National or Popular Singers

As already in the 18th century, there were many Tyrolean itinerant vendors on the road in foreign countries at the beginning of the 19th. While they were offering their wares for sale, some of them occasionally sang songs from home that became a great attraction abroad. Soon the original and businesslike breed of men of the Zillertal in particular figured out how to exploit the newly awakened general interest in folk song, above all in court circles, to their advantage. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic campaigns had strengthened Tyrolean national awareness, so that now, at a time of romanticizing enthusiasm for the Alps, the folk songs and yodels of the Tyrol could be turned into an export item of its own and into hard cash. “Tirol” became a trademark in music, dance, literature and fashion far and wide. Tyroleans gifted with good voices and naturally able to sing joined together in groups of Natursänger or Nationalsänger and traveled all over the world. They performed for audiences made up of all social levels, originally with a program of folk songs from the Tyrol, later with their own or others’ compositions in the Tyrolean style. Some group members were able to accompany the singing with instruments or play their own instrumental pieces, usually dances.[18] Genuine folk songs made way for cliché-like creations such as the “Tirolerlieder”performed with showmanship that fostered generally accepted folkloristic tendencies. Not even famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Gioacchino Rossini or Franz Liszt hardened themselves against the fashion of composing “à la Tyrolienne.”[19]
Czar Alexander I heard the Geschwister Rainer sing in Fügen in 1822. The brothers and sisters Maria, Franz, Felix, Josef and Anton Rainer had long been famous in the Zillertal for being extremely musical. Thrilled, he invited them to St Petersburg. In 1824 the group later known as the Ur-Rainer started their first trip, through Bavaria and northern Germany to Sweden. Their singing performance was admired at the courts of princes and kings, in theaters and concert halls. When they had already left for Russia in 1825 and were in Vienna, they heard of the death of Czar Alexander I. Their tour therefore continued via Dresden to Berlin instead. In 1827 they went to London, where the court showed them its particular favor. As a result of their triumph in England, Tyrolean songs came to be printed there. Ludwig Rainer (1821-1893), a son of Maria Rainer, founded his own group of singers and traveled to America with it from 1839 to 1843. In 1855 the group was joined by his sister-in-law Theresa Prantl (1839-1932). From 1858 to 1868 the Rainers stayed in Russia continuously, after they had already toured through England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy and gone to Paris.[20]
The Strasser family of Laimach had gone to the Christmas market in Leipzig as glove vendors on Josef Rainer’s advice in 1831. Standing in front of their stall, the Strasser children sang the carol “Stille Nacht heilige Nacht” (Silent Night)that had been established in the Zillertal since about 1820. Listeners were so moved that the siblings also repeated their tune in the royal court chapel of Saxony and performed “Tiroler Nationallieder” at concert intermissions in the Gewandhaus. The Strassers now devoted themselves fully to singing and with great success until 1835, when the group disbanded after the death of Amalie Strasser.[21]
In the summer of 1826, the brothers Anton and Balthasar Leo with their brother-in-law Franz Gasser of Zellbergeben at the Ziller first set out for Germany to sing. Not having been granted passports in Schwaz for doing so, they obtained commercial papers. After initial difficulties, they soon lost their shyness and quickly became well known. They were even invited to sing and perform exhibition dancing for the Margrave of Baden. In 1828 they sang in Weimar for Goethe, whose wife was well disposed towards them. Between 1834 and 1840, in part with more members, they were back in Germany and then toured Holland, Belgium, Scandinavia, and elsewhere. In 1835 they were guests of Duke Max in Bavaria, an enthusiastic connoisseur and patron of Alpine arts. In Denmark the royal family obtained permission for them to perform unhindered throughout the whole country at any time. In 1836 the Danish prince visited the singers back home in Zell. A sojourn in Russia, also highly appreciated by the czar, followed in 1842.[22]
Ludwig Rainer had his first successes as a Nationalsänger in the group founded by Simon Holaus (1814-1895) of Schwendau in the Zillertal in 1838. Extended tours took the Holaus family of singers through Europe, to America, Africa and Australia.[23]
Also from the Zillertal was a series of other singing companies: e.g. the Geschwister Hauser, siblings from Schlitters, soon, however, surpassed by the Ur-Rainer, the Gänsluckners (founded in 1858), the Stieglers of Stumm, and the Rieser family of Laimach. Maria Egger-Rieser (*1861 Finkenberg) traveled to America with the Oberforcher national singers of Mayrhofen in her youth and later took that continent by storm with her own group.[24]
During the second half of the 19th century several groups of singers were formed in Innsbruck, such as the Josef Hinterwaldner (1833-1922), Meßner, Geschwister Wilhelm groups and the “Geschwister” Klett, who were still on the road up to 1931. Tyrolean Nationalsänger not only sent their audiences abroad into raptures but also performed in the Tyrol, as did the following groups in Innsbruck: e.g. Johann Urthaler in 1860, Toni Eder-Maikl-Ringler and, both from the Upper Inn Valley, Haas in 1866 and Tschiderer in 1879. The zither virtuoso Florian Ringler (1856-1934) had set up a group of singers in 1890, inspired by his concert tours with the Pitzinger family of the Pustertal, and joined them up with the Maikl family in 1892.[25]
The Jakob Schöpfer company made it all the way to North America from the Pustertal after setting out in 1865. Daniel Pareiner of the Jagerhof in St Jakob in Ahrn, a farmstead that had long provided the Kirchensinger (church singers of traditional, orally transmitted melodies) in town, went on concert tours with his family several times every winter from 1875 to 1890, when there was little work on the farm.[26]
Abbot Alois Röggl of Wilten Abbey invited the Geschwister Meister of Stams to his monastery in January 1848 “for a production of their Naturgesänge.” Sebastian Meister later joined up his group with the Holaus and Maikl companies and made the so-called “Andreas-Hofer-Lied ”(Andreas Hofer Song) popular at home and abroad. The melody was composed around 1844 by the musician Leopold Knebelsberger (1814-1869) of Klosterneuburg, who sometimes performed as a Nationalsänger himself. The text,“Zu Mantua in Banden” had been written by Julius Mosen in 1832 (the Tyrolean national anthem since 1948). The zither player and choirmaster in Dresden Karl Fittig (†1899), who was born in the Zillertal, arranged several Tyrolean Nationalgesänge for his instrument.[27]The zither had become, not least through the exemplary influence of the Nationalsänger, who used them for song accompaniment or solo interludes in their performances, the prototypical Alpine instrument besides the guitar.[28]

