It was not yet known that the National Council had scuppered the broad-based business rent compromise on the first day of the 2020 winter session, meaning that the coronavirus rent discount was on the brink of failure, when the Culture Taskforce drafted the following media release. The letter, dated November 30, 2020, is quoted here in full.

The Swiss cultural sector is disappointed by the Federal Council's proposal to set the turnover threshold for hardship applications at CHF 100,000. In the cultural sector, as in the entire Swiss economy, there are numerous micro-enterprises and sole proprietorships that do not generate a turnover of CHF 100,000, but have nevertheless been operating solidly for many years. The Federal Council's explanation is therefore surprising: "The increase is intended to prevent the cantons' scarce administrative resources from being used to process applications from micro-enterprises" (https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-81342.html). The administrative burden on the cantons must not be allowed to take precedence over the existence of small businesses. If so, the implementation of the measures should be designed in such a way that the administrative burden is acceptable.

Fortunately, the WAK-N opposes this and proposes a turnover threshold for hardship applications of CHF 50,000 (https://www.parlament.ch/press-releases/Pages/mm-wak- n-2020-11-27.aspx).

In addition to the turnover threshold, the 40% drop in turnover also represents a major hurdle. After all, a drop in turnover of 10-20% can already lead to serious problems, especially for smaller companies that have hardly any financial reserves and have already suffered considerable losses in the nine months of the pandemic. We therefore welcome the minority motion to set the loss of turnover at 30%.

The WAK-N's proposal to include a share of uncovered fixed costs when calculating the loss of revenue is also very important.
 

According to the proposal, cultural enterprises that are entitled to compensation for loss are to be excluded from hardship compensation. This would be a catastrophe for the cultural sector, as the compensation can often only cover a (small) part of the damage due to a "cap" or other special cantonal rules. Access to hardship compensation is existential for cultural enterprises. Support already received should be taken into account so that no damage is compensated twice, but must not be automatically excluded.

Temporary employment relationships are typical in the cultural sector: from directing to lighting technology and acting to composition. We therefore welcome the Federal Council's proposal that short-time work compensation must also be possible again for employees in fixed-term contracts. However, it is incomprehensible why this should not be granted retroactively as of September 1, 2020. After all, the KAE for fixed-term employment contracts ended at the end of August not because it was no longer needed, but because the weakest employees were left out in the cold. The Covid credit line has by no means been exhausted to date, and expenditure on the KAE to date is apparently also significantly lower than planned. It is therefore incomprehensible to reject the retroactive introduction of KAE for fixed-term employment contracts.

From the point of view of the cultural sector, it is also necessary to compensate net salaries of less than CHF 4000 at 100% instead of just 80%.
 

Since September 17, 2020, self-employed persons have only been able to receive coronavirus income compensation if they can prove a loss of turnover of 55%. This is a disaster for many self-employed cultural workers. With a median salary of CHF 40,000 a year, no one can survive on 45% of income. As a result, many self-employed cultural professionals receive neither income replacement nor compensation for loss of earnings (indirectly via the cultural companies). They fall through the cracks and have to use up their savings until they can apply for emergency aid. The fixed limit of 55% loss of revenue should be abolished; more flexible solutions are needed at ordinance level. The budget for corona income compensation has not yet been exhausted; arguing with financial fear scenarios at this stage is not fair in view of the existential need in the cultural sector.

It is already foreseeable that the current restriction of the Corona acquisition substitute to the end of June 2021 is not sensible. No events are currently being planned and no artists are being booked. The Covid pandemic will affect the return to normal operations in the cultural sector for far longer than in the hospitality industry or other sectors, for example.
 

Freelancers are often unable to work for the required length of time to qualify for unemployment insurance within the two-year time limit, as they only receive very short employment contracts (e.g. for a gig or a speaking engagement). This applies even more since Covid-19. The framework period for employees in fixed-term employment and with frequently changing employers therefore urgently needs to be extended from two to four years.

