Tritonus CH
Tritonus is a Swiss folk music group that plays Swiss folk as it would have… Read Full Bio ↴Tritonus is a Swiss folk music group that plays Swiss folk as it would have been before 1800, before the accordion.
In 1980, Urs Klauser and Beat Wolf , both of them instrument makers and musicians, were united in their interest in old folk music of varied provenance, and in their desire to research thoroughly the Swiss folk music of previous centuries. They reconstructed instruments according to historical models, and on these, they brought the melodic material that they had discovered to new life, as it would originally have sounded. At the centre of their interest were instruments such as the Swiss bagpipe, the shawm, the cittern, the fife,the hurdy-gurdy and the Jew's harp. These were the instruments that had been popular and widely spread until they were superseded in the 19th century, primarily by the accordion (the so-called "Schwyzerörgeli"). The price-winning first Tritonus-CD "Old Folk-Music in Switzerland" (1991) marked a turning point in research into these old traditions.
After fifteen years after this CD appeared - it has since become a 'standard work' - Tritonus ventured with their 'Alpan Project' into new musical territory, with added personnel. Together with young jazz musicians, they created a repertoire that unites tradition and innovation, the origins and future of our folk music. Most of the pieces in this repertoire come from sources that are either unpublished or difficult to access. One of their focal areas is the music of Canton Appenzell, though not the well-documented, well-loved string music of the 19th and 20th centuries. Tritonus present 'Alpsegen' (the dusk-time prayers sung in the mountains), 'Zäuerli' (a type of yodelling from Appenzell), ranz des vaches, ranz des chèvres, 'Löckler' (cow-call tunes) beneath dance tunes, ballads and love songs.
Archaic Swiss folk music mingles here with new sounds – This is a colourful, varied, intensive music!
In 1980, Urs Klauser and Beat Wolf , both of them instrument makers and musicians, were united in their interest in old folk music of varied provenance, and in their desire to research thoroughly the Swiss folk music of previous centuries. They reconstructed instruments according to historical models, and on these, they brought the melodic material that they had discovered to new life, as it would originally have sounded. At the centre of their interest were instruments such as the Swiss bagpipe, the shawm, the cittern, the fife,the hurdy-gurdy and the Jew's harp. These were the instruments that had been popular and widely spread until they were superseded in the 19th century, primarily by the accordion (the so-called "Schwyzerörgeli"). The price-winning first Tritonus-CD "Old Folk-Music in Switzerland" (1991) marked a turning point in research into these old traditions.
After fifteen years after this CD appeared - it has since become a 'standard work' - Tritonus ventured with their 'Alpan Project' into new musical territory, with added personnel. Together with young jazz musicians, they created a repertoire that unites tradition and innovation, the origins and future of our folk music. Most of the pieces in this repertoire come from sources that are either unpublished or difficult to access. One of their focal areas is the music of Canton Appenzell, though not the well-documented, well-loved string music of the 19th and 20th centuries. Tritonus present 'Alpsegen' (the dusk-time prayers sung in the mountains), 'Zäuerli' (a type of yodelling from Appenzell), ranz des vaches, ranz des chèvres, 'Löckler' (cow-call tunes) beneath dance tunes, ballads and love songs.
Archaic Swiss folk music mingles here with new sounds – This is a colourful, varied, intensive music!
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Tritonus CH Lyrics
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