frequently in this group. What is surprising, however, is that similar complaints were experienced just as frequently by people who played stringed instruments.

Other risk factors such as night-time teeth grinding and persistent jaw clenching could at least partially explain this observation. This is because these risk factors frequently describe people under stress, which in turn is associated with increased chewing muscle tone and jaw and facial pain. Around half of 93 professional violinists in Portugal reported suffering from stage fright, with a clear correlation with jaw joint pain. Excessive singing is also thought to be a possible cause of TMJ, but reliable data is not available.

In summary, musicians complain of jaw complaints with variable frequency. According to currently known data, these cannot be clearly attributed to playing a particular type of instrument. However, the impairment is highest for singers and wind instrument players. Health-promoting training is now recommended at music training centers. Instruction on recognizing stress and tension during training is useful, as young musicians, for example, suffer more from stage fright than experienced musicians. It also makes sense to impart knowledge about tinnitus and other hearing disorders, which are frequently associated with jaw problems, at an early stage. Both preventively and therapeutically, the focus is on dealing with emotional stress, optimizing body awareness and learning relaxation techniques.

PD Dr. med., Dr. med. dent. Dominik Ettlin Interdisciplinary pain consultation

Center for Dentistry,

University of Zurich Plattenstrasse 11, 8032 Zurich

The references can be found in the online version of the article at:

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The lonely shepherd on the beach, waiting for his beloved, blowing on the double reed, calling, lamenting: bucolic associations of this kind run through one's mind from the very first note. Letter from afarwhich György Kurtág wrote in memory of the harpist Ursula Holliger, who died in 2014. Her husband, Heinz Holliger, intones this piece on the oboe in a heartbreakingly elegiac manner. It is no coincidence that we encounter a similar mood several times among the 37 tracks on this CD, in Kurtág's ...a Sappho fragment for example, or in ...(Hommage à Tristan) - The cor anglais appears in Act 3 of the opera. Holliger, for his part, takes up the intense and warm tone. It is often about memories of the deceased, tributes to friends, reminiscences of music history, very touching, calling out, calling after, imploring, lamenting, sometimes in delicate, sometimes in dark colors, in the playing of Holliger and Marie-Lise Schüpbach on oboe and/or cor anglais, and especially when Ernesto Molinari's double bass clarinet joins in. There are also instrumental dialogs and pairings, beautifully performed, with character, precisely drawn.

Dialogues is the title of the CD that the ECM label is dedicating to Holliger on his 80th birthday. Both Holliger's and Kurtág's names appear on the cover. It is a testimony to a long artistic friendship. At first, it may come as a surprise when Holliger says that their compositional styles are similar. Many of the older works seem completely different, and yet the two have grown closer in recent decades. After all, they had the same teacher in Sándor Veress. This very harmonious CD tells the story. And just when you think the whole thing sounds very homogeneous, you discover nuances, mysterious ones. The references become richer and closer. At times, the pieces go back and forth between the two. The Swiss set to music The Ros' by Angelus Silesius, and the Hungarian responds with another setting sung by Sarah Wegener.

Finally, another artist joins the conversation. Poet Philippe Jaccottet recites seven of his poems, which Holliger takes on in a "Lecture pour hautbois et cor anglais". In it, he follows the words, but with each Air a bit further, into the microtonal and in the last piece Oiseaux ... It is music that reaches out into the distance and seeks out a distant horizon.

I had great fun playing through his ten waltzes for two violins by the busy comedy violinist-conductor-entrepreneur Aleksey Igudesman. The Simple Waltz at the beginning is easy to play, but well formed. The other nine are ingenious inventions in various moods. They demand familiar playing and great dynamic and agogic flexibility. Humorous effects are created by built-in general pauses, hectic accompanying figures, scratchy notes or theatrically breathless turning pauses. The arrangements of Chopin, Brahms and Johann Strauss take their content to the extreme. The two voices alternate democratically with the lead; it is a pleasure for professionals and good amateurs ... and also for the listeners.