The SNB has promised the Confederation and cantons a profit of CHF 4 billion. Even high losses in the last quarter of this year would not jeopardize this distribution (distribution reserve is currently around 100 billion, 40 billion is required). The Confederation and cantons can therefore count on this money. Against this backdrop and in view of the major impact on numerous small businesses and employees, we must not cut back on support for those with the lowest incomes."

The activities of the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra Reutlingen, the Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg and the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn were examined.

Based on the results, it can be seen across all three orchestras that more than two thirds of those surveyed had already used the educational services offered by the participating orchestras and that the majority were satisfied or very satisfied with the educational services they had already used. With regard to the design of future offers, the participants would like, among other things, more insight into the organization of the orchestra and more digital offers such as the programme booklet as an app.

Through their use, outreach programs should appeal to as heterogeneous an audience as possible, introduce them to orchestras and inspire them to use classical music programs throughout their lives. For this reason, demographic data was surveyed in addition to the use of outreach programs.

Link to the study:
https://orchesterstiftung.de/aktuelles/details/article/5/studie-belegt-erstmals-wirkung-von-vermittlungsarbeit-bei-professionellen-orchestern-in-baden-wuerttemberg/

This is a newly created position in this form. The collaboration covers the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. Daniel Harding will be present for at least two concert series in each season.

The OSR is currently recording two CDs with Daniel Harding, including the violin concertos by Sibelius and Barber with the violinist Renaud Capuçon. As part of the ongoing collaboration, audiovisual productions are to be realized in parallel to the concerts.

If you love sweets, nostalgic pictures or other little surprises, you have to be quite disciplined not to open all the little doors, drawers or bags on the first day. This temptation is largely spared with musical Advent calendars, as the doors are usually only opened on the corresponding day. You can browse through at least part of one Advent calendar in advance: It is already known in which hotels Maja Weber will be performing live with the Stradivari Quartet and musician friends from December 1 to 24. During these performances, the hotels and their management as well as the musicians will be introduced. This will be followed by a 20 to 30-minute concert. The events can be viewed live or virtually via http://majaweber.com be visited.

A quick internet search has shown that many other institutions also offer musical advent calendars, for example:

- Johanneskirche Zurich with 20-minute concerts over lunchtime: https://www.kirche-industrie.ch/www.zh.ref.ch/gemeinden/industrie/content/e1665/e2454/2021_12_advent_online_neu.pdf

- the Stadtkirche Aarau with half-hour concerts, which are also streamed and broadcast on the radio: https://weloveaarau.ch/agenda/klingender-adventskalender

- the Zurich Opera House with small concerts at 17.30: https://www.opernhaus.ch/home/extra/musikalischer-adventskalender

- Andrew Bond with short participatory singing films: https://andrewbond.ch/adventskalender

- the Bern University of the Arts, which is L'heure bleu will be showing artistic contributions from December 1 to 31 to give the "cultural ban a face": https://www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/aktuell/heureblue

- the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, which is giving away 24 musical surprises: https://www.tonhalle.ch/news/adventskalender

- The Basel Symphony Orchestra is hiding a question that needs to be answered behind every door of its digital Advent calendar from December 1: https://www.sinfonieorchesterbasel.ch

- or the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana and the Barocchisti, in co-production with RSI Rete due: https://www.osi.swiss/avvento

Most music schools will not be able to hold their events as usual during the Christmas period this year. Many are compensating with digital Advent calendars. Some web links are listed here (no claim to completeness - please send late registrations to: contact@musikzeitung.ch):
 

https://www.musikschule-andelfingen.ch
https://www.musikschule-arbon.ch/adventskalender
https://www.schulen-birsfelden.ch/musikschule/adventskalender
https://tuerchen.com/musikschule_brunnen_schwyz
https://www.musikschule-dietikon.ch/adventskalender
https://www.musikschuleduebendorf.ch/adventskalender.htm
http://www.schuleherisau.ch/de/musikschule
https://www.musikschulekuesnacht.ch/news?conn=news-public&new_id=72&event=view
https://www.musikschuleluzern.ch/videos
https://www.musikschule-steinen-lauerz.ch/adventskalender
https://www.musikschule-wildberg.de/advents-kalender/adventskalender

