Rhiannon (band)
| rhiannon | |
|---|---|
 The band 2018, from left to right: Max, Cordula, Nordolf, Roman |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Music from the Middle Ages |
| founding | 2002 |
| Website | www.rhiannon.at |
| Founding members | |
| Max Meßenböck | |
| Cordula Meßenböck | |
| Current occupation | |
| Max Meßenböck | |
| Cordula Meßenböck | |
| Roman Schett | |
| Nordolf Johanson | |
| former members | |
| Marco Cecon | |
| Tommy Cooper-Smith | |
| Karin Renner | |
| Tobias Winkler-Ebner | |
| Markus Rogenhofer | |
| Sergio Ceballos-Salas | |
Rhiannon ( proper spelling rhiannon - music in medieval minstrel tradition) is a band from the Middle Ages scene from Leonding (Austria).
history
In 2002, the founding members Cordula and Max began to deal with historical musical instruments and medieval music. In the same year a duo was founded, whose first appearance took place in the context of an event of the Upper Austrian provincial exhibition in Waldhausen . The main focus at that time was on the free interpretation of music from the High and Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance . The name rhiannon , which was chosen for the project, comes from Celtic mythology and was given the addition "Music in a medieval minstrel tradition" to underline a casual approach to historical music.
In 2005, the Carinthian- based solo musician Marco Cecon joined the formation. Since then rhiannon has also incorporated his own compositions into the performances. The band strives for a harmonious combination of extensive historical instruments and arrangements that should do justice to both the tradition of the minstrels and modern listening habits. In order to optimize musical expression in the smallest possible line-up, rhiannon became a quartet with Thomas Cooper-Smith in 2006 .
After these times of construction and Austria-wide appearances at medieval festivals, markets and museum events, the production of the first CD with the title “Was solln wir darzuo?” Followed in 2007. From now on, the band played repeatedly at events in Germany and Italy.
Marco Cecon and Tommy Cooper-Smith left the band in 2010 after the production of the second CD (“Some drops of red”). A few changes of musicians followed, in 2012 the third CD (“Vil dear greetings”) was recorded in a stable band structure. With the percussionist Markus Rogenhofer, who was originally at home in jazz, and the Spanish guitarist Sergio Ceballos-Sallas, changed musical possibilities resulted, which was reflected in the arrangements and choice of songs.
In 2014 the band project "rhiannon" was briefly disbanded. Sergio Ceballos-Sallas returned to his native Spain and Markus Rogenhofer devoted himself to other projects. After a period of reflection, the project was continued with the Vienna- based musician Roman Schett (previously active in alternative and pop rock ) and Nordolf Johanson from Wels (previously with melodic death metal and metalcore bands). In the current line-up, rhiannon is devoting itself to polyphonic singing and folky arrangements, in addition to the previous field of activity, and remains true to the principle of using only traditional and historical musical instruments.
In July 2018 the fourth CD "Diomuoti" (Old High German for humility ) was completed and presented in the course of a CD and video presentation in the Elsarn Open Air Museum. The video Summer Ballad of Poor Louise , premiered at the event, is an interpretation of a touching ballad by the late medieval vagabond poet François Villon , which was translated by Paul Zech and with a production time of one year with the participation of many Austrian reenectment groups and the film production team "netta mea" was implemented.
Music genre
As the name addition of the band rhiannon - music in medieval minstrel tradition indicates, it is a band that can be assigned to the music of the medieval scene. Since its foundation, the musicians have always wanted to draw a broad arc between historical performance practice in the style of the traveling minstrel and contemporary listening habits, without making any claim to historical authenticity. Rather, free interpreting, composing and arranging are in the foreground in order to sound out the diverse expressive possibilities of historical and traditional musical instruments and to make them accessible to the audience in an entertaining way.
The repertoire of the band accordingly includes driving and rhythmic pieces of music as well as delicate ballads and folk from different countries. Instrumental pieces alternate with polyphonic vocal pieces in a wide variety of languages (German, English, French, Yiddish , Sephardic , Middle High German ).
The pieces are interpreted on an extensive and constantly growing set of instruments in order to present the listener with the broadest possible cross-section through the musical landscapes of earlier times. During performances, the origin and meaning of pieces of music as well as the instruments used are explained in interaction with the audience. The musicians pay special attention to historical pieces of music, which transmit a timeless message that, in their opinion, is worth carrying on. B. denounce the futility of armed conflicts or social injustice.
