Volkstümliche Musik (German for "folksy/traditional/popular music") is a modern

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

derivation of the traditional ''

Volksmusik Alpine folk music (german: Alpenländische Volksmusik; German's ''Volksmusik'' means "people's music" or as a Germanic connotative translation, "folk's music") is the common umbrella designation of a number of related styles of traditional folk m ...

'' genre of German-speaking regions. Though it is often marketed as ''Volksmusik'', it differs from traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

in that it is commercially performed by celebrity singers and concentrates on newly created sentimental and cheerful feel-good compositions. Volkstümliche Musik is sometimes instrumental, but usually presented by one or especially two singers and is most popular amongst an adult audience in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and also in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

(Italy), Alsace-Moselle (France), Netherlands, Flanders (Belgium), Slovenia,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(Poland) and northern Croatia.

Characteristics

Closely related to the German schlager genre, many titles stress a

Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it ha ...

affect, being presented in regional dialects (e.g. Bavarian,

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mostl ...

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

Rhinelandic Rhinelandic is a term occasionally used for linguistic varieties of a region on both sides of the Middle and Lower Rhine river in Central West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It has at least two distinct meanings which often ca ...

) or colloquial language and invoke local and regional lifestyles and traditions, particularly dances.

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

and Alpine musical instruments, such as

Alphorn The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a labrophone, consisting of a straight several-meter-long wooden natural horn of conical bore, with a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the Alphorn was made of one single piece, or two parts ...

Zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

s, acoustic guitars,

violas ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

s are frequently featured, although most commercial productions nowadays employ drum machines and synthesizers.

Yodeling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from the ...

is also common.

History

From the early 1960s onwards, Volkstümliche Musik was conceived for commercial reasons as a counterweight to youth-oriented

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and pop music. The adjective ''volkstümlich'' refers to the borrowing of German

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

elements, connecting them to virtually all kinds of light dance and popular music of the 19th and early 20th centuries, from

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

. The large popularity of this music genre led to the development of ''volkstümliche''

record charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

and various radio and television broadcasts with popular presenters like

Carolin Reiber Carolin Reiber (born 2 November 1940) is a German television presenter. Biography Reiber works in Germany as television presenter on German broadcaster ARD and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR). Television magazines as ''Jetzt red' i'', ''Unser Land ...

Maria Hellwig Maria Hellwig (22 February 1920 – 26 November 2010) was a German yodeler, popular performer of volkstümliche Musik (Alpine folk music), and television presenter. Life Maria Neumaier was born in 1920 to Heinrich Neumaier, an electrician, an ...

. ''Volkstümliche Musik'' was influenced by

Flower Power Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsber ...

songs as well as by popular classical pieces during the 1970s and has been increasingly mingled with schlager music, promoted by successful singers like

Heino Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager music, Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musici ...

serving as a model for performers like

Die Flippers Die Flippers (The Flippers) were a German Schlager group formed in 1964. They were one of the most successful Schlager groups of all time, and have been constantly recording and releasing new music since their self-titled debut album was relea ...

Andy Borg Adolf Andreas Speyer (born 02 November 1960 in Floridsdorf, Vienna), best known by his stage name Andy Borg, is an Austrian Schlager singer and TV presenter. He lives in the Passau area and has been recording music since his debut album ''Adios ...

Kristina Bach Kristina Bach (*born Kerstin Bräuer on 07 April 1962 in Mettmann, North Rhine Westphalia, West Germany (BRD)) is a German " Schlager" , full Opern singer, lyricist, and music producer (Director). K. Bach is noted for her 3 ½-octave (f=1:8) voc ...

. Its diffusion was further boosted by comprehensive TV broadcasting with some of the most popular programmes including ''

Musikantenstadl Musikantenstadl is a live television entertainment program broadcast in the German language throughout Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. It features Austrian, Swiss, and German popular folk music ( Schlager, Volkstümliche Musik), international ...

'' (since 1981), ''

Grand Prix der Volksmusik The Grand Prix der Volksmusik (English: Grand Prix of Folk Music) was an annual regional song contest for folk music, held from 1986 until 2010. The countries taking part were Germany, Austria, Switzerland and, from 2000, South Tyrol. History The c ...

'' (1986–2010) and ''Lustige Musikanten'' with Marianne & Michael. Beside Volkstümliche Musik, these telecasts also feature

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and even

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

music.

Reception

Modelled on immensely popular ''Musikantenstadl'', since the early 1990s Volkstümliche Musik features strongly in numerous peak-time television broadcasts on German, Austrian and Swiss public TV networks including ARD,

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

and

Schweizer Fernsehen Schweizer Fernsehen (SF; "Swiss Television") is the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It has its head office in Zürich.

as well as several regional TV networks and local radio stations. Commercial broadcasters nowadays tend to stay clear of it because it is not very popular with the commercially desirable younger

target group A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined ...

s up to 49 years of age, however, there are several

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

television stations focusing on the genre. Not unlike schlager, Volkstümliche Musik is often belittled by younger or more sophisticated audiences as a massively commercialized product created for the lower strata of society, conveying

idyll An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). U ...

ic, reactionary,

irrational Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate use of reason, or through emotional distress or cognitive deficiency. T ...

ideas. Those holding these views sometimes sarcastically deride the expression "volkstümliche Musik" (folksy/folk-like music) by replacing the "-tümlich"(-like)-suffix by "-dümmlich", meaning roughly "featherbrained", turning it into "folk-featherbrained Music", e.g. dim-witted, daft or dopey.

Sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

surveys confirm a predominant conservative attitude among the target population, who often feel that Volkstümliche Musik performances provide a means of stress alleviation and

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or genera ...

. In this perception, Volkstümliche Musik differs somewhat from its ancestor, the traditional folk (''Volksmusik''), which continues to be performed by many local groups and orchestras in different areas. The Volkstümliche Musik market is the largest section of the

music business The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

in German-speaking areas. Due to the advanced age of the main target group,

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

has not been prevalent so far.

United Kingdom

Though the term is mainly unknown in the United Kingdom, volkstümliche Musik has attracted a fanbase there including

BBC Radio Manchester BBC Radio Manchester is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater Manchester. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at MediaCityUK in Salford ...

commentator, Ian Cheeseman. A number of British singers have also been attracted to this style of music, even featuring on ''

'', such as

Ross Antony Ross Anthony Catterall (born 9 July 1974), known by his stage name Ross Antony, is a British singer, entertainer and presenter based in Germany. He rose to fame as a member of the R&B/ pop group Bro'Sis. Since the group disbanded in 2006, Anto ...

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song writt ...

and

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...

References

External links