And finally, an example from school music:
https://www.sekbinningen.ch/musikalischer-adventskalender-bald-gehts-los
 

They met once, neither in Vienna nor in Weimar, but in the Bohemian town of Teplitz: Beethoven and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Apart from their high artistic esteem, however, each had reservations about the other. Goethe wrote in his diary on July 21, 1812: "In the evening at Beethoven's. He played deliciously"but then explained a few weeks later in a letter to Carl Friedrich Zelter: "His talent has astonished me; but unfortunately he is a completely unrestrained personality, who is not at all wrong in finding the world detestable, but who certainly does not make it more enjoyable for himself or for others. On the other hand, he is very much to be excused and very much to be regretted, as he has lost his hearing, which perhaps does less harm to the musical part of his nature than to the sociable. He, who is already of a laconic nature, is now doubly so through this defect." Even Beethoven, who in 1811 wrote Goethe about his tragedy Egmont enthusiastically, gave vent to his disappointment in a letter to the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel after the encounter: "Göthe likes the court air too much more than it befits a poet, It is not rather to talk about the ridiculousness of the virtuosos here, when poets, who should be regarded as the first teachers of the nation, can forget everything else above this gleam -"

The meeting thus remained without consequences. The young Mendelssohn still reported Goethe's complete reticence in 1830: "He didn't want to get close to Beethoven." Beethoven's request (dated February 8, 1823) that the Weimar court should send a copy of his Missa solemnis to subscribe, remained unsuccessful. Goethe also apparently did not respond to the dedication of Sea silence and happy journey. Beethoven had added in the same letter: "Both Poems seemed to me, because of their contrast, very suitable to be able to communicate this through music, how dear it would be to me to know whether I suitably combined my harmony with yours, also to consider instruction as truth, as it were, would be extremely welcome to me, for I love the latter above all things ...." - He omitted to mention that the score had already been completed eight years earlier and performed in public for the first time on December 25, 1815.

How fortunate that such personal incompatibilities do not necessarily have to be reflected in the arts. Beethoven's concise, two-part setting certainly seemed congenial to his contemporaries: "It is a great pleasure to see two such sublime minds so intimately united ..." (General Musical Gazette, 1830)

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Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

At almost 60 percent, the proportion of female students and graduates at German art and music colleges is higher than at universities, although there are clear differences between individual subjects. For example, stereotypes and cultural codes lead to a gender-specific choice of instruments or the attribution of creativity and mastery to a different gender distribution in the individual subjects (for example jazz/popular music, composition, percussion or harp).

These subject-related differences continue among academic and artistic staff. Overall, the proportion of female professors here is 32% (2018), but only 25% at German universities of music. The glass ceiling, measured by the ratio of female students to female professors, is also more impermeable at universities of music than at universities of fine arts.

Link to the study: https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/70674

The evaluation of the data focused on aerosol dispersion when playing wind instruments, which was investigated with members of the BR Symphony Orchestra. According to the results, the distances in the orchestra could be smaller than currently recommended, at least to the sides. The research was funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

The evaluation of the measurements of the aerosol clouds emitted showed that the musicians should keep a greater distance from their colleagues at the front than from the side. Always assuming that the room is permanently ventilated and the aerosols are regularly removed by fresh air.

For the trumpet and clarinet, the average distance of the cloud from the mouth was measured at 0.9 meters. However, individual musicians also reached distances of 1.5 meters, so that safety distances of 2 meters to the front seem reasonable. In the case of the transverse flute, however, the measured impulse radiation to the front via the mouthpiece even reached distances of up to 2 meters. Therefore, a safety distance of 2 meters is too small and 3 meters is appropriate. The radiation to the side remained under one meter for all musicians. A safety distance of 1.5 meters therefore seems sufficient, in contrast to the previously recommended 2 meters.

