You have to be born into this very special rhythm, say diehard musicians about the Innviertler Landler. Learning and mastering this momentum, the “Landlerschlåg”, requires a lot of experience and a very special feeling. It is also known as the “anthem of the Innviertel”, but the Innviertler Landler is more than just music: it combines music, song and dance in a special way. With around 260 years of tradition, it was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013.
It was the Zechen, a community of unmarried peasant boys, who danced and sang the Landler at weddings and at fairs. There were more than 500 such Zechen in the Innviertel at the end of the 1930s. Now there are only around 15 active Zechen. The Landler is played, danced and sung according to a specific dance sequence that differs from Zeche to Zeche. These sequences of figures are called “Zettel”, “Gsätzl” or “Eicht”. Thanks to these Zechen, the Innviertel Landler has also remained locally in the region.
“Never gets boring”
The Landler music is so special because of its special rhythm – a “delayed three-quarter time”. One of the most prominent Landler musicians is Franz Brandstötter from Polling. He is a member of the Solingen Landler music group and has been playing the Landler violin for around 50 years: “I joined the Solingen band when I was very young, and one day Toni from Solingen (a Landler legend from Wildenau who has since passed away) came into our living room with a violin and said: ‘Boy, that was something for you!’ I’ve been playing the violin ever since,” says Brandstötter. The Landler is something very special for him, as he says: “The Landler is a powerful music, one that is never played boringly. The Innviertler Landler is a lively thing in contrast to other Ländlers. It has a special rhythm, and the emphasis is on the third beat. That’s what makes it so typical.” The typical line-up of Landler music is two trumpets, a tuba, two violins and a cello or a bass violin, as the Innviertel musician explains.
“You have to snuggle!”
Also typical and only found in the Innviertler Landler is the Ålmern, a very special form of singing similar to yodeling. Describing the Ålmern is not easy, only very few singers can still switch between head and chest voice. Franz Mayr from Utzenaich is one of the Krammerer singers who uphold the Landler. He started singing the Ålmern in 1993 and says: “The special thing about the Ålmern is that the soft palate has to move. When switching between the vocal ranges, it has to ‘click’, you can even hear it. You need vocal talent and a certain ability for that, it’s not easy!”
“It takes a year”
For music and dance to come together, musicians and dancers need to have a good sense of feeling. Solingen musician Franz Brandstötter explains what is important: “You can never play the music down stubbornly, otherwise the dancers would come out. The musicians have to ‘give in’, as we say. That means: we adapt to the dancers. Otherwise it’s the other way around.” Learning the Landler – both music and dance – takes time. “The youngsters need a year to learn the Landler,” says Brandstötter, and Krammerer singer Franz Mayr also says: “It takes six months to a year before you can dance it.” The Ålmern is reserved for the particularly talented anyway. “You can start singing the Landler quickly, but you need talent to do the Ålmern. I learned it from the older Landler singers, by listening.” For Landler violinist Franz Brandstötter, listening and playing along with the older ones was also the best learning experience.
Passing on the Landler tradition is important to Brandstötter and Mayr, and the Solingen musician says: “The Landler will never die out, it has so much power!”
Landler terms:
Ålmern: A form of singing that is unique to the Innviertler Landler. It involves switching between chest and head voice at a relatively high pitch by controlling the soft palate, which is similar to yodeling. Notes, notes, notes: Sequence of figures of the Landler dance written on pieces of paper. These figures varied depending on the mine, probably to make it impossible for outside members of the mine to dance in the other mine. Warped rhythm: The rhythm in three-quarter time is slightly delayed – “distorted” – on beat three, which gives the Innviertler Landler its special character. Landler and Ländler: The scientific name is Ländler, the Landler is a subgenus.
Source: Nachrichten