Fussnoten

[18] Hans WURM, “Tiroler Nationalsängergesellschaften im Spiegel ihrer Erfolge,” Tiroler Anzeiger (10 February 1934) p. 5;
Walter SENN, “Musik in Tirol: Älteste Nachrichten - Heldenlieder - Minnesänger - Spielleute,” Ernest Troger, Erläuterungen zur Kulturkarte von Tirol: Historische Stätten und Kulturdenkmale, Vienna Ž //ca 1967, FB 37131//, p. 29f;
Karl HORAK, “Tirol als Volkslied- und Volksmusiklandschaft,” Jahrbuch des österreichischen Volksliedwerkes 16 (1967) p. 14, 16f, 27;
Rudolf SINWEL, “Die Hauptförderer des Tiroler Volksgesangs,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 6 (1928) p. 299;
Hubert GUNDOLF, Tiroler in aller Welt, Innsbruck, etc. 1972, p. 113;
J[osef] RINGLER, “Zur Geschichte des Tiroler Nationalsängertums,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 30 (1955) p. 65;
Walter MEIXNER, “The Tyrolese Minstrels - Made in USA 1831-1833: Konzertleben und Repertoireveränderungen bei den Tiroler Nationalsängern in Amerika,” Jahrbuch des österreichischen Volksliedwerkes 36/37 (1987/88) p. 191ff;
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989].
 
[19] Manfred SCHNEIDER, Tyrolienne [1], CD booklet, Innsbruck: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 1997, p. 2.
 
[20] Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Ludwig Rainer,” Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 8, Vienna 1983, p. 397 (with further references);
Hans WURM, “Tiroler Nationalsängergesellschaften im Spiegel ihrer Erfolge,” Tiroler Anzeiger (10 February 1934) p. 5f;
Manfred SCHNEIDER, “Musik und Weihnacht in Tirol,” Ein Kind ist uns geboren, ein Sohn ist uns geschenkt: Weihnacht in der Tiroler Kunst, exh. cat. on the occasion of the XII. Weltkrippenkongress in Innsbruck in the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck [1985], p. 84f, 87f;
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989], p. 85ff;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Ludwig Rainer und der Weltruf des Tiroler Nationalgesanges,” Tiroler Tageszeitung (15-16 May 1993) . 7;
[Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER], [catalogue entry: Sechs Tyroler Lieder gesungen von den Geschwistern Rainer, Munich about 1828], Bayerisch-tirolische G’schichten ... eine Nachbarschaft,exh. cat. Landesausstellung Kufstein 1993, Innsbruck 1993, p. 384f.
Manfred SCHNEIDER, Tyrolienne 2, CD booklet, Innsbruck: Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum 2002, p. 3f.
 
[21] Manfred SCHNEIDER, “Musik und Weihnacht in Tirol,” Ein Kind ist uns geboren, ein Sohn ist uns geschenkt: Weihnacht in der Tiroler Kunst, exh. cat. on the occasion of the XII. Weltkrippenkongress in Innsbruck in the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck [1985], p. 85ff;
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989], p. 78ff.
 