Original article:
https://www.lmu-klinikum.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/ergebnisse-aus-aerosol-studie-mit-dem-symphonieorchester-des-br/99facfa2b6c72864

The story is well known: Publisher Diabelli sent a waltz he had composed himself to the most respected composers and virtuosos of the Austrian Empire with the invitation to write a contribution to a collaborative work of variations. After some initial hesitation, Beethoven naturally made the most important contribution. His 33 Changes over a waltz and the other 50 variations by his professional colleagues have now been published together in one volume by Bärenreiter. (So Diabelli's waltz theme can't be as bad as you read everywhere ...)

For once, it is permissible to skip the great master and turn to the other, more or less well-known authors. There are many who adhere slavishly to the given theme and hardly reveal any of their own approaches. In the seventh variation, Joseph Drechsler proves that there is another way. His Quasi Ouverture with a slow introduction followed by an allegro has symphonic potential. Emanuel Aloys Förster is even more detailed. In his Capriccio After a bold modulation, a more extensive fugue suddenly appears. Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven's prominent pupil, also writes one of these. The fact that Simon Sechter turned the waltz into a Imitatio quasi Canon while the very young Liszt plays a little bravura piece is probably not surprising. Some virtuosos obviously set out to impress with daring leaps and demanding passages. Conradin Kreutzer, Heinrich von Lannoy, Hieronymus Payer and above all Friedrich Dionys Weber are undoubtedly among them. The contributions of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Joseph Kerzkowsky and - who is surprised? - Franz Schubert. His Variation in C minor is probably the most beautiful composition in the entire volume.

Schubert is not the only one to avoid the key of the C major theme. Johann Evangelist Horzalka, Joseph Huglmann and Franz de Paula Roser, for example, all surprise in A flat major. Was there any collusion involved? In any case, the extensive coda penned by Carl Czerny was planned, which finally leads through labyrinthine paths to a radiant C major.
This edition presents these variations, some of which are completely unknown, for the first time as an Urtext. As usual, there is a readable preface on the history of the composition and a comprehensive critical report. Instead of the "Notes on performance practice", some biographical information on the numerous forgotten composers would perhaps have been more desirable in this case.

Beethoven: 33 Variations on a Waltz op. 120 / 50 Variations on a Waltz composed by the most excellent composers and virtuosos of Vienna for piano "Diabelli Variations", edited by Mario Aschauer, BA 9656, € 27.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel

For the seventh time, the Mizmorim Festival in Basel from January 21 to 24, 2021, under the artistic direction of Israeli clarinettist Michal Lewkowicz, will enable diverse encounters between classical Jewish and Western music.

A total of seven concerts and two family performances at five venues (Gare du Nord, Zunftsaal im Schmiedenhof, Stadtcasino Basel, Unternehmen Mitte and Bird's Eye Jazz Club) are on the program over the four days of the festival. Due to the current coronavirus measures, the concerts (with the Gringolts Quartet and the VEIN Trio, among others) will probably be held in a particularly exclusive setting.

Music comes from Bohemia. The historical landscape with the capital city of Prague in the west of the Czech Republic has always been a European region in which religious and ethnic contrasts have clashed. The diversity of Bohemian culture is also characterized by the interaction of Czech, German and Jewish influences.

The seventh Mizmorim Festival presents a fascinating selection of classics and rarities of Bohemian-Czech music under the motto "Bohemian Rhapsody". "Music is the life of the Czechs", said one of their most important composers, Bedřich Smetana. His "Moldau", whose main theme is echoed in the Israeli national anthem, as well as compositions by Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček and Bohuslav Martinů continue to captivate people all over the world with their immortal melodies.

As a result of the National Socialist occupation from 1939, renowned 20th century Czech composers such as Viktor Ullmann, Erwin Schulhoff, Pavel Haas and Gideon Klein were subjected to repression and persecution. As a result, the fact that they had made a significant contribution to the development of 20th century music by adopting modernist tendencies and combining them with elements of jazz, Moravian and Jewish folk music as well as synagogue melodies was forgotten.

