Though they also appeared on several compilations, this is Tonschusser‘s unique LP, released in 1978 by Trikont Kooperative, aka Trikont, a key folk music record company from München – I posted the Accordions Go Crazy LP from this label. Founded by Achim Bergmann in 1971, Trikont Kooperative first distributed Marxist/Maoist books before turning to German and international folk music releases – a bit like Wagenbach, see previous post. Swiss label VoxPop was also very active on the folk scene of the 1970s with some records produced by Bruno Spoerri. Tonschusser was part of the German folk revival of the 1970s with bands like Moin, Wacholder, Fiedel Michel, Folkländer, Holzrädchen, Liederjan, Elster Silberflug, etc. The scene was promoted through festivals like the 1973 Eckernförde Folk Festival or the 1976 Lenzburg folk festival in Switzerland.
♫ Tonschusser is a trio playing an unusual instrumentation including German traditional and folk music instruments like the hackbrett, a kind of hammered dulcimer, or the waldzither, a kind of cittern. The trio’s sound is indeed rather peculiar, based on high notes and eerie resonances from the juxtaposition of stringed instruments with special tunings. The other instruments are flute, accordion, acoustic guitar and concertina, with all members performing rare vocals and Thomas Glowatzki reciting poetry on some tracks. Lyrics are in Schriftdeutsch, a local, old German dialect found in Switzerland and southern Germany. These mostly instrumental compositions are new creations based on traditional folk melodies to which Tonschusser provide dreamy arrangements, tender undertones and a sacred, ceremonial dimension. They put mystery back into these folk tunes and a track like #5 Winteraustreiben has echoes of Ancient Greek music as well. A skeletal rendition of a song played on one instrument at a time, Ois Anders und Anderes (tr. #6) is a melody passing from one instrument to the next, a bit like in Klangfarbenmelodie. This track also sounds like a collage of various melodies, thanks to the way Tonschusser typically add a coda or insert new sections to a traditional tune, embedded in the song itself.
01 s’Bettelmandl (4:29)
02 Jetzt ham de Soldate scho wieder ka Geld (5:02)
03 Eine Kleine Ballade von dem Mäuslein (4:00)
04 Gibt’s die Zeit im Schneckenhaus (4:08)
05 Winteraustreiben (4:49)
06 Ois Anders und Anderes (6:48)
07 Planxtig Wundig (5:05)
08 Die Schöne Bernauerin (5:07)
09 Willi und der Bär (5:20)
Irene Wunderlich, flute, accordion
Renate Greufenstein, hackbrett, concertina
Thomas Glowatzki, accordion, waldzither, guitar
Total time 44:50
LP released by Trikont Kooperative, Munich, 1978
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‘eerie resonances’…
sold to the man with the beard.
He’s Santa Claus in real life.