Tritonus - Folk Music with a Difference
For many years Tritonus has been researching Swiss
folk music and instruments in
use up to 1800. They are constantly on the look out for original
and alternative material as a counterbalance to mainstream
Swiss folk music.
Their 1991 standard work ‹TRITONUS – Alte
Volksmusik in der Schweiz› – this won the ORG (Eastern Swiss
Radio and Television) Award – is still on sale today. Although the group
has continued through the years to perform in various formations both in Switzerland
and abroad, no further CDs were made.
Together since December 2003, the members of Tritonus are Felicia
Kraft (vocals, percussion, rebec), Urs
Klauser (swiss bagpipes, cittern, 6-holed
fife), Daniel Som (hurdy-gurdy, shawm, flutes)
and Lea Zanola (hammered
dulcimer, Jew‘s harp).
„The idea for a new CD arose as we collected more and more material. To
follow up our historical and academic first album we wanted to tread new ground
with ‹Alpan›.
Together with young jazz musicians Reto
Suhner (saxophone) and Tobias
Preisig (violin), Andreas
Cincera (violone, double bass) and Markus
Maggiori (percussion)
we have created the new programme for the CD ‹Alpan›, that combines the past and future of our folk
music:
Having pieced together original instrumentations, we can now demonstrate early
musical styles, melodies, texts and instruments and mix them with new sounds
to show possible future directions.“
The majority of the tracks on this CD are unpublished works that have not been
previously recorded.
„Music from Appenzell features strongly, although we‘ve omitted the
popular and well documented string music of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The music of the Swedish bands of Ale Möller and Lena Willemark (CDs ‹Nordan›, ‹Agram› etc.
/ www.frifot.se) has influenced our ideas
greatly.
In recognition of their work we named our CD ‹Alpan›. Later we
discovered that our supposed fictional name ‹Alpan› – made
up from ‹Alpstein› (prealpine mountain massif in the Eastern
Swiss Limestone Alps) and ‹Nordan› – turns out to be the
name of an Etruscan goddess of love and the underworld.“
In February 2005 Tritonus was awarded a support grant by the Culture Foundation
of the Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden for this CD project.
The Alpan programme will still be performed in the current Tritonus line-up
(see Tritonus musicians).
Further Informations: www.tritonus.ch
Information about Swiss Folk Music:
www.tritonus.ch/Seite7.htm
and Instruments:
www.tritonus.ch/Seite6.htm
Music score ‹Magali›: www.muelirad.ch
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