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Music reviews
The Zither in the City
The zither has a particularly rich history in Vienna, where it has enjoyed considerable – not to say massive – popularity amongst large sections of the population.
In addition, the zither has won a place of its own in the history of Vienna’s celebrated concert halls, where world-famous virtuosi have given performances.
Even in the mass media of the twentieth century, the instrument has successfully proved its power to fascinate: all over the world, people have become familiar with the sound of the Vienna zither through the immortal music composed and performed by Anton Karas for the film The Third Man (1949, dir. Carol Reed) .
Vienna’s unusual special relationship with the zither began in the opening years of the nineteenth century, when the originally Alpine instrument first caught the attention of city-dwellers at great popular festivities and in suburban hostelries, where it was also heard in combination with violin and guitar.
The suburban theatres also presented performances of (Tyrolean) folk music by Nationalsänger, who enchanted their astounded listeners not only with Alpine vocal music but also with the sound of the zither.
As the instrument came into fashion with the Viennese public, these self-taught Naturalisten or natural musicians were able to earn a living with their zither playing; some becoming widely travelled performing artists and being accorded high recognition as musicians.
However, the zither owed its propagation in the second half of the nineteenth century not so much to the Naturalisten as to the Professionalisten or professionals who, while earning their daily bread at the suburban theatres, were soon composing new zither music that was printed by the large Vienna music publishers.
The Austrian aristocracy’s great fondness for the instrument also played a part in the rise of the instrument, not least as a result of the marriage of Emperor Franz Joseph to the Bavarian princess Elisabeth: even after the downfall of the monarchy in 1918, the fact that Sissi had herself been a keen zither-player greatly influenced the instrument’s popular image.
The zither boom that took place from around 1870 onwards generated an industry that spawned a very substantial gross product, with the ever-growing number of zither enthusiasts being served by music publishers, instrument-makers, specialist periodicals, concert-promoters and, last but by no means least, a constantly increasing number of teachers.
The later decades of the period saw these enthusiasts meeting in great numbers in the workers’ associations, the successor organizations of which still exist today.
The zither in the form familiar to us today has existed since around the end of the 1840s. The concert zither, which is the one most commonly used today, is constructed in accordance with the basic system developed by Nikolaus Weigel (1811 – 1878) , which was first published in his Neue theoretisch-praktische Zitherschule of 1838 and propagated thereafter in collaboration with instrument-makers such as Ignaz Simon and Anton Kiendl (1816 – 1871) , recorded in Vienna from 1844.
The stringing customary in Vienna today is ascribed to the Viennese zither virtuoso.
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Cornelia Mayer
Cornelia was born in Mürzzuschlag / Styria and studied bassoon and zither in Graz and Vienna.
She is first and foremost a performer of international standing. Cornelia teaches zither at the Musik- und Singschule, Vienna, performs as a soloist, and is a member of Ensemble Monopol as well as director of the Vienna Zither Company. She has made a number of zither recordings.
Cornelia is the author of the three-volume zither school Einfach anfangen, of several teaching works for the Vienna zither, and of the booklet Heute habt ihr wieder sehr, sehr schön gespielt about the imperial-royal chamber zither-player Hans Lanner, and general editor of the series Beiträge zur Zither.
Her latest CD ‘Zither in the City’, which was released early in September 2009, demonstrates not only the development of zither composition during and after the Biedermeier period, but also the artist progression of Cornelia Mayer.
Her CD of Hans Lanner’s compositions clearly demonstrated that there was much more to zither playing than ‘alpine folk music’ and ‘The Third Man’. Here was music, which was and still is played in small concert halls and salons.
The compositions selected for the new CD include many rare and technically difficult pieces that are played with great delicacy and sympathy. During many discussions with Cornelia it is abundantly clear that this ‘Salonmusik’ is the direction in which she see her career progressing.
This charming and evocative CD is available from the Anglo-Austrian Society for £13 including packing and postage.
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Cornelia Mayer plays Karas
At the Civic Centre, Berkhamsted (UK), on the evening of Friday 2nd October 2009 at the Graham Greene International Festival, the celebrated Viennese zither teacher and player Cornelia Mayer entertained a large and appreciative audience, as she played a selection of compositions and arrangements by Anton Karas and other famous composers of zither music.
In the Hemel Hempstead Gazette the journalist Rita Knowles reviewed Cornelia’s performance with these words: “Throw away the impression that the zither is the instrument of choice for wine bars and parties. Cornelia showed us undreamed of nuances of sound, as she gave her recital of classical pieces, proving the zither truly an instrument of the salon or soirée.”
Peter Gieler, general secretary of the Anglo-Austrian Society, introduced the classical section of Cornelia’s concert. When the virtuoso musician progressed to the score of The Third Man, the historian and author, Dr. Brigitte Timmermann, (Vienna Walks and Talks) explained the development and variations of leitmotifs such as "The Harry Lime Theme" and "Anna Schmidt’s Music".
Though Anton Karas composed his film score without the aid of written music, playing as he watched the rushes of film, Cornelia has meticulously transcribed the notes to paper, and she hopes at some stage to record and to publish a complete musical score.
The Festival director Dermot Gilvary thanked the Anglo-Austrian Society for its generous sponsorship of Cornelia’s appearances.
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This charming and evocative CD is available from the Anglo-Austrian Society for £13 including packing and postage.
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