Walliser Volkslieder revisited Festival Forum Wallis

Duration

70 min

PROGRAM

Valais folk songs in familiar and new arrangements (world premiere) to listen to and sing along with, juxtaposed with old and new (world premiere) Bolivian folk music, works by Juan Arnez, as well as by Bregy, Meier, Lehner-Mutter, Imhof, Burgener/Hagen, Brantschen, and Ruppen. These concerts are part of the program “Volksliädär leeru und schi in er Famili singu” aimed at popularizing the Upper Valais folk song tradition.

SET LIST

Land am Rottu (Schmid)

Am Grängjerseeli (trad.)

Ds Rägutropfji (Burgener)

Im stillen Hirtentale (Brantschen)

Morir enamorado (Arnez)

Tradicional (trad.)

Navidad del Kanillita (Arnez)

Dr Hirt uf der Alpe Faldum (Bregy)

Weisch no (Ruppen)

Am Brunnen vor dem Tore (Schubert)

Los vivientes (Arnez)

Tradicional (trad.)

Nuestro sueño (Arnez)

Belalplied (trad.)

Guggisbergerlied (trad.)

Weischus dü (Meier)

Kaymanta Chinkasay (Arnez)

Dr Walliser Wässermaa (Lagger)

Tradicional (trad.)

Jesuquito (Arnez)

Münstiger Lied (Lehner-Mutter)

Farewell to the Ganter Valley (Imhof)

Juan Arnez (*1950) is a Bolivian poet, composer, and musician. He plays various instruments, including the guitar, charango, quena-quena, zampoña, tarka, and pinkillo. The poverty and hardships he faced during his childhood in a rural community in Colomi are reflected in his most important works. He has lived in Switzerland for more than 40 years, where he has started a family and become a sort of ambassador for Bolivian folk music. Today, he is considered one of the most respected self-taught composers in Switzerland. After becoming an orphan at the age of 7, he attended a church-run boarding school and worked as a day laborer in the Chapare region during his teenage years. Arnez began his musical career at the age of 18 with the group Kusi Huaynas, which later adopted the name Los Kusis. The group recorded albums and undertook its first international tours between 1970 and 1974 to Chile, Peru, and Argentina, where they received awards at festivals. In 1974, they went on a European tour with concerts in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and France. Eventually, they decided to settle in Switzerland, where they still live today. Inkallajta was his first composition. The work lasts nearly two hours and combines various instruments and rhythms such as huayño, morenada, diablada, cueca, saya, and zampoñada. Misa Pachamama and Navidad Andina are other compositions by Juan Arnez; they primarily address child poverty and child labor. In 2007, his work Misterio del Socavón was performed in Switzerland in honor of Bolivian miners, and subsequently in Germany in 2013. Another work, the oratorio El Movimiento del Mundo, premiered in Switzerland in 2017: In it, he advocates for migrants and warns against violence against children. In 2013, he undertook a particularly symbolic project: Together with Los Kusis and the Switzerland–Bolivia Choir Project under the direction of Dieter Wagner, he went on tour through Bolivia. They traveled to Colomi (Cochabamba), Sucre, and La Paz and performed Misa Pachamama and Navidad Andina.

The history of the Upper Valais Folk Song Choir is inextricably linked to that of the “song chaplain” Adolf Imhof and the history of the Singspiel in Valais. When Adolf Imhof—a theater enthusiast from his youth—recorded his songs with a large mixed choir at the radio station in Bern in January 1957 and these were broadcast to great acclaim, numerous folk song enthusiasts on both sides of the Lötschberg expressed the wish that the choir should form an association. The founding meeting took place as early as the following March 1957. Adolf Imhof became the first conductor, and the folk poet Dr. Ludwig Imesch the first president of the newly named Upper Valais Folk Song Choir. Nearly 70 eventful years have passed since then. Countless songs have been written for and performed by the folk song choir. As an ambassador for the Valais, he performed at the Walser gatherings in Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein, throughout Switzerland as part of the Valais associations, and also at the prestigious Berner Kursaal and Casino. From 1971 to 1974, he recorded no fewer than four albums of songs by Adolf Imhof at Swiss Radio in Bern; five more recordings with Felix Schmid and Franz Weissen were to follow by 1995. The musicals ‘Im Gantertal’ (1968, 1982, 1992), ‘Dorftanz’ (1985), ‘Gratzug’ (1991), and ‘Der letzte Sander’ (2000) were met with great acclaim. In 1975, members of the Upper Valais Folk Song Choir appeared as extras in the Walt Disney film ‘Barry’. Further television appearances took place from 1966 to 1985 on programs such as ‘Chum und lueg,’ 'Grüezi mitenand,‘ 'Frohe Klänge aus dem Oberwallis,’ 'Äs heiters Gmiet,‘ and 'Fyrabig’—in 1983, Belgian television even documented the performances of the Upper Valais Folk Song Choir. In 1965, the choir had the honor of singing at the reception for King Frederik of Denmark in Brig in the presence of Federal President Tschudi; their praise and congratulations stand as a mark of distinction in the choir’s history. Among the conductors, following Adolf Imhof (1957–64), we find his successors Felix Schmid (1964–87), Franz Weissen (1987–2001, 2014–19), Urs Tenisch (2001–06), Javier Hagen (2006–13 and again since 2023), and Elmar Rittiner (2019–22), who, as both poets and composers, have left a lasting musical legacy with the Volksliederchor and throughout the Upper Valais. With Javier Hagen at the helm, the Volksliederchor once again performs regularly on Swiss radio and television (SR DRS, RSR Espace 2, RSR la première, RRO, SF1 Bsuech us, Canal 9, Tele Oberwallis), thereby gaining nationwide attention. Other highlights with him include performances alongside Cool a cappella (Seoul) in 2010, with Grammy winner Huang Ruo (New York/Shanghai) in 2011, the Arab pop stars Wael Sami El Kholi in 2012/2025 (Cairo) and Bahur Ghazi (Damascus) in 2012, the Latvian vocal ensemble Putni (Riga) in 2013, the dialect band ds Personal from 2010 to 2013, and his collaboration with the Mainz Cathedral Choir at the 1st International Alpine Choir Festival in 2008, as well as the unforgettable performances together with the children of Visp before a sold-out audience at the Theater La Poste in Visp on the occasion of the Forum Wallis in 2010/11, the presentation of the Culture Prize in Hagen in 2013, and the honorable results at the cantonal singing festival in Fully in 2011. The Upper Valais Folk Song Choir brings together singers from all over Upper Valais. It promotes and preserves the Valais folk song tradition and is also the founder of the Foundation for the Promotion of Youth Choirs in Upper Valais; it is currently chaired by Herbert Kalbermatter. The Upper Valais Folk Song Choir performs in traditional Valais workday attire; during social gatherings, they enjoy singing their cheerful, joyful, and contemplative songs even in the smallest of groups—and with a bit of luck, these can be heard late at night after rehearsals in the pubs of Brig’s old town!

Free admission (donations welcome)

Reservations: office@forumvalais.ch

http://forumwallis.ch

Forum Wallis

MEbU (Münster Earport)

Furkastrasse 647

3985 Münster (Goms)