An anthem for the Federal Folk Music Festival
Five young folk musicians met at a composing weekend initiated by SUISA to write an anthem for the 2019 Federal Folk Music Festival under the direction of Dani Häusler.
After the anthem for the Federal Folk Music Festival in Aarau was composed single-handedly by Hanspeter Zehnder in 2015 as a commissioned composition, this year the focus was on young talent. The composing weekend was initiated by SUISA and organized by Markus Brülisauer from the Swiss Folk Music Association (VSV) in collaboration with the organizing committee of the EVMF.
The organizers were responsible for selecting the invited musicians. Care was taken to ensure that the most common folk music instruments were represented. This is how Eva Engler on clarinet, Alessia Heim on hammered dulcimer, Jérôme Kuhn on double bass, Florian Wyrsch on Schwyzerörgeli and Siro Odermatt on accordion came together on a Saturday morning in May 2019 in Crans-Montana.
Apart from Siro Odermatt, who has been a SUISA member since 2017 and has already written several pieces himself, the young musicians did not have much experience in composing. That's why Dani Häusler, an experienced folk musician, was hired to lead the weekend.
The beginning on the white sheet of paper
Before the first notes rang out from the instruments they had brought with them in the seminar room of the "La Prairie" hotel, the group sat down at a table and literally began their work on the white sheet of paper. The first exchange of ideas was characterized by vague notions: A hymn - that's a big word. What should it be? How should it sound? How do we go about it? What type of dance is suitable? How do we find melodies and chords? And will we really be able to finish a piece by tomorrow, Sunday?
The director Dani Häusler provided food for thought, bundled the questions, together they looked for answers, the ideas and thoughts were recorded on paper, the ideas were fleshed out and soon a basis for the piece was defined - still on paper for the time being. After some discussion, the decision was made in favor of a Schottisch. They also wanted to have a text to sing along to.
After that, they played their instruments for the first time: The young people sat down in pairs or threes and collected musical ideas together. What had been worked out in the small groups was then presented to the whole group and supplemented with possible accompaniment parts. After some initial difficulties, the brilliant idea was found during the course of the Saturday afternoon and the framework of the anthem was completed by dinner.
This framework also included the draft lyrics for the piece, from which, in addition to the title-giving exclamation "Ab is Wälschland ...!", a pithy chant line immediately sticks in the mind: "Glich oder glich ned glich." Jérôme Kuhn explained: "There is folk music all over Switzerland, but in many areas there are different styles." Curious listeners can find out whether they are "the same or not the same" at the upcoming Federal Folk Music Festival in Crans-Montana.
The first performance
On Sunday morning, the individual parts of the piece were fine-tuned, particularly with regard to the arrangement. The musicians practiced their individual parts in groups or alone. Around midday, the newly created piece could be heard as a whole for the first time and was constantly refined in further rehearsals.
"The result is a piece that is easy on the ear, has something unique about it and yet is suitable for a large audience," said Siro Odermatt towards the end of the successful composing weekend. The anthem was then professionally recorded in the studio with the musicians and Dani Häusler and can be purchased on CD. All proceeds from the sale will go to the VSV Young Talent Fund.
The 13th Federal Folk Music Festival will take place in Crans-Montana from September 19-22, 2019.
Making of video and further information on the SUISA blog:
