#SWISSNESS
HOMAGE TO SWISS ART SONG
As a Swiss Lieder Festival, the RHONEFESTIVAL exclusively discovers, promotes and interprets Swiss composers and poets at its SUMMER CONCERT #SWISSNESS and has been doing unrivalled pioneering work for the Swiss Art Song since 2019. #SWISSNESS: To this day, no independent tradition of Swiss Art Song has been established – its form and musical landscape are largely based on those of neighbouring Germany, Austria and France, which developed nationally through their linguistically unified understanding of music, traditional court culture or social structure. Due to the heterogeneous conditions within Switzerland, such as language or topography, individual musical phenomena tended to develop that were orientated towards international styles or consciously ignored them, resulting in a diverse musical landscape. We warmly invite you to join us for this annual musical exploration!
SWISS LOVE – LOVE’S SUFFERING AND DESIRE
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⏱︎ Saturday, 26th July 2025, 8:00 pm
⚲ Arcades/Rittersaal of the Stockalper Castle, Brig
$ Free entrance/Donations welcome
ⓘ The concert is planned as an open-air event in the arcades of Stockalper Castle. In case of uncertain weather, the concert will be held in the Rittersaal. No reservation is required for either venue. Open seating. 70 minutes without interval.
FRANZISKA HEINZEN SOPRANO
BENJAMIN MEAD PIANO -
Swiss Love is a musical love letter to traditional Swiss songs and the rich heritage of Swiss folk music. The fact that it was none other than the British composer Benjamin Britten who arranged the Guggisberglied in the 1940s — albeit in French under the title Il est quelqu’un sur terre — speaks to just how far-reaching and evocative this melody is, along with its theme of seemingly eternal love that ultimately breaks. This motif runs like a thread through the entire concert program — as does the highly romantic symbol of the night: a space of intense emotion, of solitude and togetherness, of longing, consolation, and reflection.
PROGRAMME
Volkslied, Arr. Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
’s isch äben e Mönsch uf Ärde – Guggisberger-Lied (Anonym)Wilhelm Baumgartner (1820–1867)
4 Lieder op. 20
Abendlied (von Fallersleben)
Nacht liegt auf den fremden Wegen (Heine)
Warme verschwieg’ne Nacht (Kugler)
Mondnacht (Eichendorff)***
Heidi Stucki (1915–2012), Arr. Flurina Zehnder (*1997)
Du fragsch mi, wär i bi (Zulliger)Lothar Kempter (1844–1918)
Lieder aus „Der Liebe Leid und Lust“ op. 13 (Geibel)
Das Mädchen
Der MondYvonne Röthlisberger (1889–1980)
Lieder aus „7 Lieder“
Aus banger Brust (Dehmel)
Sehnsucht nach Vergessen (Lenau)***
Volkslied, Arr. Cheryl Frances-Hoad (*1980)
Schönster Abestärn (Anonym)Johann Carl Eschmann (1826–1882)
Lieder op. 7
Es schienen so golden die Sterne (Eichendorff)
Auf dem Meere (Müller)
Denn du bist fern (Geibel)
Nächtlich macht der Herr die Rund (Eichendorff)***
Arthur Beul (1915–2010) Arr. Raban Brunner (*1998)
Am Himmel stoht es Sternli (Beul)
