FRAUNHOFER SAITENMUSIK

The band took its name from a traditional “Wirtshaus (restaurant) in Munich, the “Fraunhofer, where Heidi Zink and Richard Kurländer founded the group in 1978. Fraunhofer Saitenmusik is a crossover project. The quartet reaches out beyond the boundaries of folk and classical music. They combine these two styles which have historically been severed by “separatists.
This Bavarian group is a conservative ensemble in a dialectic way. They demystify the works of such classicists as Clementi, Mozart, Händel and Michael Haydn, and elevate traditional folk music to the same stature. The members of the band travelled extensively in countries such as Bohemia, Finland, Ireland and the Balkans. But their music is always deeply rooted in the tradition of the music of the Alps.
From there, they work out their interpretations of Finnish folk songs or tunes by Turlough O´Carolan who wrote music for the Irish harp. The dominant instrument within Fraunhofer Saitenmusik is the hammered dulcimer. A concert by this band is a very intimate, acoustic event.
However, Heidi Zink and her colleagues are also capable of getting the audience to their feet with a lot of lively, dance tunes. The “Hexenpolka from the band´s 1993 release “Excursionen is a good example.
Fraunhofer present pure, handmade music.
They had good reason to call one of their albums “Against The Rhythm Of Time.

Hexenpolka 2:30
(Seppo Baroon“ Paakunainen/Richard Kurländer-Briton Musikverlag)
Taken from the CD Excursionen“
(Meilton CD 2084)
Current CD “´96
(Meilton CD 3025)