A world premiere for the City of London Festival - 5.06.08

The World Premiere of the first movement of ‘Rhenus Fluvius’ will take place on June 30, 2008 at the City of London Festival, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, London (see diary).

text: Jürg Fankhauser music: Nigel Short

Rhenus Fluvius – Jürg Fankhauser:

When I met Nigel Short in Villars-sur-Ollon, high up in the Swiss mountains, he told me that he was looking for a text to set to music for his choir Tenebrae. He was thinking of a work that would specifically address the cultural and historical aspects of the European mainland. I immediately thought of the Rhine, a fascinating river that has always separated and joined the peoples that traveled the land, that has witnessed great conflicts and created strong friendships and a sense of community. The cultures of the Celts, Romans, Germanics and many kingdoms and principalities flourished along the banks of the river Rhine.

I climbed the mountains of the Grison towards the spring of the Rhine, up to Lake Tuma, where I stumbled upon a small perfect mountain crystal – a good omen for the success of the work! On foot and bicycle, I followed the Rhine down to the mouth of the river in Rotterdam, Holland. The Rhine Falls and the Lorelei, as well as towns like Basel (Erasmus of Rotterdam), Worms (The song of the Nibelung), Cologne and Rotterdam left a deep impression and inspired me. In addition, the golden Riesling greatly enhanced my enthusiasm…

I quickly decided that each part of the work had to be sung in the language of the place itself. The work is introduced by the God of Water giving the gift of spring water, in Latin, a language apt for Gods. The birth of the Rhine in the Alps is sung in the Romansch dialect of the Surselva, followed by German, French, Middle High German and Dutch, as the Rhine flows into the ocean and, with a distant reminder of the Romansch call, blends with the sea’s salty waters.

Jürg Markus Fankhauser, born in 1954, grew up in Bern, Switzerland. He studied at the Universities of Bern and Paris, and today teaches languages.

His literary work includes several plays, the historical novel “Limes”, the detective novel “Mond über der Toscana”, short stories and many songs and texts for groups and composers.
Jürg Fankhauser lives with his family in Twann on Lake Bienne, Switzerland.