Bernard Adolfsen

This is a selection of Lieder by Swiss composers – to give a superficial description of the songs recorded for this album. Making such a selection involves making decisions.

This is a selection of Lieder by Swiss composers – to give a superficial description of the songs recorded for this album. Making such a selection involves making decisions. What is important? What is essential? Are the chosen songs gems or rarities? Do they exemplify the work of the respective composers? A selection can be both a winnowing-out and a compilation. Each of these actions applies to the Lieder presented here. The recordings (re)present debut or early works, and also rarely heard works by established composers. This album centres on the “Seven Winter Songs” op. 1 by Hans Schaeuble (1906-1988). The words and music of the Lieder have now appeared in print, and this premiere recording was made in consequence. The music edition of the Sieben Winterlieder Op. 1 is based on a calligraphic manuscript in the Zurich Central Library, which is clearly a fair copy illustrated by Schaeuble’s brother Erich. The singer Luca Bernard is a study prize winner of Migros Kulturprozent. From the 2019/20 season he became a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House. At the Zurich University of the Arts, pianist Hans Adolfsen has a Lied class together with pianist and composer Daniel Fueter, whose encounters with music and literature have provided him with a new source of inspiration.