sisterMAG 36 - The sound of music - EN

A PR IL 2018

E n g l i sh | N ° 3 6

S O UND O F M US IC

„

Music was my first love

– John Miles

E H T D N U O S F O

i s u M

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ic

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DEAR SISTERMAG READERS, Those of you who didn’t recognize Austria as a musical pioneer were wrong: The Hollywood classic »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« which is set in Salzburg proves otherwise. Just like the Austrian Trapp family, which is anything but fictional and provides the narrative foundation for the musical film.

The »HEIMATFILM« (i.e. German film with regional background) is the leading theme of the new sisterMAG issue and provides for a lot of material: It has never been so musical in our editorial office! We surround ourselves with music for this issue – and examine many musical facets.

What makes a hit a hit? Why can some people sing and some not so much? Why does music literally make our emotions dance? What happens to our brain when music makes us remember things, and what is the secret of a successful music producer? We clear

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up these and many more questions in the new sisterMAG. Besides Salzburg, we have another close look at Berlin and explore our capital with the influencer CLEA-LACY and our partner ara. What must never lack doing so? The new ara Fusion 4 in trendy rose.

Of course, we also continue our article series about film history. This time, our author Alex Kords illuminates the most famous film studios. Did you know that one of them is less than 40 kilometres away from the sisterMAG office?

We wish you a lot of fun reading and discovering. A little tip: Listening to music is said to be especially relaxing while browsing!

YO U R S I S T E R M AG T E A M

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W H AT H A P P E N E D S O FA R »A YEAR IN MOVIES« is 2018 for

the sisterMAG team - and we love it! In January and February, it was all about breakfast with the films »BREAKFAST CLUB« and »BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S« . For the spring months of March and April we turn to musical films.

2018

MAR

Who does not know and love the flying nanny »MARY POPPINS«?

Together with her, we immersed ourselves in the world of musicals and studied the topic of parenting in different cultures. Of course, a recipe feature with »A SPOON FULL OF SUGAR« was also a must.

Definitely have a look inside, if you haven’t done so already.

sist er MAG

In the »SOUND OF MUSIC« issue, we will take a further look at the phenomenon of MUSIC in its various forms. In addition to our issue, we can only recommend a movie night with the previous sisterMAG films!

p u b l i she d ever y m on th !

READ NOW

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

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Sales

SOUND

THEA Editor-in-Chief & Design

SASKIA Administration

C R E AT I O N

MARKETING & ADMIN

Content Management

VERA Content Management

CHRISTINA

Content Management

Marketing & Finance

MUSIC

FRANZISKA

SOPHIE

TONI

OF

EVI

Content Management

MARIE

Fashion

Design & Kreation

LALE

sisterMAG

ALEX

O P E R AT I O N S

PA R T N E R S

THE

SONGIE

Video & Design

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CONTENT PAGE 24 - THE SOUND OF MUSIC

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

APRIL 03 07 10 16 24 34 40 76

EDITORIAL TEAM & TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTRIBUTORS FILM HISTORY – PART 4

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PRODUCTCOLLAGE FROM MANUAL TO THE FULL SCORE How sheet music

INTRODUCING THE FILM

was invented

»The Sound of Music« JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM ARA FUSION 4 with Clea Lacy ON THE TRAIL OF THE TRAPPS scenes in »The Sound of Music«

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114

The rise of the film studios

Salzburg's most splendid

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PAG E 76 - ON THE TRAIL OF THE TRAPPS

AUSTRIAN KITCHEN Recipes DIY HACKS with ara

128 128

DO-RE-MI Solmization ONE SOUND, ONE MEMORY What music does to us

134

SINGING

146

MUSIC RUNS IN THE FAMILY

152

A CHAT WTH PATRICIA KELLY

Can anyone do that?

From Bach to the Kelly Family

Child in a family of musicians, artist, free spirit

#36

PAGE 138 - SINGING

PAGE 40 - ARA FUSION 4

160

MUSIC AS BUSINESS & PASSION Interview with Ralph Siegel and Oliver Pinelli

174 THE DISENCHANTMENT OF

PAGE 102 - DIYS WITH ARA

POP MUSIC

184

30 DAYS / 30 DESIGNS

194

FAMOUS FEMALE EXILE

210

IMPRINT

ARTISTS

PAGE 152 - PATRICIA KELLY

CONTRIBUTOR ILLUSTRATION

TEXT Barbara Eichhammer

the-little-wedding-corner.de Alex Kords

kords.net Christian Näthler

Angela Peltner

@angelapeltner Birgit Weidt

birgit-weidt.de sisterMAG Team

@iamvolta

Jackie Diedam

jackiediedam.com Catherine Pape

catherinepape.co.uk Beth Walrond

bethwalrond.com

Dr. Michael Neubauer Matthias Nöther

noethernetz.de

STYLING

Jessica Pawlitzki

Evi Neubauer

jp-popgesang.de

pinterest.com/evin Cesco Spadaro

cescospadaro.com

PROOF Stefanie Kießling

@kiesslingS Alex Kords

kords.net Christian Naethler

TRANSLATION Ira Häussler

Amanda Dahms

Alex Kords

amandadahms.de

kords.net

Marco Di Filippo

Christian Naethler

@iamvolta

tmdstudio.org Anika Nowak

@bilderhof

@iamvolta

Claus Kuhlmann

Dr. Michael Neubauer

boheifilm.de

Ira Häussler SISTER-MAG.COM

PHOTO & VIDEO

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sisterMAG Team

RS HAIR & MAKEUP Aennikin

aennikin.de Trine Marie Skauen

tmstudio.org

THE

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OF

#36 MUSIC

MODEL Anke Reichert

@anki_panki_style Clea-Lacy Juhn

@clea_lacy Ines

hauptstadtpuppi.blogspot.de Killa Rioja

@killarioja Simone Adams

FOOD

@frau_mone

Karin Klammer

THE COVER PHOTOS

kklammer.at Melina Kutelas

Marco Di Filippo

aboutthatfood.com/de

MAKEUP & HAIR Trine Marie Skauen

MODEL

PART NE R OF THE ISSUE

Killa Rioja OUTFIT

You can recognize our partner features by the logo at the top of the page. We thank our Partner ara very cordially, because without them this issue would not be possible!

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Evi Neubauer PRODUCTION Alex Sutter

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CONTRIBUTORH Meet three of our creative stars from sisterMAG N°36 and learn what their favorite music is and who impressed them most in their lives.

A L E X KO R D S

Author kords.net Author and sisterMAG veteran Alex Kords has updated our film history and researched families of musicians for sisterMAG N°36.

What is your current favorite song to get in a good mood? »My Shot« from the musical »Hamilton« Which music genre is yours? Heavy Metal (quite contrary to answer 1) In the movie »Sound of Music«, Maria with her enthusiasm and imagination inspires Georg von Trapp to open up to his children.

Who inspired you to become who you are today? My mother, who has raised two children with

much diligence, and love

deprivation

HIGHLIGHTS BETH WA L R O N D

Illustrator bethwalrond.com

Illustrator Beth Walrond illustrated for us the theme »can one learn to sing«.

What is your current favorite song to get in a good mood? »Lay Down In The Tall Grass« by Timber Timbre Which music genre is yours? Happy Jazz and Happy African Music In the movie »Sound of Music«, Maria with her enthusiasm and imagination inspires Georg von Trapp to open up to his children.

Who inspired you to become who you are today? This is a difficult question.

I really couldn’t name just one person, as I think most people I meet and admire shape a tiny bit of me in some way.

ANGELA P E LT N E R

Author @angelapeltner Author Angela Peltner examines the topic of pop music and how a hit is created for our music edition.

What is your current favorite song to get in a good mood? »Don't take the money« by Bleachers Which music genre is yours? POP Baby IIn the movie »Sound of Music«, Maria with her enthusiasm and imagination inspires Georg von Trapp to open up to his children.

Who inspired you to become who you are today? My big brother

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THE

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Follow along with our stories and daily news from the sisterMAG office easily on Instagram! You can find magazine content, many behind-the-scenes and snapshots of our contributors. And of course, giveaways, invitations and other exclusive activities can be found on @SISTER_MAG.

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film ry o t s i h 4 part

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Text: Al ex

ander K

ords

The rise film of t he stu dio Bab s e lsb erg Hol vs. lyw ood

Photo: Studio Babelsberg AG

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In the previous part of our film history, we learned how films got their colours.

Since this relatively young medium gained more and more popularity at the turn of the century, film studios increasingly began popping up.

Black Maria, 1893

Nowadays, HOLLYWOOD is considered to be the Mecca of film. The name of the Los Angeles neighbourhood is a synonym for film production in the USA and the world – not least because numerous well-known film studios were founded there. Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox – we know their logos from the opening credits of many blockbusters. But none of these big film studios can boast being the oldest one in the world. This credit goes to an institution that’s only 40 kilometres away

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from the sisterMAG office: THE BABELSBERG STUDIO. On its property in Nowawes, a village east of Potsdam that wasn’t yet suburbanized back then, the film production company DEUTSCHE BIOSCOP was founded in 1899. When business rapidly boomed, it soon needed new production sites. So, in the winter of 1911/1912, the GLASS STUDIO was built. The technical background of this construction was that a lot of natural light was needed in the early time of film – and it was an obvious decision to shoot in a glasshouse.

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Edison and his a i r a M k Blac When the glass studio was erected in Babelsberg, there were already some small film studios existing in the USA. The first one was called BLACK MARIA and was build in 1893 by the famous inventor THOMAS EDISON in West Orange in the state of New Jersey. The building didn’t consist of glass but had some gimmicks to let as much sunlight in as possible.

The roof was folding and the building was standing on a rotatable platform so it could be adjusted to the course of the

Biograph Poster, 1913

1893 sun. For a few years, Edison and his Black Maria enjoyed their monopole on the film market until the first competition arose.

Edison’s former employee William Dickson founded THE AMERICAN

MUTOSCOPE

AND

at the end of 1896, one year later the Vitagraph Company of America emerged. Edison’s out-dated technology wasn’t up BIOGRAPH COMPANY

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to the competition, which is why the Black Maria soon became irrelevant and was demolished in Film Production, 1907 1903.

k r o Y w e N from d o o w y l l to Ho

1908 Meanwhile, Edison had moved his film production company to Manhattan where he built a new studio (made of glass!) on the roof of a house. In doing so, he emulated his competitors.

He also sided with them and founded the MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY (MPPC) in 1908. The biggest film studios of the time were organized in it to proceed against independent film producers allegedly using their patents illegally. Not SISTER-MAG.COM

only did the MPPC sue all filmmakers who didn’t use licensed cameras or other equipment, but they also sent thugs who destroyed the film footage and beat up the crews.

The threatened producers – who made a quarter of all American films at the time – chose to leave the East Coast and moved west. They chose Hollywood because of the sunny weather in California. Another reason was the proximity to the Mexican border. Every time some thugs of the MPPC came along, the filmmakers could flee to the neighbouring country.

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hollyw ood grows 1911 as a west coast branch of the Centaur Film Company.

The offices of the company were located in the building of a former tavern, the studio was build right behind it.

Nestor Studio, Hollywood's first film studio, 1912

The offices of the company were located in the building of a former tavern and the studio was built right behind it. In May of 1912, Nestor merged with UNIVERSAL FILM MANUFACTURING COMPANY, which was founded only a few weeks before. Almost at the same time, the PARAMOUNT PICTURES Corporation emerged

and heated up the competition in Hollywood. In 1915, Universal erected UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, the biggest film studio in the world. More »big players« were founded in the 1920s – WARNER BROS. (1923), METROGOLDWYN-MAYER (1924) and RKO PICTURES (1928) put their marks on the Golden Age of Hollywood.

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s n o i t a v o Inn Made in Germany

And in Babelsberg? The film studio developed magnificently. The Ufa that was founded in 1917 had the big plan of making it the most innovative studio in Germany – and did that quite successfully.

1922 In 1922, even Hollywood sent young filmmakers to Babelsberg to inspect the constructions and technologies SISTER-MAG.COM

on-site. ALFRED HITCHCOCK, who was just at the beginning of his big career, worked as an assistant director in Babelsberg in 1924 and later described his time in Germany as the most educational one of his life.

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Marlene-Dietrich-Halle

1926 In 1926, the world's most modern sound stage was built in Babelsberg, as well as Europe’s largest film studio with a floor area of 5,400 square metres

and a height of 14 metres.

Because the film »The Blue Angel« was shot there in 1929, the studio was named after the leading actress of the film in 1992: MARLENE-DIETRICHHALLE.

And

that’s

a

suitable

transition to the next part of our film history. It will deal with the era of the film divas of Hollywood – and naturally, Marlene Dietrich was one of them.

Watertank, Babelsberg

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1965 – DIRECTOR: ROBERT WISE

TEXT BARBARA EICHHAMMER ILLUSTRATIONS JACKIE DIEDAM

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f o d n u o S c i s u M m l i F e h T As in her previous blockbuster »Mary Poppins«, lead actress JULIE ANDREWS takes the role of a devoted but strict governess in this US-American musical drama. The protagonist Maria lives as a novice in a catholic convent near Salzburg during the 1930s. Yet, Maria cannot get used to living in a congregation. The Reverend Mother sends Maria to the household of Baron von Trapp (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER) , so that she can care for his seven children. At the beginning, the governess seems shocked by the authoritarian education of the children. One of her pedagogic methods: to convey her love of music to the children. Gradually she wins the hearts of the whole Trapp family by singing.

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A stroke of fate, however, soon threatens their family bliss: After Austria had been annexed to the Third Reich, it is down to a choir competition to save them. Before they have to escape from Salzburg, they are singing the legendary song »EDELWEISS« , a musical declaration of love to the family’s home and homeland Austria.

With its mixture of emotionally moving family scenes, romantic love plot and catchy song sequences, »The Sound of Music« has turned into one of the most successful »Heimatfilme« of film history.

The Hollywood story is based loosely on the true life of Maria

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e h T m l i f t a m i e H r a w t s o &p era

van Trapp and is a remake of the German post-war film »DIE FAMILIE TRAPP« (1956), directed

by Wolfgang Liebeneiner.

A curious fact: While the film gained cult status in the US, Asia and Great Britain, it is widely unknown in Austria.

MUSIC

The topic of home and homeland in »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« is so central that the film can be seen as one of the main representatives of the genre of the »HEIMATFILM« (i.e. German for so-called »homeland films« ).

In those very films, the homeland is depicted as an integral place of desire and conservative family values are emphasized. »The Sound of Music« constructs a nostalgically glorified and idyllic Austria, which is underlined during the narration with the help

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of picturesque panorama shots of the Alps and meadows. Thus, some song sequences show the Trapp children in traditional Austrian clothes like Lederhosen and Dirndl running along blooming meadows while SINGING . Furthermore, the seemingly deserted city of Salzburg is used as a playground for the Trapp children. For the front and back side of the Trapp villa, film producers have cut panorama shots of Schloss Frohnburg and Schloss Leopoldskron.

Such extremely long shots of the landscape are – according to film critic WILLI HÖFIG – part of the typical visual inventory of the traditional Heimatfilm. This film genre had its heyday during the fifties in Germany and Austria with films like »DER FÖRSTER

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VOM

or

SILBERWALD«

(1954)

»SCHWARZWALDMÄDEL« (1950) . According to Höfig, a HEIMATFILM depicts picturesque landscapes, which are still untouched and successfully defied the effects of the World War and industrialisation, such as the Alps, the Bavarian Forest or the Black Forest. Thus, the Heimatfilm always constructs a nostalgic retrospect of an idealised past in order to generate a feeling of national identity and belonging. Home turns into a projection screen to compensate for contemporary anxieties and worries. Film critic HANS GÜNTHER PFLAUM explained the enormous popularity of the Heimatfilm in Germany:

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legal reasons that those films had been produced in such a huge number after the war: The stories of homeland were evaluated as harmless by the Allied Control Council in 1947, so that the »trivial« scripts got permission to be filmed. The Heimatfilm, as film studies say, is the only genuinely German film genre, originated and made popular in Germany. Film critics also speak of a »GERMAN WESTERN« . Quite surprising that Hollywood appropriated the story of the Trapp family for US-American screens.

»I think that the success of the Heimatfilm during the fifties has to do with the destructions of the World War. People were longing for an ideal world where anything was intact.« At the time, a boom for the home set in: More than 300 Heimatfilme were released in the Germanspeaking countries until 1960.

They allowed its audience to compensate experiences of destruction and loss during the war with idealised images. In »The Sound of Music«, the film also negotiates the cruelties of the war like displacement, when family Trapp has to escape from National Socialist Austria. It had

n i e m o H f o d n u o S e Th c i s u M 29

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In the Heimatfilm, the plot takes recurrence to mostly stereotypical figures and motives:

In the context of »HEIMAT« , it is interesting to know whose home is actually negotiated in the film. It could be argued that »The Sound of Music« is, in the first place, a »HEIMATFILM« of the US-American home. The invention of an idyllic Austria in a US-American Hollywood film (produced by 20th Century Fox) is used as a projection screen for basic American conflicts of the time: The family Trapp’s deep patriotism in the film can also be read as a commentary on the political crises of the US, such as the civil rights movement, the Cold War, the anti-Vietnam protests or the Cuba Crisis.

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a romantic love story, the happiness of childhood and the idyllic landscape.

Interestingly, Hollywood incorporates all these genre stereotypes of the genuinely German film genre into its USAmerican adaptation for »The Sound of Music« and creates a myth of an untouched Austrian homeland, which is well-known especially to American tourists.

Thus, American and Asian tourists are still offered the tremendously popular »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« TOUR that visits most of the original film locations. Such a kind of movie tourism wants to make the narrative film locations directly experienceable and sells a nostalgic notion of »HEIMAT« as touristic event.

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D

W RE

S

JUL

IE

AN

s r o t c a The

CHR

IST O P

H

ER

PL

UMMER

The British actress JULIE ANDREWS had her screen debut as Mary Poppins, which paved the way for her international career. For her depiction of the enchanting nanny, she received an Oscar as best female lead in 1965. After the film, she played popular roles in stage musicals such as »CAMELOT« (1960) and blockbusters – mostly movies in which she could use her singing voice, like »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« (1965) . From 2001 onwards, she had a successful comeback – in her first Disney movie after »MARY POPPINS« – in »THE PRINCESS DIARIES«

and »THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2« . The male lead of Baron von Trapp was played by Canadian actor CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER , whose international career was triggered by the film.

However, he himself was quite torn when it comes to the film and called it »THE SOUND OF MUCUS« for a long time after its release. The film was too kitschy for his taste. After »The Sound of Music«, Plummer played in more than 80 screen movies, such as »STAR TREK VI« (General Chang) or as Doktor van Helsing in »WES CRAVEN’S DRACULA« .

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The c i s u M

The song gained cult status in the US and Great Britain because it was covered by musical legends such as John Coltrane as a jazz version.

This musical film became internationally famous, especially due to its extensive musical scenes and catchy tunes: The Soundtrack by RICHARD ROGERS (music) and OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II (lyrics) ranks among the most successful film music albums of all time as has sold more than 20 million records worldwide until today. The partly expressive songs combine Austrian local flair with cheerful up-tempo songs. It is already in the opening sequence of the film that a happy Maria is running along the picturesque mountain meadows, singing »THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC« . The Austrian setting has

also been realised on a musical level with Waltz cadences such as in »My Favourite Things«.

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»CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN«

– sung by the Reverend Mother – serves as an inspirational tune, which encourages everybody to chase their own dreams. One of the most successful songs in the USA was »EDELWEISS« , which testifies to the great love of home and patriotism of the family Trapp in view of the threats of National Socialist reign. Its false reception was a curious issue: Most USAmerican film viewers thought that »EDELWEISS« was an old traditional Austrian folk song or even its national anthem. The soundtrack is still so popular that no other than pop icon Lady Gaga performed a medley at the Oscar award show in 2015 in celebration of the FILMS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

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JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« IS BASED ON A BOOK

BY THE VON TRAPP FAMILY BARONESS, MARIA. BUT HOW MUCH OF THE FILM STAYS TRUE TO THE FACTS?

TEXT CHRISTIAN NATHLER

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While the Hollywood hit film THE SOUND OF MUSIC never billed itself as a true story, it is based on Maria von Trapp’s 1949 memoir, THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS. As we all know, Hollywood has a tendency to spin some tall tales – so how close to the truth was »The Sound of Music«, which hit theatres 16 years after Maria’s famed family account?

FA M I LY TR APP

THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS

BY MARIA AUGUSTA TRAPP

In 1949 , MARIA VON TRAPP, BARONESS of the renowned von Trapp family, published a memoir aptly titled THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS . The memoir recounts how she, her husband, Georg, and their children fled the Nazis en route to America.

In 1956 , the West German film DIE TRAPP-FAMILIE (»The Trapp Family«) fictionalized Maria’s memoir in moving pictures for the first time. The production was a resounding success. Four years later, THE SOUND OF MUSIC , a musical inspired by the film, hit

broadway. And six years after that, in 1965 , the Hollywood film of the same name made waves on the big screen. This version would of course become a smashing international success.

Did the two interpretations between the original memoir and director ROBERT WISE’S movie adaptation lead to a case of broken telephone? Whether intended or not, »The Sound of Music« certainly strays a little from Maria’s story (we’re talking about Hollywood, after all).

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Let’s start with the love story. »The Sound of Music« portrays Maria as having fallen in love with Georg von Trapp. While she probably admired him greatly at first sight, Maria actually fell in love with the children. As Maria writes in her memoir,

“

»I really and truly was not in love [with Georg].

I liked him but didn't love him. However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children...by and by I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after.« OH,

AND

SPEAKING

OF

THE

CHILDREN – there were actually

ten, not seven as the movie suggests. For those keeping count, the von Trapp children were Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, Martina, Rosemarie, Eleonore, and Johannes. The names and ages of the von Trapp children

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were also changed for the film.

Perhaps Agathe and Werner don’t have the most sympathetic ring for the American ear.

Furthermore, the film version sees Maria and Georg marry shortly before the Nazi invasion.

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The couple actually wed in 1927, more than a decade before the family left Austria on their dramatic escape to the United States.

1927

MARIA AUGUSTA TRAPP

“

»We did tell people that we were going to America to sing. And we did not climb over mountains with all our heavy suitcases and instruments. We left by train, pretending nothing,« said daughter Maria in a 2003 interview with Opera News.

AND THAT TRAIN? It went to Italy,

OR, WAIT – WAS IT REALLY SO DRAMATIC? In the film, the

von Trapps smuggle their heavy suitcases packed with musical instruments through the Alps to arrive in Swiss safety and begin their transatlantic journey. In fact, they took a train and were quite open about seeking refuge.

not Switzerland. (The film doesn’t mention that Georg was an Italian citizen and had connections in his country of citizenship). They would eventually continue on to London, where they boarded a ship for New York City. Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler moved into the von Trapp residence in Salzburg after they fled, which is probably a wise omission from the film.

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TRAPP FAILY SINGERS, 1941

Do

remember MAX DETWEILER , the von Trapps’ music promoter? Turns out his character is entirely fictional – the family’s music director was actually the Reverend FRANZ WASNER, who fulfilled this role with great gusto for more than two decades. And while we hate to shine this light, Maria’s character underwent a little Hollywood touch-up as well. She was not always so sweet-as-sugar, you see – at times, she was at the mercy of a terrible temper. But that’s not the type of protagonist you build a blockbuster hit around.

F R ANZ WA SNE R

you

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC’S LOOSE INTERPRETATION

OF

FACTS

may have lead to some heated arguments among historians, though one thing’s for sure: The true story is no less magic than the big production. Real-life villains, escape, tragedies, adventure, unforgettable music, and the best of the human spirit – it’s a script even a touch of fiction couldn’t over-glamourize.

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Perhaps JOHANNES VON TRAPP , the youngest son of Maria and Georg, sums it up best:

“

»[The Sound of Music] was the Hollywood version of the Broadway version of the German film version of the book that my mother wrote.«

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ANZEIGE

ara Fusion

with

4

Fusion4

Fusion4

CLEAL A C Y SISTER-MAG.COM

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in

Berlin 41

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ANZEIGE

Project management SOPHIE SIEKMANN Influencer CLEA-LACY JUHN Photographer ANIKA NOWAK Stylist CESCO SPADARO Videographer CLAUS KUHLMANN Hair & Make-Up AENNIKIN

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Sweate r : WR A N G L E R

ara invited influencer

personalised with Clea’s

Clea-Lacy Juhn

name.

(@clea_lacy) to spend an

Clea’s sneakers, Clea‘s

entire day discovering

experience – sisterMAG

Berlin together with

Clea’s

journey,

was there to photograph

sisterMAG.

The special star of the day: the new rose coloured ara Fusion4, part of the stylish ara sneaker line. It features beautiful satin shoelaces and is

and film it all. Clea-Lacy is a content creator who shares her everyday life with

her

followers

on

Instagram. Her content has a huge variety:

»I am interested in fashion and beauty and I also love to travel. It is so important to me to discover the world and I’m very lucky that my job allows me to do just that.«

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MONB ANZEIGE

On city breaks, Clea prefers to check out a city’s hotspots but she also likes to wander on her own to discover the unique flair of every city.

The Museumsinsel (museum island) in Berlin offered just that: beautiful old buildings that invite every visitor to take in the stunning surroundings.

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BIJOU -PARK On her ara-route through Berlin, Clea started off at the Monbijou park and strolled along the river Spree – and every step felt like walking on clouds thanks to her personalised ara Fusion4 sneakers.

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BRANDEN TOR SISTER-MAG.COM

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A MUST-SEE? The classic sight on a Berlin trip: the Brandenburg Gate. After a luxurious coffee break that ended a day of sightseeing, we asked Clea what is important to her when it comes to shoes:

»COMFORTABLE SHOES ARE A MUST-HAVE IN MY WARDROBE. I ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO WALK UP AND DOWN THE AISLES OF THE SHOP BEFORE I BUY A NEW PAIR – THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN AN ILL-FITTING SHOE THAT SQUISHES THE FEET. FINDING THE PERFECT PAIR OF SHOES IS NO MEAN FEAT, BUT ara HAVE CREATED THE PERFECT PAIR WITH THE COMFORTABLE AND STYLISH ara FUSION 4.«

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ANZEIGE

Clea used to wear heels regularly, until she noticed how bad they were for her feet in the long run. Today, she wears sneakers about 80% of the time.

After a long day of walking around the city, Clea had an early night to prepare for the next day and its exciting events: a meeting with our very own arastylist Cesco Spadaro.

Together, the two came up with two fabulous outfits that perfectly compliment the ara Fusion4.

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ANZEIGE

Discover Clea’s ara Fusion 4 and other models HERE!

w

The malleable Dynergy-sole carefully absorbs shocks through its special lamella structure and makes every step a proactive training.

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w  The unique combination of HiFlex-material that makes up the shoe and the Dynergy-sole make the ara Fusion 4 so comfortable: The elastic HiFlex-material won’t leave you with dreaded pressure marks while still supporting the individual shape of each foot.

Click HERE for the off icial ara-online shop

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ANZEIGE

CLEAAND CESCO SPADARO

g n i l y t s a n o mission

L A C Y SISTER-MAG.COM

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ANZEIGE

THE PERFECT MATCH

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VISIT CESCOS WEBSITE HERE.

Berlin-based stylist Cesco will accompany us all year long and work with the ara-influencers to come up with outfits that have that special something. Sneakers, pumps, sandals: Cesco will always find the right outfit!

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THE PERFECT MATCH

OUR FASHION STYLIST CESCO SPADARO PROVES HOW EASILY THESE ara SHOES CAN BE COMBINED!

THE PERFECT MATCH

ANZEIGE

AS CLEA AND CESCO STARTED CHATTING, IT QUICKLY BECAME EVIDENT THAT CLEA IS A STYLECHAMELEON: SHE LIKES ELEGANT STYLES, AS MUCH AS SHE LOVES CASUALSPORTY LOOKS.

Clea‘s preferred outfit for Berlin: »Comfortable, but still with a cool and casual edge. That’s super important to me, I just have to feel great.« SISTER-MAG.COM

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CLEA LACY'S LOVE OF ELEGANCE

»Sometimes I really enjoy the process of dressing up. But even then I don’t want to feel like I’m putting on a costume – I still want it to feel like me.« 57

CESCO TOOK CLEA’S WISHES VERY SERIOUSLY AND CREATED TWO AMAZING LOOKS: BERLIN CHIC AND A MORE CASUAL JEANS LOOK.

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STYLIST CESCO OFFERED CLEA DIFFERENT OUTFITS WHEN THEY MET IN HIS STUDIO – A CHIC DARK BLUE AND ROSECOLOURED TWO-PIECE IS WHAT SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH.

CLEA-LACYS OUTFIT NR.1

BERLIN CHIC – THE NEW VERSION

r u o y r e d r O 4 n o i a ra Fu s s n ea ke r s h ere!

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THE BIG POLKA DOTS LOOK CUTE AND PLAYFUL WHILE THE STRAIGHT CUT AND LUXURIOUS SILK FABRIC ADD THE NECESSARY EDGE TO THIS TWO-PIECE.

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CESCO AND CLEA PICKED A FEMININE AND DAINTY LINGERIEINSPIRED OUTFIT.

Two -pi ece w it h po lka d ot s .OBJECT To p I N T I M I S SI M I Wa tch BERING Rin g PILGRIM

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CLEA-LACYS OUTFIT NR.1

BERLIN CHIC – NEW VERSION

ANZEIGE

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CESCO'S ADVICE »FEMININE SNEAKERS LIKE THE FUSION 4 BY ara UPGRADE EVERY NORMAL OUTFIT WITH THEIR CASUAL STYLISH LOOKS.«

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THE ara FUSION 4 SEAMLESSLY FITS INTO THIS PICTURE BECAUSE IT UNITES CASUAL CHARM AND ELEGANT STYLE. SIMPLE JEWELLERY COMPLETES THIS OUTFIT.

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J ea n s: T OM TA I L O R J ea ns ja cke t : VILA J u mper : .OBJECT S u n gla ss e s : L I E B E SK I N D H ea dph o n e s : U R BA N E A R S

Clea and Cesco agree that »JEANS ALWAYS WORK!« – Clea loves wearing casual hoodies – Cesco showed her this beautiful rose-coloured piece. This doesn’t only match the shoes, but also the jeans.

CLEA-LACYS OUTFIT NR.2

ROSE KISSES BLUE

– CASUAL JEANS LOOK

ANZEIGE

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CLEA-LACYS OUTFIT NR.2

ROSE KISSES BLUE

– CASUAL JEANS LOOK

ANZEIGE

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WHAT ELSE IS IMPORTANT FOR A CITY BREAK?

The right soundtrack! That’s why Clea chose these rosecoloured headphones to match her outfit.

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CLEA-LACY: »THE ara FUSION 4 IS JUST SO STYLISH. I LOVE THE ROSE COLOUR AND THE BEAUTIFUL SATIN SHOELACES. NOW I ALSO KNOW THAT THESE SNEAKERS ARE VERSATILE AND GO WITH EVERY OUTFIT.«

CESCO'S ADVICE »THE DENIM LOOK WORKS ALL YEAR ROUND. FOR SPRING, I LIKE TO RECOMMEND COMBINING IT WITH COLOURS TO FRESHEN UP YOUR OUTFIT AND SKIN TONE.«

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JUST LIKE BEFORE, THE ara FUSION 4 WORKS PERFECTLY WITH THIS OUTFIT. THE BEAUTIFUL SATIN LACES AND THE RHINESTONES ADD A FEMININE TOUCH.

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r u o y r e d r O 4 n o i a ra Fu s h ere !

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FAVOURITE ANZEIGE

AN INTERVIEW WITH

DANI FROM ara SHOEEXPERT DANI HAS BEEN WORKING AT ARA FOR 18 YEARS

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EJOB TRAINER DANI is going to accompany this year’s ara articles with explanatory videos and show us the different features, innovations and the way ara shoes work. We had a chat with the shoe expert to learn what exactly makes the shoe manufacturer ara so special.

Q. HI DANI, WHAT IS YOUR TASK AT ARA?

Q. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU HAVE TO DO AS A TRAINER?

I’ve been working at ara for 18 years. I’m head of visual merchandising and train our staff.

I grew up surrounded by shoelovers: everyone in my family is a salesperson. Whenever I’m not working, I like spending time with my partner and my young son Paul. My family and yoga are the two most important things in my life!

I do my very best to make sure that the ladies and gentlemen at the POS (Point of Sale) know everything about ara and what makes it so special. I talk about innovations, features types of shoes and new materials – whenever ara develops something new and exciting, I get to be the one to take the news out into the world. Currently, I am integrating the Fusion4 into our new training material.

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FITS.SIMPLY.ALWAYS.

Q. HOW MUCH OF ARA’S MERCHANDISING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY? The combination of training and merchandising is ideal since I am also the head of visual merchandising. Both of these jobs are important for the POS which means that I have a lot of control and get valuable information and feedback straight from our salespeople. Things like the organisation of window concepts are part of my job, too – as you can see, it never gets boring!

Q. WHY DO YOU LIKE WORKING AT ARA?

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I’ve been working for ara for 18 years and at this point, my colleagues have become my second family. When my son Paul was born 2.5 years ago, everyone made it possible for me to fit my work life around my personal life. I regularly work from home now and cherish this opportunity so much - I know that being supported like this isn’t a given.

Q. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT ARA AS A COMPANY? We always put families first!

The company turns 70 next year and we’re all going to celebrate together!

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Q. WHAT IS THE SIGN OF QUALITY WHEN IT COMES TO ARA SHOES? The most important thing for us is a GREAT FIT . We offer widths from size F ½ to K (for very narrow feet to full feet) as well as a huge range of shoes for different needs.

The FUSION 4 that CLEA-LACY wears in the current sisterMAG issue is a perfect example: the combination of HIFLEXMATERIAL and DYNERGY SOLE make it perfectly comfortable. Our seamless shoes which are made completely without seams in the front offer incredible comfort as well. A new innovation that will be out this year is the HIGH SOFT feature. Shoes with this feature are made with strobed shapes to be especially soft and flexible.

»I love the way it looks and my feet feel fantastic thanks to the HiFlex material and the Dynergy sole. They’re perfect at work and at home when I’m taking care of my little family.«

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The people ara are constantly working on improving our products which is why I think we’ve been able to continuously offer high quality shoes. They come at a great price point, too, so it’s really no wonder that so many people find their favourite shoes in our shops!

Q. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE OF A GREAT SHOE? Of course it should fit well and support the foot with all the necessary features. This brings you maximum comfort – life’s too short for uncomfortable shoes!

Q. WHAT SHOULD CUSTOMERS PAY ATTENTION TO WHEN BUYING NEW SHOES? Don’t compromise when it comes to sizes or width. That’s why ara offers full and half sizes and also width F ½ until K. Q. WHAT CAN ARA CUSTOMERS LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2018?

As I said: the High Soft feature!

Ara is going to launch pumps that are as comfortable as a pair of sneakers. Definitely a new favourite! :-)

Q. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PAIR OF SHOES? My firm favourite is the FUSION 4.

I love the way it looks and my feet feel fantastic thanks to the HiFlex material and the Dynergy sole. They’re perfect at work and at home when I’m taking care of my little family.

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On the trail of the

von Trapps

Text: CHRISTIAN NÄTHLER

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Discover some of SALZBURG'S most splendid scenes as seen in THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Czech Republic Germany

Slovakia

Salzburg Hungary Italy Slovenia

If you’re a fan of the 1965 hit film THE SOUND OF MUSIC , you may already have Salzburg, Austria on your travel bucket list. Declared a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

in 1997 , the city’s special

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setting plays a large role in adding to the movie’s magic. Follow in the footsteps of the von Trapps at these seven spectacular reallife locations featured in »The Sound of Music«.

