• New release: Thomas Trachsel - Prélude Soleure / Carlo Balmelli -Transcription for Brass Ensemble

Prélude Soleure

A second or better said, a third Solothurn song!

There is hardly a person from Solothurn who does not know the famous Solothurn song: “Es lit es Stedtli wunderhübsch am blaue Aarestrand”. It is based on the old English song “Long, Long Ago” by Thomas Haynes Bayly. But little do many know that there is an even older Solothurner song called “Unser Städchen”. The text was written by the writer Alfred Hartmann in the mid-19th century, when he was a permanent resident of Solothurn. The melody was composed by Heinrich Wydler. This song form related to certain musical laws which were disregarded, so Wydler wrote a 17-bar melody yet even so is rather unusual. In this little «Prélude Soleure», I have combined the two «Solothurn Songs» by Hartmann and Wydler; they are present and have a motivational role.

Workdetails