Jodelduo Marthely Mumenthaler-Vrenely Pfyl
Marthely Mumenthaler (born August 1, 1916 in Schaffhausen ; † March 12, 1987 in Zurich ) and Vrenely (Pia) Pfyl (* 1915; † June 4, 1977 in Zurich) were a singing duo from Zurich.
The duo Mumenthaler / Pfyl was one of the most successful Swiss interpreters of popular hits and songs for almost 25 years . Most of them were released as 78-tour records and had enormous print runs by Swiss standards. Well over 200 songs were recorded. Since she was four, Marthely Mumenthaler could only hear in one ear because of a failed operation.
Marthely Mumenthaler made her first appearance as a 13-year-old at a music school festival in the Zurich City Hall, where she sang two yodel songs. She later became a dressmaker and married the Arosa ski instructor Walter Keizer. In the winter of 1937 she got to know Vrenely Pfyl on a sleigh ride in Arosa , which had never occurred before. Spontaneously they decided on a musical performance on a frozen dung stick, which was very positively received by the audience. Then the two young women decided to perform together from now on. Marthely Mumenthaler's first big success was in 1940 without Vrenely Pfyl with the song S'Landidörfli by Robert Barmettler, in a trio with Köbi Kessler and Sepp Israng.
During the Second World War, Mumenthaler / Pfyl performed on countless evenings for the soldiers in active service . Her greatest successes, however, came from the post-war period, such as S'decki Brüggli and the Brunnenhoflied .
However, it was not until 1945 that the duo celebrated their greatest success with a total of over 100,000 records sold with the song Nach em Räge Sunne by the Swiss composer Artur Beul , who would become one of their favorite composers. The song has been translated into numerous languages and was long in the US hit list under the title When a Swiss Boy goes calling to a Swiss Miss in June - interpreted by the Andrews Sisters . Beuls penned over 60 titles, including several of the duo's great successes , such as the Glarner Zigerlied or S'isch Polizeistund .
After the death of Vrenely Pfyl in 1977, Marthely Mumenthaler broke off her stage career and devoted herself to running a restaurant near Zurich. In 1979 she and her twin sons Peter and Walter released a long-playing record with modern versions of the great successes of that time. Her last record was released in 1985: a collection of her favorite yodel songs that she recorded with her long-time colleague Berteli Studer.
Her twin sons Walter and Peter Keizer are internationally recognized musicians today (Walter: drums and percussion, Peter: bass). They are known as Keizer Twins .
Marthely Mumenthaler and Vrenely Pfyl are buried in the Nordheim cemetery in Zurich.