Almost every village, town and city in Switzerland has its own wind ensemble that regularly meets to practice, perform at concerts and participate in various public events. Young people have plenty of opportunities to join youth music groups. The composition and size of these groups vary, as does the choice of instruments, since it’s usually up to each member to choose which instrument to play. The most common harmony formations consist of woodwinds, brass and percussion. Brass bands in the British tradition are also very popular. Wind music clubs offer a platform for intergenerational exchange and an attractive, socially-oriented hobby that leads to long-lasting friendships with one’s fellow bandmates. Wind music boasts widely diverse repertoires from concert music to entertainment and traditional music. Over the last few decades, the wind music scene has experienced a wide range of compositional output. In contrast to the past, this has increasingly led to the creation of original wind music for all styles and instrumentation forms of the genre. Wind orchestras often perform transcriptions of significant works from all musical genres. Wind ensembles are set up as clubs and associations, with the conductors often receiving modest compensation. Most are members of the "Schweizer Blasmusikverband" (Swiss Wind Band Association), an umbrella organisation which currently has 50,000 members and nearly 2,000 associated clubs. Wind ensembles are led by professional musicians or well-trained amateurs.
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: street music. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: a solitary trumpet player awaiting the arrival of his fellow musicians. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: a welcome relief for tired feet. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: greeting spectators. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: crowds of onlookers gather. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: marching music. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: an orderly procession during the marching music contest. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: marching music with choreography. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2006 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, Lucerne: the bedrock of music. © swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: a sea of flags © swiss-image.ch/Sebastian Derungs
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: on stage. © swiss-image.ch/Jolanda Flubacher
An impromptu jam session. © swiss-image.ch/Sebastian Derungs
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: a semi-circle formation. © swiss-image.ch/Sebastian Derungs
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: standing at attention © swiss-image.ch/Sebastian Derungs
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: a young conductor at work. © swiss-image.ch/Sebastian Derungs
2011 Eidgenössisches Musikfest, St. Gallen: what a joy! © swiss-image.ch/Jolanda Flubacher
Open-air performance by the Swiss Air Force military band at the Kornhaus, Bern. © Centre of Competence for Military Bands
Open-air concert by the TerReg 2 military band during the Patrouille des Glaciers in Verbier. © Centre of Competence for Military Bands
The 11th armoured brigade military band on parade, Wangen an der Aare. © Centre of Competence for Military Bands
Fanfarabrigatafanteriamontagna 9 at a concert in Lugano © Centre of Competence for Military Bands
The Fanfare of brigade infanterie 2 in concert, Cossonay (canton of Vaud). © Centre of Competence for Military Bands
Young wind ensemble © Siegfried Aulbach
Detailed description
Blasmusik (PDF, 318 kB, 12.08.2024)Ausführliche Beschreibung
Category
Canton
Connected traditions
Links
Multimedia on-line
Publications
Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser: Die Volksmusikinstrumente der Schweiz (Handbuch der europäischen Volksmusikinstrumente Serie I, Band 4). Leipzig, 1981
Walter Biber: Von der Bläsermusik zum Blasorchester. Geschichte der Militärmusik und Blasmusik in der Schweiz. Luzern, 1995
Robert Blaser-Egli: Das Blasmusikwesen. In: Schweizer Musikbuch (Band 1). Ed. Willi Schuh. Zürich, 1939, p. 281-298
Walter Bossard et al.: Nachwuchsprobleme in Schweizer Blasmusikvereinen. Ed. Hochschule Luzern. Luzern, 2004 (www.hslu.ch/download/m/forschung/nachwuchsp_blasmusik_ch.pdf)
Brass Band. Internationale Fachzeitschrift für Brass Band und Blechbläser. Wiedlisbach, 1988– (http://www.bb-zeitschrift.ch)
Gabriela Mattmann: Die Roten und die Schwarzen. Die Gemeinde Rain und ihre Musikvereine (Zürcher Beiträge zur Alltagskultur 11). Ed. Volkskundliches Seminar der Universität Zürich. Zürich, 2002
Dieter Ringli: Musikverein. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Bern, 2011 (http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D11894.php)
Schweizer Blasmusikverband (Ed.): Unisono. Die Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Blasmusik. Aarau, 1911-
Wolfgang und Armin Suppan: Das Blasmusik-Lexikon. Kraichtal, 2009 (5. Auflage des Lexikons des Blasmusikwesens)
Otto Zurmühle: Das schweizerische Blasmusikwesen. In: Musica Aeterna (Band 2). Zürich, 1949, p. 289-307
Keywords
Contact
Schweizer Blasmusikverband