by SIBILLA BONDOLFI
In Appenzell and Toggenburg, string instruments are still part of folk-music culture – unlike other regions where they have been displaced by accordions and wind instruments
Traditional Swiss folk music is often performed at conservative political events, but Barbara Betschart, head of Roothuus Gonten, the Centre for Appenzell and Toggenburg Folk Music, dismisses the notion that this is the only place to find it.
“Emancipated, modern people make folk music too”, said Betschartexternal link [link in German]. Folk music in Switzerland is cool right now, in the cities as well as the countryside, but Betschart does not believe that hit records are the same as folk music. “What’s on television these days doesn’t have a lot to do with traditional folk music.”
Music for tourists
Those looking for authentic folk music might want to visit the Säntis region. In Appenzell and Toggenburg in the St. Gallen region, string instruments are still part of folk-music culture – unlike other regions of Switzerland where they have been displaced by accordions and wind instruments.
This is due to factors such as geographical remoteness and tourism, which dates to the 19th century. Tourists and spa guests wanted traditional music, ensuring its survival to this day.
The same goes for yodelling, or singing without words. “In the Säntis region they have a lead yodeller and a second voice, together with a ‘choir’ that lays down the bass line, always singing the same low notes”, Betschart says. “So anyone who’s at all musical can join in.”
“In central Switzerland that would be unthinkable, because natural yodelling there is so harmonically complicated that you can’t join in unless you’re familiar with it,” she continues. And that, she adds, makes yodelling in the Säntis region much more spontaneous and sociable.
Dulcimers driven out by Catholics, organs destroyed by Protestants
Folk music in the Säntis region is dominated by religion and the confessional separation that followed the Reformation. Each faction jealously made sure their pieces didn’t get into the other region and adopted by the other religion. That is how different regional nuances originated.
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