[22] Hans WURM, “Die Nationalsänger ‘Leo’ aus dem Zillertal,” Innsbrucker Zeitung (20 May 1934) p. 5f;
Hans WURM, “Tiroler Nationalsänger vor Goethe,” Innsbrucker Zeitung (26 May 1934) p. 10;
Hans WURM, “Die Sänger ‘Leo’ auf ihrer Reise durch Skandinavien,” Innsbrucker Zeitung (6 June 1934) p. 7;
Hans WURM, “Die Geschwister ‘Leo’ am Ende ihres Sängerlebens,” Innsbrucker Zeitung (10 June 1934) p. 5f (with further references);
Hans WURM, “Die Nationalsänger ‘Leo’ an den nordischen Höfen,” Innsbrucker Zeitung (27 May 1934) p. 3f.
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989], p. 53ff.
 
[23] Hubert GUNDOLF, Tiroler in aller Welt, Innsbruck, etc. 1972, p. 120f;
INNSBRUCKER Zeitung (24 July 1849) p. 698;
INNSBRUCKER Tag-Blatt (25 November 1850) p. 1083f; (10 August 1853) p. 1104;
“Die TIROLER-Sänger-Gesellschaft Holaus im London,” Neue Tiroler Stimmen (27 March 1869) n. p.;
J. AUSSERLADSCHEIDER, “Ein Erinnerungsblatt für den tirolischen Sänger Simon Holaus,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 30 (1955) p. 72ff;
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989], p. 39ff. -

[24] Hans WURM, “Tiroler Nationalsängergesellschaften im Spiegel ihrer Erfolge,” Tiroler Anzeiger (10 February 1934) p. 5f;
Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 2, Innsbruck 1929, p. 134f;
W[enzel] J[osef] MEINDL, “Über das Musikleben in Tirol,” Hundert Jahre Tiroler Sängerbund 1860-1960, ed. Karl Leipert (Schlern-Schriften 211), Innsbruck 1960, p. 27;
Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989], p. 21ff. -
On the Egger-Rieser company, cf. Ernst KIEHL, “Vergleichende Jodelforschung,” Auf den Spuren der musikalischen Volkskultur im Harz [...], ed. Bezirk Oberbayern, Munich 2002, p. 274.
 
[25] Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 2, Innsbruck 1929, p. 132f, 135f;
W[enzel] J[osef] MEINDL, “Über das Musikleben in Tirol,” Hundert Jahre Tiroler Sängerbund 1860-1960, ed. Karl Leipert (Schlern-Schriften 211), Innsbruck 1960, p. 27;
Hubert GUNDOLF, Tiroler in aller Welt, Innsbruck etc. 1972, p. 121ff;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Florian Ringler,” Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, vol. 9, Vienna 1985, p. 170 (with further references).
 
[26] Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 2, Innsbruck 1929, p. 132;
W[enzel] J[osef] MEINDL, “Über das Musikleben in Tirol,” Hundert Jahre Tiroler Sängerbund 1860-1960, ed. Karl Leipert (Schlern-Schriften 211), Innsbruck 1960, p. 27;
Karl LEIPERT, Hundert Jahre Tiroler Sängerbund 1860-1960 (Schlern-Schriften 211), Innsbruck 1960, p. 85;
J[osef] RINGLER, “Zur Geschichte des Tiroler Nationalsängertums,” Tiroler Heimatblätter 30 (1955) p. 69 (with further references);
Ivo BEIKIRCHER, “Jakob Parainer, der Ahrner Kunstschmied und Natursänger,” Der Schlern 49 (1975) p. 97;
Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Jakob Schöpfer,” Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, fascicle 51, Vienna 1995, p. 108f (with further references).
 
[27]Hildegard HERRMANN-SCHNEIDER, “Aus dem Musikleben im Stift Wilten,” Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch 72 (1988) p. 90;
Konrad FISCHNALER, Innsbrucker Chronik 2, Innsbruck 1929, p. 131;
W[enzel] J[osef] MEINDL, “Über das Musikleben in Tirol,” Hundert Jahre Tiroler Sängerbund 1860-1960, ed. Karl Leipert (Schlern-Schriften 211), Innsbruck 1960, p. 27;
Walter THALER, “Musikpflege [und] Volksschauspiele,” Telfer Buch (Schlern-Schriften 112), Innsbruck 1955, p. 308.
Günther LECHNER, “Leopold Knebelsberger, der Komponist des Andreas Hofer-Liedes (‘Zu Mantua in Banden’),” Jahrbuch des österreichischen Volksliedwerkes 44 (1995) p. 104ff.
 
[28] Cf. the many illustrations of Nationalsänger groups with zither and guitar: Martin REITER, Die Zillertaler Nationalsänger im 19. Jahrhundert, [St. Gertraudi/Reith im Alpbachtal 1989]. -
Cf. Stefan HACKL, “Die Guitaromanie in Tirol: Geschichte der Gitarre an einem Nebenschauplatz,” Gitarre & Laute 1 (1996) p. 21ff.