Aleksey Igudesman: Waltz & more for 2 violins, UE 33657, € 17.95, Universal Edition, Vienna

Short pieces are practical. Be it to supplement or structure a concert program, be it for instructive work in the university sector or be it to look over the shoulders of the composers a little more closely as they work. Two collections with numerous, predominantly short pieces by György Kurtág and Heinz Holliger, which were written over a fairly long period of time, should therefore attract a great deal of attention.

Under the title Signs, Games and Messages (Signs, Games and Messages), collections for violin, violoncello and clarinet, for example, have already been published. Now György Kurtág's solo and chamber music works for oboe and cor anglais are available, which deserve a closer look. His writing moves in an interesting field of tension between very precisely notated and very freely intended. Detailed articulation indications, such as various slurs (hierarchically or alternatively conceived), contrast with an extensive renunciation of bar lines or overly precise tempo or rhythm indications. Some ossia passages offer the performer options. In Kurtág's music, the most precise characterization possible is always central: here, a wide variety of verbal indications help, such as più sonore, raddolcendo, con slancio, disperato, pochiss. più intenso or again and again rubato and parlando.

The most extensive and best-known work in the collection is In Nomine - all'ongheresea magnificent monody that exists in a slightly different form for numerous instruments. But some shorter pieces also deserve in-depth study, such as the Sappho fragment or the two-part Hommage à Elliott Carter. In the chamber music works, a clarinet instrument is often added (in no less than three cases it is the contrabass clarinet). As a very short duo, the fierce Versetto for cor anglais and bass clarinet, but also the infinitely slow and (except for a brief outburst) infinitely quiet Rozsnyai Ilona in memoriam for cor anglais and contrabass clarinet. The two duos for soprano and oboe and cor anglais are also extremely poetic, Lorand Gaspar: Désert and Angelus Silesius: The Ros'. All the works in this extraordinary and magnificent collection are dedicated to Heinz Holliger, who penned the other edition, which is reported on here.

His collection consists of ten duos for oboe and harp, which were originally composed for his own use. They are playful, sometimes very short works, birthday presents for Robert Suter, Elliott Carter or Peter-Lukas Graf, for example, some of which have now also been arranged for other melody instruments (flute, carinette, saxophone). Two longer and very demanding pieces stand out at first glance from the "Albumblätter-Miniaturen": firstly, the work that gives the edition its title Un bouquet de penséesdedicated to his esteemed teacher Émile Castagnaud on his 90th birthday, an expansive dialogic song from 1999 for oboe d'amore and harp; on the other hand Surrogò, all'ongheresededicated to György Kurtág in 2006, a buzzing and shimmering composition (these expressions can be found in the subtitle!) of a highly energetic character for cor anglais and harp, which dissolves into a tonal nothingness at the end.

In addition to this extremely worthwhile compilation, the previously published Mobile for oboe and harp. On the one hand, the new edition is indispensable, as significant changes have been made to both the harp and oboe parts. On the other hand, the work now loses a decisive characteristic feature: the twelve short parts were printed on one large page in the first edition and could be played in three different sequences. If now, with the new edition, an entire booklet (in which the three versions are printed one after the other) is played through and, in addition, the transitional fermatas have to be constantly leafed through, the quasi-improvisatory character of the performance, for which the title Mobile stands. The reviewer takes the liberty of recommending that the individual parts be slightly reduced in size and glued onto a large cardboard as in the first edition. With good placement, the two musicians could even play from a music box, which would allow for even more lively and spontaneous interactions.

György Kurtàg: Signs, Games and Messages, solos and chamber music works for oboe and cor anglais, Z. 15 074, ca. Fr. 52.00, Editio Musica Budapest 2018

Heinz Holliger: Un bouquet de pensées, 10 pieces for oboe (oboe d'amore, cor anglais) and harp (individual pieces also for flute/alto flute, clarinet, soprano/alto/tenor saxophone and harp), score and parts ED 9467, € 55.00, Schott, Mainz

id., Mobile, for oboe and harp, playing score ED 5384, € 28.00, Schott, Mainz