Volkstümliche Musik (German for "folksy/traditional/popular music") is a modern popular derivation of the traditional ''

Volksmusik Alpine folk music (; 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 music in the Alpine regions of S ...

'' 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, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

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 South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

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

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

(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 h ...

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

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (, , ) is an East Central German dialect 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 is mostly extinct and a new r ...

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

) or colloquial language (e.g. Rhinelandic) and invoke local and regional lifestyles and traditions, particularly dances.

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

and Alpine musical instruments, such as Alphorns,

Zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...

s, acoustic guitars, violas, 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 incl ...

s are frequently featured, although most commercial productions nowadays employ

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s and synthesizers. Yodeling is also common.

History

From the early 1960s onwards, Volkstümliche Musik was conceived for commercial reasons as a counterweight to youth-oriented rock and pop music. The adjective ''volkstümlich'' refers to the borrowing of German

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

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 dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

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. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

. 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 Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

and various radio and television broadcasts with popular presenters like Carolin Reiber or Maria Hellwig. ''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 to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The ex ...

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 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 rele ...

, Andy Borg or Kristina Bach. Its diffusion was further boosted by comprehensive TV broadcasting with some of the most popular programmes including '' Musikantenstadl'' (since 1981), '' Grand Prix der Volksmusik'' (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 and ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and even

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

music. In

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, too, there was a Volkstümliche Musik scene, with Eberhard Hertel being a very popular performer. He also introduced his daughter Stefanie to the scene, performing with her. She is now a famous performer in her own right. Both continued their careers after

German Reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

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 (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, ORF and

Schweizer Fernsehen Schweizer Fernsehen (SF; "Swiss Television") was the German-language division of SRG SSR, in charge of production and distribution of television programmes in Switzerland for German-speaking Switzerland. It had 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 groups 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 an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

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 idyllic, reactionary,

irrational Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without rationality. Irrationality often has a negative connotation, as thinking and actions that are less useful or more illogical than other more rational alternatives. The concept of ...

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 the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

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 aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism also may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or general s ...

. 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 are 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, represent ...

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 Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

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 commentator, Ian Cheeseman. A number of British singers have also been attracted to this style of music, even featuring on '' Musikantenstadl'', such as Ross Antony, Tony Christie and Roger Whittaker.

References

External links