To date, rhiannon's instruments include bagpipes from different countries, hurdy-gurdy , harps , trum logs , lutes , dulcimer , shawms , flutes , drums , Mirliton , gem horns , tines , nyckelharpa (key fiddle), Irish bouzouki , rahara , alphorn , bodhrán , davul and drum .
Performances and concerts
Medieval festivals and markets
Over the years rhiannon has performed at various events and medieval festivals in Austria and entertained the audience, among other things. a. 2005 and 2006 at the event Ehrenberg - Die Zeitreise and in 2013 at Austria's largest medieval festival, the Eggenburger Zeitreise . Since 2007, the museum event “Outfit und Pulverdampf” of the Military History Museum Vienna has been one of the band's annual fixed dates. Since 2008 rhiannon has also used the annual Advent market there.
At the international street art festival Pflasterspektakel in Linz, rhiannon presented itself to the audience in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as an anachronistic street art contribution.
Several appearances on medieval markets in Germany, Italy and Switzerland are also part of the band's history. So the band performed u. a. 2009, 2011 and 2013 at the medieval market of Rabenstein Castle in Franconia and appeared in 2008, 2009 and 2010 at the South Tyrolean Ritterspiele Churburg -Schluderns. In Switzerland, the 600th anniversary of the Hünenberg community was supported by the band in 2014 .
Concerts
Although the main focus of the music group rhiannon is clearly on performances that enable direct contact with the audience and the exclusive use of acoustic instruments in such extensive numbers on large concert stages is a challenge, the band can also be seen on these again and again, e.g. For example, the performances at the Pipes and Whistles Festival in Vienna in 2008 or the two concerts in 2008 and 2017 at Europe's largest festival for medieval music , the Festival Mediaval .
Film music
For the multiple award-winning historical short film "Wolves", which the internationally renowned Austrian fencing group Dreynschlag produced in 2016, rhiannon contributed part of the film music.
Rhiannon is also responsible for part of the soundtrack of the second part of the fictional history trilogy “Noricum” by the young Austrian filmmakers from netta mea , which has been in production since 2015 , and composed two pieces for it, which were recorded in 2017, but only when the second part was completed expected to be published in 2019. [outdated]
Press reviews
... It is impossible to keep silent about the sounding content. Imaginative arrangements, excellent musicality, beautiful voices, not to mention the varied selection of titles that range from Carmina Burana to Walter von der Vogelweide to Johann Steuerlein, Hans Neusiedler and Markus Roggenhofer. The fact that all of this sounds homogeneous at the same time over the long time span has a lot to do with the fact that “Rhiannon” master their instruments and voices perfectly. The decisive factor, however, is their joy in playing, which makes every song an event. You have to have this disc! (Karfunkel No. 105, CD review "vil liebe grüsse")
... It is a multi-faceted medieval band. And although they do not claim to be authentic, you can tell from the instruments, the selection of pieces and the accompanying texts that they do not care about their origin. A successful balancing act between populist market music and historical music practice ... (folkworld.eu, 2008, CD review "What should we do darzuo?")
Discography
Albums:
- 2007: What should we add to it?
- 2010: Some drops of red
- 2012: Greetings from Vil
- 2018: Diomuoti
Compilation contributions:
- 2008: An Dro Gaz at the Mediaval Sampler Festival
- 2010: Morfa ´r Frenhines on Best Of Pagan Folk (Screaming Banshee / Al! Ve)
- 2011: A minor Highlander on Zillo Medieval - Medieval And Music CD IV (Zillo Musicmedia GmbH)
Web links
- Website
- Rhiannon at Discogs (English)
- Rhiannon at Musik-Sammler.de
- Rhiannon on MusicBrainz (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Imago Nuntius: Online article on rhiannon CD and video presentation - Taterman. Accessed February 2, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Detailed reports on the complex filming in the Austrian online medium Taterman. Accessed February 2, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Pipes and Whistles Festival - Middle Ages meets Irish Folk live in Berlin - Galerie. Retrieved February 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Wolves - Dreynschlag. Accessed February 1, 2019 (German).
- ↑ noricum - netta mea. Retrieved February 1, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ CD: Greetings from Vil, Rhiannon. Retrieved February 1, 2019 .
- ↑ FolkWorld CD reviews. Retrieved February 1, 2019 .