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AUSTRIA’S FOURTH LARGEST CITY SITS ON THE BANKS OF THE SALZACH RIVER WITH THE ALPS TO THE SOUTH AND GENTLE, ROLLING HILLS TO THE NORTH.

Ask someone to paint you a picture of the stereotypical European setting, and it’ll probably look something like SALZBURG . Needless to say, it’s a beautiful place – and all the more special through its association with the von TRAPP FAMILY of esteemed singers.

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Villa TRAPP

NO TRIP TO SALZBURG IS COMPLETE WITHOUT A VISIT TO THE VILLA TRAPP, WHICH SERVED AS THE HOME OF THE VON TRAPP FAMILY

Luckyprof - Own work

FROM 1923 TO 1938

CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://bit.ly/2Hq773n

The landmark plays a significant role in contributing to Salzburg’s designation as one of the world’s most visited movie destinations, and for good reason. Revel in the grandeur of the 22room building’s charm and historical context.

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FOR HISTORY BUFFS, THE VILLA CONTAINS A SECRET BUNKER THAT ONCE SERVED AS THE HIDEOUT FOR INFAMOUS NAZI SS LEADER HEINRICH HIMMLER.

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Pegasus Fountain IN THE MIRABELL GARDENS

be Mira llpla tz

Start your stroll through THE SOUND OF MUSIC by making a stop at the majestic Pegasus Fountain in the MIRABELL GARDENS .

You’ll recognize the fountain as the spot where Maria and the von Trapp children sang »DO RE MI« before finishing the ballad on the steps before the highly Instagrammable rose garden.

Gries sga

Gisela k sse Ru

dolfsk

ai

ai

St. Peter's monastery CEMETERY, CATACOMBS

DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP – THE VANTAGE POINT OF HOHENSALZBURG CASTLE TOWERING ABOVE THE CITY IS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD.

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St. Peter's monastery CEMETERY, CATACOMBS

Pedro J Pacheco - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://bit.ly/2Jso0Hj SISTER-MAG.COM

St. Peter's cemetery served as the escape route and temporary respite for the VON TRAPP FAMILY as they were being chased by the Nazis. Erected in the 7th Century, St. Peter’s is steeped in musical history – Mozart, at the time just 13 years old, composed his »DOMINICUS MASS« for the abbot here while Austrian composer Michael Haydn was commissioned by the abbey to write his »RUPERT MASS« at the famous burial site. Today, the location of course boasts a rosier vibe.

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SALZKAMMERGUT

The Salzkammergut refers to the region of lakes and alpine ranges surrounding Salzburg and offers perhaps the most picturesque and irreplicable backdrop for the Hollywood hit. Choose a respite from your urban adventure and take in some of the world-class outdoor activities to be found in this

OF

MUSIC

natural gem of an area. One Google image search should be all that’s necessary to convince you to pack a pair of hiking boots. Or, for the less athletically inclined, posting up on a lakeside patio with a wine or beer in hand is just as delightful. As the saying goes,

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»CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN, FORD EVERY STREAM, FOLLOW EVERY RAINBOW, 'TILL YOU FIND YOUR DREAM.«

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WHILE THESE ARE

The »Horse Pond«

Photo: Andreas Praefcke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://bit.ly/2qWXsXV

SOME OF THE MORE LOCATIONS FROM THE SOUND OF MUSIC, SALZBURG IS ALSO A FANTASTIC CITY TO AIMLESSLY EXPLORE

BY FOOT. SO WHY NOT PUT THE ITINERARY ON HOLD, DOWNLOAD THE SOUNDTRACK, AND CREATE YOUR OWN MUSICAL

AT KARAJAN SQUARE

JOURNEY?

Remember when Maria and the gang marvelled at this square and enchanting horse pond during that one memorable carriage ride through the city?

Well, you can marvel like Maria at this well-preserved landmark at the foot of the Mönchsberg cliffs. Designed and built in 1603 , the famous horse pond is adorned by a cascade of frescoes that’ll transport you a few centuries back into a simpler, more noble time.

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RENOWNED SHOOTING

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TERRACE

If you’re already at the bottom of the cliffs, might we suggest a trek to the top? Challenge yourself by taking the stairs or opt for a more relaxed commute in the MÖNCHSBERG elevator.

The reward is all the same: breathtaking views of the Old Town as church bells toll ever so fittingly in the background. You’ll recognize Winkler Terrace as another »DO RE MI« hot spot.

Schloss

LEOPOLDSKRON

A TRUE ROYAL PALACE, LEOPOLDSKRON IS FEATURED PROMINENTLY THROUGHOUT »THE SOUND OF MUSIC«.

The Baroness sipped on lemonade on its terrace, which is also where Maria and the Baron danced during the ball. Some of the studio shots – which were recorded in Hollywood – were also modelled after the interior of Leopoldskron’s Venetian room. Oh, and remember when the children fell in the lake? That splashy scene took place on the palace’s grounds as well. Unfortunately, access is restricted to private bookings – maybe something to consider for a special occasion?

By Alexander Gerzabek - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 at, https://bit.ly/2r10GbM

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n a i r t s Au e n i s i u c

RECIPES & PHOTOS KARIN KLAMMER

& MELINA KUTELAS

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with Spä tzl e

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RECIPES

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Beef Goulash

F

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE GOULASH

750

BEEF (I.E. SHOULDER)

750 G

ONIONS

3 TBSP

OIL (OR GREASE)

1 TBSP

PAPRIKA

3 TBSP

TOMATO PUREE

2

GARLIC CLOVES

¼ TL

GROUND CARAWAY AND MARJORAM

1 EL

VINEGAR

1. Chop the onions and lightly

sauté them until golden.

2. Add crushed garlic, tomatoes,

paprika, the other spices and stir.

3. Dice the beef and add as well,

sauté well, add salt and a little bit of hot water, cover and let it simmer until soft. If necessary, add more water.

4. Lastly, add the vinegar and

enough water to cover the beef and let it cook again.

5. For even more sauce, cover LOA D

the beef with one tbsp. of flour before adding the last round of liquid. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

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RECIPES

O

FLOUR

2

EGGS

3 TBSP

OIL

1 TSP

SALT

¼L

MILK

50 G

BUTTER

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1. Stir up the eggs and milk, add

flour, oil and salt for a mediumthick dough consistency.

2. Press your dough through a

wide sieve and let it drop into boiling water.

3. As soon as the spaetzle rise to

the surface, take them out, hold under cold running water and serve with warmed butter.

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F

250 G

R

I N G R E D I E N T S F O R T H E S PÄT Z L E

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u m p D l i n t g e e s with w S ..

y berr

Str aw

Sauc

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RECIPES

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE DUMPLINGS

2

EGGS

250 G

QUARK OR “TOPFEN”

25 G

BUTTER

1

BAG OF VANILLA SUGAR

100 G

BREADCRUMBS

1. Separate the eggs and beat the

egg whites until firm. Whisk the quark, butter, vanilla and egg yolks until creamy. Add 80 g breadcrumbs, mix and finally add the egg whites.

2. Let it sit for 30 minutes.

3. Shape your dough into 5-6

little dumplings (they will rise when cooked) and cook them in boiling water for about 10 minutes.

4. Cover your dumplings in the

remaining breadcrumbs and top off with some sugar.

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE

¼L

WATER

1/8 L

CRANBERRY SYRUP

400 G

STRAWBERRIES

SUGAR IF NEEDED

1. Bring water and syrup to a boil.

2. Cut the strawberries in half and

add them to the boiling syrup for no longer than 1 minute.

3. Take off the heat and add sugar

if needed.

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..

m ar

a M t c n h a a g e Kaise V rsch

rn

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EL INA

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MELINA KUTELAS' BLOG

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INGREDIENTS

300ML

SOY MILK

A PINCH APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

1. Whisk soy milk and apple cider

vinegar together in a small bowl.

2. Add flour, matcha, vanilla, baking

VANILLA POWDER

powder and salt in a larger bowl and mix well.

1 TSP

MATCHA POWDER

3. Add soy milk and sparkling water

3 TBSP

RAW CANE SUGAR

1 TBSP

BAKING POWDER

1

PINCH OF SALT

80ML

SPARKLING WATER

2 TBSP

VEGAN BUTTER

1 1/4 1

/ 2 TSP

FLOUR

TO GARNISH

4 TBSP

HAZELNUTS

2 TBSP

SHREDDED ALMONDS

2 TBSP

ICING SUGAR

to the flour mix and stir until you have a smooth batter.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 5. Heat the vegan butter in an

oven proof pan and wait until it starts to bubble, then add half of the batter until it forms a large pancake and cook on both sides.

6. Shred the pancake using a fork,

then place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 mins.

7. Repeat this process with the

remaining batter.

8. Garnish with nuts and icing

sugar and serve.