The aim of the Mizmorim Festival 2021 is to bring this diverse and cosmopolitan musical tradition to life and allow it to enter into a lively dialog with selected works of contemporary music (including those by Eleni Ralli, the winner of the Mizmorim Composition Competition 2021) - freely associated in surprising concert programs presented by renowned international artists, the "bohemians" of our time.
 

The research grant is explicitly not linked to an exhibition or performances and covers the areas supported by the Arts Council.

Based on the national Covid-19 Ordinance on Culture of March 20, 2020, cultural professionals had the opportunity to apply to the cantons for compensation for canceled or postponed events until September 20, 2020. With the Covid-19 Act and the new Covid-19 Cultural Ordinance, this option is no longer available to cultural professionals. They can only apply for emergency aid via Suisseculture Sociale if they are no longer able to finance their livelihood.

The Cultural Foundation of the Canton of Thurgau is therefore planning to offer 40 research grants for artists in the Canton of Thurgau to complement the nationwide measures. Professionally working artists with a connection to the Canton of Thurgau will be given the opportunity to research their artistic work and develop new ideas. The research grant includes the payment of a one-off fee of CHF 6,000.

More info:
https://www.tg.ch/news/news-detailseite.html/485/news/49133/l/de

Here is a new Urtext edition of Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies that has it all and should become the new standard. Anyone who can no longer find space on their shelf for the compact slipcase with the nine study scores can also opt for the digital version with the advantage that the symphonies can also be purchased individually and conveniently accompany you wherever you go on your tablet.

As a comparison, I have used the Bärenreiter Urtext edition, which was completed 20 years ago by Jonathan Del Mar and also published in the form of study scores. The two editions are similar in terms of their musicological treatment and safeguarding, their brief but precise description of the sources and the printing of all Beethoven's metronome markings from 1817. In all other respects, Henle has the edge. This begins with a slightly larger format, which immediately makes the sheet music appear somewhat more relaxed.

The decisive difference, however, lies in the transfer of knowledge. Both editions are based on several sources, which occasionally make editorial decisions necessary. Bärenreiter provides information about this in the "Critical Commentary", while Henle uses the "Individual Notes". While Henle refers to the relevant commentary in several footnotes and you can read it in the appendix, Bärenreiter printed the Critical Commentary separately and it is therefore not included in the study score edition. It can be somewhat frustrating when you are referred to a commentary in a footnote but cannot find it in the edition or on the publisher's website for download. A visit to a well-stocked music library, in which the separate volumes of the Critical Reports should be available, is therefore called for, because at a price of approx. 45 € per symphony, a purchase is probably out of the question for very few users.

It is not entirely clear why Henle does not refer to each individual annotation with a footnote at the corresponding passage in the score. This is optimally solved in the digital version: using the "Comments in the music text" display option, all passages for which there is a comment are marked in discreet light blue. By tapping on them, the corresponding text field appears and you can study the comments, some of which are extremely detailed. An all-round successful edition that comes "in two guises" and is sure to impress!

A few words about the Henle Library. This is an app that is available on both the iPad and the Android tablet and for which a huge repertoire of Henle Urtext editions has been available since 2016. Instead of receiving a PDF (as is the case with electronic sheet music purchases from Schott-Verlag, for example), the sheet music is embedded in the app with all its additional functions, such as individual entry options, various display options, integrated metronome, recording option and much more. The price for digital editions of sheet music is only slightly lower than that of a printed score (in the case of the 7th Symphony, for example, 10 instead of 12 euros for the study score), but this is justifiable in view of the many features and even the possibility of occasional updates.

Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies - 9 volumes in a slipcase, Study Edition, edited by Ernst Herttrich, Armin Raab and others, HN 9800, € 89.00, G. Henle, Munich

Conducting scores and orchestral material for the Henle study scores are available from Breitkopf & Härtel. For example:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor op 67, Urtext after the new Complete Edition (G. Henle), edited by Jens Dufner, score PB 14615, € 48.50, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden

Ludwig van Beethoven created the three piano quartets WoO 36 at the age of 15. His teacher, the Bonn court organist, opera conductor and composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, had commented on him two years earlier: "He would certainly become a second Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart if he progressed as he had begun." The young Beethoven played and studied Mozart's works; these three early compositions are based on his violin sonatas K. 296, K. 379 and K. 380 in terms of form and structure. The piano quartet genre was not yet popular at the time, Mozart's masterpieces K. 478 and K. 493 were only written in those years. The combination of piano, violin, viola and violoncello was evidently a result of Beethoven's relationship with the family of court chamberlain Gottfried Mastiaux, whose children played these instruments.

Ludwig van Beethoven kept his autograph of these quartets throughout his life. He later used individual themes in the piano sonatas and in the Piano Trio in C minor op. 1 No. 3. This surviving autograph is also the authoritative source for the new Urtext edition published by Bärenreiter. The editor Leonardo Miucci, research associate at the Bern University of the Arts, supplements his introduction with insightful notes on the performance practice of Beethoven's piano music from that period.

Are these early piano quartets already "definitely Beethoven"? Certainly: the later "revolutionary" remains mostly hidden, and the string writing does not yet resemble that of the string quartets (but it is easier to play!). But this is beautiful chamber music that need not fear comparison with other works of its time and is sometimes quite dramatic!

Ludwig van Beethoven: Three Quartets for Piano, Violin, Viola and Violoncello WoO 36, edited by Leonardo Miucci, Parts: Piano (score) and strings, BA 9037, € 48.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel

SMM -- After concert activities were reduced in the spring and resumed after the summer vacation, some SMM therapy practices recorded a surprising influx. Musicians had obviously neglected their over-scheduled instrumental and sports activities during the forced break and were no longer in shape to cope with the new challenges.

There is a danger that this will happen again with the renewed halt to concert life. This is exacerbated by the fact that it is impossible to plan. At the moment, no one knows when the strict federal and cantonal measures will be lifted again. However, the impossibility of planning is one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining routines and determination.

After this summer's experiences, it seems certain that the end of the enforced break will bring major challenges. Performances in orchestras are likely to be particularly intense - not least due to the need to catch up. This can mean that the weight of your own instrument, for example, can cause unfamiliar physical problems. Increased tension can accentuate pain that could previously be kept below a threshold of disability with regular therapy, music-specific exercises or sporting activity. Uncertainty about technical and motor skills on the instrument can create performance anxiety and thus stress, which in turn significantly increases the risk of tension and cramps.

We know the risk from a comparable situation: students tend to increase their practice times considerably in the short term before exams. This shock to the body can then lead to the body going on strike at the very moment when maximum presence, top physical condition, precision and virtuosity are required for an exam. In addition, the lack of a concert routine - which many of you otherwise take for granted - can also lead to performance anxiety and nervousness after a long break.

In sports circles today, it is taken for granted that individual "fitness" must also be carefully planned and maintained outside of everyday competition. Making music at a professional level is comparable to top-class sport, especially when it comes to physical demands. However, musicians still lack an awareness of problems comparable to that in the world of sport.

Naturopath Samuel Büchel works in Spiez and at the Wallner practice in Bern, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the Bern Symphony Orchestra's concert venue. He is familiar with the worries and needs of orchestra musicians and advises them to use the time as calmly as possible in order to be ready for the restart of concert life. Anyone who is already undergoing therapy or regular physical exercises should not discontinue them under any circumstances. After a break, pain can occur when resuming a concert that would not occur under normal conditions.

Perhaps you would like to use your forced break to start a new over-routine? Try out new fitness and movement exercises or musician-specific activities and physical exercises and integrate them into your everyday life as a musician? Perhaps you've been meaning to work intensively on your sound, breath or embouchure for a while? Bring more ease into your fine motor movements or finally tackle your stage fright?

Alone or with professional support - now would be the time to realize such plans and to treat yourself to these development opportunities. We look forward to hopefully seeing and hearing you live on stage again soon, dear musicians!