Simona Caminada

 

Culture » Music »

Rumantschia

As in all parts of Switzerland, music and singing still today have a long tradition and deep roots also in the Grisons. Nowadays, however, Romansh cannot only be found in traditional pieces of music, but also in the most varied music genres (folk songs in traditional and modern folk music, pop, rock, rap, musicals or operas).
Every village has an own traditional Uniun da musica (village band) which has the function of accompanying religious and profane festivities.
The numerous Romansh choirs in and outside the Grisons have always played an important role for the cultural identity as well as for the maintenance of the language.
Choirmaster Hans Erni (1867-1961) is considered to be the father of Romansh singing. The bibliography “Bibliografia da la musica vocala rumantscha” (Chur, 1986) contains a list of all Romansh songs which were documented between the years 1661 and 1984.
Radio Rumantsch (RR) puts an effort in integrating traditional and modern music in their programmes. RR supports Romansh music in different ways. For example it offers musicians the possibility to set their pieces to music or to record singles.

Some examples from the Romansh music scene:
In Chur, in 2004, there was the premiere of the Romansh opera “Tredeschin”. The composer G.A. Derungs combined the fairytale with motives of folk songs and free melodies with tonal and atonal elements creating an independent music style.
The most renowned singer certainly is Corin Curschellas which combines the Romansh idioms with Suisse-German and English.
The group which causes a sensation in the Romansh (and German) speaking world at the moment is “Liricas Analas”, a rap group which has published several albums since 2000 and which has become famous in the Helvetian hip-hop scene.
A very original double album was created and published in 2005 by “Lain Fabular”. It contains 27 Beatles’ songs which were translated to Romansh and which are sung by a number of Romansh artists.
"Lirica Anala" & “Accent” is the name of one of the latest Romansh compilation which was published in spring 2007. It has convinced from the point of view of quality and entertainment. “Accent” offers an amazing range of music styles from hip-hop to rock, punk, pop and electro.