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125 G

COCONUT SUGAR

125 G

VEGAN BUTTER

3 FLAX

EGGS

30 G

CHOPPED HAZELNUTS

30 G

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIPS

150 G

WHOLEGRAIN FLOUR + SOME EXTRA FOR THE BAKING TIN

1

/ 2 TBSP BAKING POWDER

1

/ 2 TSP

VANILLA POWDER

A PINCH OF SALT 60 G

VEGAN SOUR CREAM

2 TBSP

COCOA POWDER

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AUSTRIAN RING CAKE

W E B

IN EL

MELINA KUTELAS' BLOG

INA

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1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Make

the flax eggs by whisking together the ground flax and the water and letting it sit for about 7 mins.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer

combine the sugar, butter and flax eggs and beat until creamy (you can also use a hand held mixer)

3. In a seperate bowl combine all the

dry ingredients except for the cocoa.

4. Mix the flour mixture and the sour

cream into the butter, sugar and flax egg mix a little bit at a time.

5. Once everything is combined fold

in the chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips and divide the dough evenly into 2 parts.

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6. Mix the cocoa powder in with one

of the 2 parts.

7. Butter and flour the cake tin

and then pour the light batter into the tin, followed by the dark batter. Using a fork mix the two up carefully. Make sure you don’t combine them too much.

8. Now bake in the oven for about 35-

50 mins, you should be able to pull a wooden skewer out of the cake without any batter sticking to it.

Let the cake cool down completely before turning the tin upside down and carefully shaking the cake out of the tin.

9. You can choose to decorate the

cake however you want, with powdered sugar for example or the more decadent version with meldet chocolate and blueberries that I went for. Or just leave it plain.

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s k c a H Y I Dw i t h a r a

Project management SOPHIE SIEKMANN Photos LALE TÜTÜNCÜBASI Handicrafter SIMONE ADAMS ANKE REICHERT Videos CLAUS KUHLMANN D I Y- C o n c e p t MARIE DARME

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A nk e Influencer Anke from @anki_panki_style always brightens up our Instagram feeds with her daily outfits.

Anke was our ara bridal shoe guinea pig for one day. But beautiful shoes need beautiful storage – which is why Anke came up with this lovely DIY shoe bag.

This isn’t only fantastic for travelling, the fabric also protects the high quality leather that the ara bridal shoes are made out of.

W a nt t o m a k e t h e s e ?

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e k n A bag to fall

A shoe love with

in

M AT E R I A L S

A template to glue on the bag (download here ) A simple fabric bag (e.g. Modulor ) One brush Several colours of textile paint A textile pen A cardboard cutter

Yo u c a n f i n d t h e s e things in every good crafts shop or online.

HERE D OW N LOAD T HE TEM P LAT E ara

1.

ara

VO RL AG E

N° 1

FINALE MOTIV

HOW IT’S DONE

1. Lay your bag down on a flat surface and cut the templates with a cardboard cutter.

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2. Stick the templates to your bag with tape and start carefully painting everything with one colour so nothing smudges.

4.

2.

Have a great time making these!

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3. The circle you’ve previously cut out now connects all the templates and slowly, your pattern will come together! Press everything down firmly and you’re done!

3.

4.

4. These shoe bags make a wonderful present and take up less space than classic boxes.

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e n o m i S The slightly different shoebox

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S i mo n e Influencer Simone always knows which trends to follow. Her blog (Chillerella ) and Instagram account (@frau_mone ) are full of her very personal, inspiring style which she shares with her followers on a daily basis.

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For ara, Simone tried on different models of t h e F u s i o n 4 s n e a k e r. S h e w a s b l o w n a w a y b y t h e perfect »fashion & function« components that the shoes unite. As a true fashionista, her home is full of old shoe boxes so we decided to come up with an easy DIY that turns a boring box into a special feature within a couple of steps.

WANT TO MAKE THIS? C LIC K HE R E TO D OWNLOAD T HE T E M P LAT E S!

M AT E R I A L S

A shoe box Cardboard cutter Print of the template (from sister-mag.de ) A hole punch Acrylic paint Studs A hammer A piece of leather

ara ara

White varnish spray

MU ST ER

2

MUSTER 1

HOW IT’S DONE

1.

1. First, spray your shoe box in a colour of your choice.

Simone chose white – simple and timeless! Let everything dry for at least 20 minutes.

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2. Cut out the two templates with a cardboard cutter and glue them onto the box. Paint them with paint.

2.

3. Keep colouring with more acrylic paint. As soon as the pattern is done, cut out a piece of leather like Simone to use as an elegant handle.

3.

! e s e h t g n i k a m Have fun SISTER-MAG.COM

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4.

4. Use the hole punch to punch a small hole into the leather and use a hammer to fixate in onto the shoe box. Add a stud to the leather handle – done!

Use your chic and revamped ara-shoe box to keep your favourite shoes safe – or use it to store other small treasures!

QUICK, PRACTICAL, CHIC!

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC

»These are a few of my favorite things« - we can hear Julie Andrews sing in Sound of Music. We also put together a few of our favorite things - from vintage turntables and speakers to the classic Maria hat and suitcase!

MARS HALL »AC TON« Bluetooth Speaker € 199,95

I CA EXPL BUT FIN SO TH CAN

SOUN D OF M USI C SOUN DT RAC K LP Vinyl Record € 24,99

BLUE M I C R OPH ON E S »Y E T I« USB Microphone € 99,99

M A N UFAC T UM Suitcase with wooden slats € 26 SISTER-MAG.COM

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AN'T LAIN I'LL D A NG AT N…

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KIKKE R LAN D Branch Earphone Splitter € 14,10

& OTHE R STO R IE S Straw Hat € 29

UR BA N OUT F I T T E R S »E M ILIA« Camisole / Midiskirt €39 /€ 59

MUSIC

CROSLE Y » CRU ISER« BluetoothTurntable € 119

&FASHION

UO Retro Colorblock Headphones € 35

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Text: MATTHIAS NÖTHER

TEXT MATTHIAS NÖTHER

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From manual marks to the full score 117

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How sheet music was invented SHEET MUSIC IS THE FUNDAMENTAL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION FOR BOTH COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS. BUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHEET MUSIC AS WE KNOW IT TODAY WAS NO MEAN CULTURAL FEAT AND TOOK SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS TO PERFECT. WE’RE RETRACING ITS JOURNEY FROM EARLY NOTATIONS TO THE FAMILIAR MODERN FORMAT. Although music was part of the Ancient Egyptian culture, the only way our ancestors had of writing down the notes were their individual hand-drawn notations. Even through the centuries that followed, musicians and singers shared tunes by passing along non-uniform representations. It wasn’t until the 11th century that a monk began to develop a uniform way of recording tunes at a set pitch which didn’t require a performer familiar with the melody to reproduce it. But the full scores of the late Romantic period and a quick sketch of a pop song on music paper were still a long way away.

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he search for the oldest sheet music in the world is unlike to yield a conclusive result. The human search for a way to write down musical notes started many millennia ago. We are aware of several representations

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created by musical scholars in Ancient Egypt which were devised to aid singers, flutists and harpist. But one thing is undisputed: At the very beginning of musical history, humans did not rely on written notations for their songs. And they definitely didn’t have a system of musical notation. So we will never know what their music sounded like.

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his is also true for long stretches of Western European history in which musical notation had already been invented.

Early notations were mainly used as an aide-memoire so a person completely unfamiliar with the tune in question will not succeed in recreating it based on those alone. An unsigned treatise entitled »MUSICA ENCHIRIADIS « from 9th

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century Western France details a tonal system using a grid of four by four notes.

It was mainly used to record well-known hymns in a systemized written form.

A new singer, however, wouldn’t consult the crowfeet like neumatic notations but rather be taught by a person who already knew the hymn. Making music, even as late as at the time of Charlemagne, still was a purely reproductive art and didn’t involve an original act of creativity. In other words, the musical monopoly laid with the powers-that-be, i.e. the emperor or the church.

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nly after,

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300 years the »MUSICA ENCHIRIADIS« was at least some of that power transferred to the actual musicians, thanks to a monk called GUIDO VON AREZZO .

In 1120, Guido created a system of notation using four of the five lines which are still familiar to us today.

He urged all singers in churches to study the pitch of all notes on and between the lines and the differences between them. He promised that with his system of staff notation, »any sensible and eager person could learn the chants; and after they have learned part of the chants with the help of a teacher will without a doubt be able to recognize the others by

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themselves without help«.

A system which allowed for music to be made out without any knowledge of the melody just from notations was something unheard of before. Guido was the first to appeal to the abstract human imagination to create music and thereby renouncing to an extent the postulated involvement of »divine knowledge«.

A

gainst the backdrop of the medieval view of the world, Guido’s system of staff notation was nothing short of revolutionary. And it changed the general idea

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of music into the bargain.

Guide wrote notes from left to right and defined »HIGH« and »LOW« notes on and between the lines. Before, music had been thought of as solely sound-based.

