Korkyra
Korkyra baroque festival

Schikaneders Jugend

Schikaneders Jugend

Johann Josef Schickeneder, more commonly known by the name Emanuel Schikaneder, is known as the theatre director and librettist of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”. However in his youth, Schickeneder toured the countryside as a dance musician. Such musicians, generally known as Lyranten, earned their living at rural weddings, fairs and kermis.
As a tribute to this musical tradition “Schikaneders Jugend” presents music from Austrian, Bavarian and Bohemian 18th century dance musicians’ manuscripts in the original instrumentation.
All of the band’s musicians are specialists in interpretation of traditional folk music and music of the 18th century. The intention of “Schikaneders Jugend” is to present the rural dance music of the time “authentically” to modern concert audience. We want to give the modern listener an accurate impression of the rural music that composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven quote in their compositions. We want to present the music as they might have heard when they travelled the countryside.
The bands instrumentation includes Schäferpfeife and Bock (two local forms of bagpipes ), hurdy gurdy, and shawm, and follows the numerous period sources such as the “Bauernhochzeit in Oberbayern” (Peasant Wedding in Bavaria) by Johann Mettenleitner.