Now it became something which could be organized graphically in a system of coordinates. A threeyear-old today may initially struggle to understand that on a piano, the »HIGH« notes are found on the right and the »LOW« ones on the left: A spatial idea of music is not an intuitive concept making Guido di Arezzo’s cultural contribution all the more significant. If you could read the notes you could sing a melody you had never heard before. This didn’t exactly endear GUIDO VON AREZZO to the church authorities who would have liked to

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maintain their monopoly on music. In 1025, Guido is said to have left his home monastery, Pomposa Abbey.

However, Guide did find at least one church superior who was looking forward to spreading Gregorian chant around the world with the help of his system: The Pope in Rome loved his idea.

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»GUIDE WROTE NOTES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND DEFINED »HIGH« AND »LOW« NOTES ON AND BETWEEN THE LINES«

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Rhythm usical notation still had a long way to go until it would look anything like our modern idea of sheet music. The much bigger cultural achievement than writing down notes was, in fact, recording rhythm. Part music made the recording of time a necessity so singers could create harmonies.

It was finally achieved at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris (which was built in 1163) where the erudite musical scholars Leonin and Perotin lived and taught.

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Quarter, eighth or sixteenth notes had not been invented yet. Instead, six distinct rhythmic modes like a constant repetition of long and short notes following Ancient Greek meters were used. The 1350 work ÂťARS NOVAÂŤ provided the basis for a musical notation and an understanding of musical composition which, over the following years, would slowly but gradually develop into modern vocal and instrumental music. From highly elaborate Flemish

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Ars nova

coral works to the early Venetian operas by Claudio Monteverdi and the supreme techniques of JS Bach. His precise yet sweeping lines, seemingly drawn with a flourish are still deeply admired today, even by those who can’t actually read music.

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»WHAT IS BEST IN MUSIC IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE NOTES. «

Gustav Mahler But we should still not be fooled. As Gustav Mahler observed more than a hundred years ago, »WHAT IS BEST IN MUSIC IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE NOTES.« As a

composer and conductor he undoubtedly appreciated the cultural achievement of staff notation. At the time, however, composers in Europe pushed the boundaries of musical notation to their limits.

Their efforts in optimisation also brought its aberrations SISTER-MAG.COM

to light: Even almost a thousand years after its initial conception, staff notation had its clear limits. For several hundred years, dynamic and tempo markings had been used: Instructions like »FORTE« and »PIANO« , »ADAGIO« and »ALLEGRO« were introduced to insure the musicians would preserve the composer’s intentions and ideas. A further aid was the metronome, a mechanical tempo keeper. Across Europe,

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a frequency for the standard pitch had also been agreed upon.

But to the composers’ great chagrin, even a full score with the most detailed annotations and marks leaves the performer exuberant room for interpretation. What good does a meticulously recorded basic tempo do when the conductor’s heart compels them to strike a quicker rhythm at the performance? What did the tempo annotations mean in the first place when the composers themselves add a whole host of marks suggesting the performers speed up or slow down in certain places? And exactly how much faster or slower or louder or softer did they want them to be? The only reliable

element in the flawed system are the individual written notes. Pitch and rhythm look well-defined within our system of staff notation – that‘s something. But it isn’t a lot, really. Music is so much more than the pitch and the length of individual notes.

In all honesty, we have not advanced all that much from the Ancient Egyptians. It’s about the sound, not what’s on the sheet.

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do

ti

la

so

fa

mi

sol-mi za-tion

re SISTER-MAG.COM

Text: MICHAEL NEUBAUER 128

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THE TERM »SOLMIZATION«, WHICH IS ALIEN TO THE MUSICAL LAYMAN, CAN BE BEST EXPLAINED IF WE FIRST CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT.

A melody is not bound to a certain key (e.g. C major or D major). It is characterized by its shape, but not by its key. (source: tabDO, an app for music lessons).

In other words, every song has the same form in every key – the same tone lengths, pauses and intervals – whether in C or D major or any other key. All tones are in a fixed ratio to each other.

The piece of music or song is characterized by its shape;

the key does not play a role.

The duration of the tones and their position relative to each other is decisive for the piece of music. Therefore, each note can be given a name, regardless of the key (C major or D major, etc.).

Everyone remembers music lessons from years past or film scenes in which the pianist moves a song up or down. Because even as an alto, your voice doesn't get as high as that of a soprano.

The song remains the same, but is higher or lower.

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GUIDO OF AREZZO

Ut

Since the early Middle Ages, around 1,000, the Benedictine monk GUIDO OF AREZZO described this connection in order to simplify the musical education of his students.

He designated six consecutive notes with the initial syllables of an ecclesial song (John Hymnus).

resonare mira famuli solve labii reatum MAJOR SCALE

Later the »Ut« was replaced by »Do« and a 7th syllable, »Ti«, was added. The framework for the major scale was set:

do re mi fa so la ti (do) SISTER-MAG.COM

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MINOR SCALE

la

ti do re mi fa so (la) Each tone, no matter in which key, has a name and function. The distances between the tones, the intervals, are regulated by fixed characters.

RELATIVE SOLMIZATION

We call this type of functional description of a musical framework RELATIVE SOLMIZATION in contrast to absolute solmization. The relative one conveys to the singer the internalization and the feeling of the intervals, while in absolute solmization, the tone

sequences are practiced with the syllables of the root tones. In Germany, relative solmization is used in the classroom, while absolute solmization is more demanding and is more prevalent in professional music teachings (Solfeggio music education).

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do re mi

do re mi

is one of the successful songs in the 1959 film »THE SOUND OF MUSIC« , which shows Austria at the time of the fascist annexation to Germany and honours the personal work of the von Trapp family. It's a musical full of songs sung by children of different ages, united in the vocal performance of »SOLMIZATION« .

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This is especially true in the park scene, where the actors accompany the pitches through the ups and downs on the stairs, where the spatial and therefore structurally conceivable song arrangement becomes apparent to everyone. SOLMIZATION! We linked the scene here so you can watch the whole movie. DORE-MI becomes catchier.

In the 19th century, the Englishman JOHN CURWEN even added hand signals to the tone levels, which have since become firmly established.

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SOLMIZATION

do Solmization must be learned, which requires perseverance and will and is aided by the use of hand signals.

ti

la

Nevertheless, it enables adolescents who have learned the system in childhood to significantly increase their understanding of music. It enhances one's understanding of the sequence of melodies and strengthens the imagination around them.

Music education is very much in favour of solmization and its application in primary schools is highly desirable.

fa

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re

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ONE SOUND

one memory WHAT MU SIC DOE S TO US

Sometimes we pause all of a sudden when a song is played; memories surface and it seems as if we experience a gone situation with all related feelings again. Music addresses our feelings and our brains memorizes every melody.

TEXT: BIRGIT WEIDT ILLUSTRATIONS: CATHERINE PAPE

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You are sitting in a café, music is playing in the background and suddenly you pause and think: They are playing my song! You remember your last holiday, the first love, the happy singing of your mother. All of a sudden, everything is there, you are touched, filled with a pleasant feeling, are sitting there with goose bumps, and maybe tears flood your eyes.

It’s hard to describe such an emotional moment. How does this happen? How can sounds and melodies manage to trigger so many emotions in us?

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At first, it’s nothing more than sound reaching the brain through the ears. There are so-called circuits in the brain stem that want to give meaning to the acoustic signals. And they are responsible for an adequate impact: Fast and loud sounds make our heart beat faster; slow rhythms and low sounds have a rather calming effect.

Furthermore, our memory remembers exactly in which

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situation, in which moment a certain song was played and memorizes it. Forever. Every information that reached our senses in that moment is saved; this could be smells for instance. If you used to listen to jazz on Sunday breakfasts when you were a child, you might smell the scent of rolls when you hear the first notes of Louis Armstrong’s »WHAT

A

WONDERFUL

WORLD« . And if you saw the

film »TITANIC« in the cinema with your loved one, you will not only remember the scene on the ship’s bridge with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio when you hear the melody of Céline Dion’s «MY HEART WILL GO ON« but also your own happiness in this amorous moment.

usic gets under the skin even though there is no melody that works the same for all humans.

Everybody has different preferences, different listening habits. But there are similarities - if a choir starts singing in a concert or a belllike solo voice sings after deep basses, many of us get goose bumps.

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f course, negative feelings can arise as well since our sense of hearing has many functions and one of them is to alert us.

Certain sound arrangements can trigger a feeling of intimidation.

That usually happens with low frequencies: Who doesn’t know the acoustic droning and tremoring of the earth when dinosaurs march up in films? Low sounds make it difficult to detect which direction they come from. And that’s irritating. Distorted or strident sounds, on the other hand, raise an inner tension.

Film music takes all of this into account to purposely heat up our feelings. One example: Hardly any other situation is as threatening as the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller »PSYCHO« .

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But not only musicians know about the influence of music but also physicians.

Patients with dementia remember songs from their childhood, despite their memory loss. The Clinic for Neurology at the Charité in Berlin examined a professional cellist who forgot almost everything because of encephalitis.

Although he doesn’t recognise friends or relatives, his musical memory still works. He still can read notes and even play his instrument!

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Just like music, singing is something that cheers us up, strengthens our immune system and helps some sick people who, alongside their medical treatment, find their way out of their own psychological isolation.

ecause joint singing strengthens the social connections.

It was found out that the members of a choir adapt their heart frequencies during their singing. With exhalation, the pulse rate drops, with inhalation, it rises which has the effect that the pulse rates of the singers is synchronised while singing together.

The music therapist Manfred Bossinger knows that singing can also work like

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an antidepressant. When singing, drive-increasing and mood-enhancing neurotransmitters like serotonin, oxytocin and betaendorphin are released in the brain – provided that you sing with joy. At the same time, stress hormones are lowered and the cardiovascular system is activated. An especially effective form of singing is »chanting« which uses songs with simple melodies and lyrics, even from foreign cultures, that can quickly be memorised and sung. If they are combined with movement and dance, a flow effect arises. Particularly effective are mantra-like songs with simple, healing lyrics such as: »I GO MY WAY« or »DEEPROOTED IN THE GROUND« .

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ut what has the voice to do with the soul?

Bossinger explains: »THE VOICE IS OUR PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL BUSINESS CARD, WHEN WE TALK ONE CAN ALWAYS SENSE HOW WE FEEL «

From the point of view of evolutionary biology, our brain is programmed to filter inconsistent messages from the sound of the voice of our counterpart to prevent danger and to check if the other one is trustworthy. The voice has a lot to do with the respective mood – we set the tone or give in – which expresses correlations to the self-esteem and to the social competence.

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We’ve always been humming and singing for new-born babies. Humans have been shaking to the rhythm of melodies all along. Singing and dancing has always been a way of distraction and often a social event.

SINGING AND EXERCISES FOR VOICE DEVELOPMENT COME ALONG WITH THE LIBERATION OF BLOCKED PARTS OF THE SOUL – WE LITERALLY BECOME MORE VIBRATORY.

ith a warm and resonant voice, we playfully reach much more in life, are perceived to be more sympathetic, sincere and open. This mostly happens because opening the voice can also open hearts.

MUSIC IS AS OLD AS HUMAN HISTORY AND WORKS UNIVERSALLY.

We actually would love to be surrounded by music all the time. But Bossinger gives one advice: Take care of your favourite songs! As beautiful as it can be to evoke a special experience with a song – the effect wears off because every time we hear the song, it disconnects a little more from the original situation. So, use it moderately as it would be too bad if the memory of the first kiss would fade eventually!

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aC n anyone ?

T A H T O D WHY SINGING COULD BECOME YOUR FAVOURITE OCCUPATION

TEXT JESSICA PAWLITZKI ILLUSTRATIONS BETH WALROND

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n a c y d o b y eEv r g sin

SINGERS WHO IMPRESS US APPEAL TO US EMOTIONALLY. WE FEEL THEIR WILL TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES, THEIR MESSAGE COMES FROM THE HEART, AND WE ARE OVERWHELMED WITH FEELINGS OF HAPPINESS WHEN WE HEAR THEM. APART FROM THAT, THERE NATURALLY ARE MUSICAL FACTORS THAT DISTINGUISH GOOD SINGING.

1.

FIRST OF ALL, THE MELODY SHOULD BE RECOGNIZABLE.

The tones must be right.

Even more important is the rhythm of the melody.

Try singing »Happy Birthday« so that every syllable falls on a tick of the second hand: 1 HA 2 PI 3 BIRTH 4 DAY 5 TO 6 YOU. Do you

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notice how monotonous that sounds? Would you recognize the song if you were congratulated like that? I don't think so. Rhythm makes us recognize the melody.

If it’s right, a croaking voice or off tone can be forgiven.

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SECOND, THE TIMING SHOULD BE RIGHT.

Music school concerts are so badly attended because we are discouraged by the stagnating performance of the young musicians. Or we wonder if Beethoven invented hip-hop because the »Moonlight Sonata« was clearly not that.

Uniform rhythm and clean timing hold songs together.

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FINALLY, THE LYRICS SHOULD BE UNDERSTANDABLE

Singing is communication.

Only we singers have this extra layer in our music and thus the duty of making the message of the song comprehensible as well. You don't have to sing in formal language, but mumbling is not recommended.

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VOCAL TRAINING IS NOT ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO ALREADY CAN SING, BUT FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO IMPROVE. YOU KNOW THAT YOU STILL HAVEN'T REACHED YOUR FULL POTENTIAL – AND YOU WANT TO WORK ON IT. AT THE BEGINNING, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ATTEND SINGING LESSONS, TAKE AN

Singing is a craft

ONLINE COURSE, OR TRAIN ON YOUR OWN.

If you compare your own singing skills to the points just mentioned, you may notice one or two deficits.

However, this does not mean that everything is lost. You can learn to sing.

Two conditions are needed for this: Your larynx must be healthy and you must practice, practice, practice.

Self-confidence and personal responsibility help you sticking with it.

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Where you start only determines how far your path is, not whether it is worthwhile. As long as you get a positive benefit from practicing to sing, it's all that matters.

Singing is like running a marathon or illustrating: You can train to get better.

My list of singers who blow my socks off has 17 entries. Everyone sings fantastically, masters their voice, and expresses themselves in many ways.

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I can't help wishing I were in their shoes for a day.

And sometimes it seems that they have been singing brilliantly from an early age.

As a singer and vocal coach, however, I know that the topic of talent is murky.

Do our genes determine if we are able to dance well, solve problems quick as lightning, or run fast? Or is it our environment? In singing, singers with more robust vocal cords, tighter rhythms, or finer hearing than normal mortals seem to possess are exceptions.

There are a lot less of them than we think.

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We're all gifted Most singers benefit from a positive environment.

Imagine a child learning to speak. The environment empowers it. Syllables are patiently recited over and over again. When the first »ma« comes out, you cheer like it's the World Cup final.

Later, the pronunciation is gently corrected and lovingly tutored in syntax.

Would anyone ever think of saying to a two-year-old child, »You can't even get the simplest syllables out.

Just shut up. Learning to speak is a waste of time for you«? Of course not!

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However, this happens far too often when you learn to sing. A child starts singing in kindergarten, beaming with joy, and hears from their mother: »Why are you yelling like that? Keep your voice down. I'm tired.« Instead of encouragement, the child's expression is forbidden.

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Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard No matter how good our genes are, if people react with rejection, we avoid these negative situations.

However, thrive in an encouraging environment.

Singing makes us happy, our self-confidence is strengthened, and we sing more often.

So why do some people seem to be able to sing from birth and others are not? Because it gives them pleasure and they train .

Their flames are being fanned.

Music that moves The quality of singing is a matter of taste. However, there are a few common denominators that most singers and vocal coaches adhere to.

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M U SI C

y l i m a f e h t n i runs The Trapp family from ÂťThe Sound of MusicÂŤ is by far not the only one that earned money and fame with its musical talent.

There have always been relatives that made music together and there have been lots of children that patterned themselves on their parents and conquered the music business. We have a look at various musical families from different times.

TEXT ALEX KORDS

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FROM THE BACH TO THE KELLY FAMILY

MUSIC

h c a B .

J.S

For more than 300 years, dozens of composers, organists, and pianists originated from the BACH FAMILY . Its progenitor Veit Bach, who was presumably born around 1550, was a baker by trade.

In his spare time he liked to play the cittern, a stringed instrument similar to the guitar. That’s how he brought a musical tradition into his family that lived on for generations. VEIT BACH lived in the Thuringian town of Wechmar, together with his son, Johannes, and his grandson, Christoph. The latter, however, moved to Erfurt in 1642 where he became the

»Sometimes I wish I were an angel« – well, that’s a catchy song, isn’t it? And there is a trivia question as well: Who made the song with that line?

Right: The Kelly Family, the best-known family of musicians of the past 20 years. But the Kellys are by far not the only relatives that decided to make music together. Looking far back into the past, you will find many notable musical families.

Bach by Toby Rosenthal, 1870

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^ h s i w I s e m i t e Som … l e g n a n a e r e w I "I WISH I HAD YOUR PAIR OF WINGS HAD THEM LAST IN MY DREAMS I WAS CHASING BUTERFLIES TILL THE SUNRISE BROKE MY EYES …

SOMETIMES I WISH I WERE AN ANGEL SOMETIMES I WISH I WERE YOU"

musician of the town council. The members of the family made an impression on the music of the Thuringian capital for more than 100 years. Christoph Bach’s son, Johann Ambrosius, was born in Erfurt, and his son was born in Eisenach in 1685. His name: JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH . His descendants, among them his sons WILHELM FRIEDEMANN and JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH, as well as his grandson WILHELM FRIEDRICH ERNST , made music as well.

Ironically, Johann Sebastian Bach, another grandson of the legendary composer, didn’t follow in the footsteps of his grandfather.

He became a painter.

AN ANGEL BY THE KELLY FAMILY

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When the son or the daughter of a musician makes the same professional step, there is always talk of the »musical genes«. But it’s not scientifically proven if the talent for music is inherited or if the abilities of the offspring come from the fact that they were surrounded by musicians from an early age. Whicever is the bigger influence on the young artist, it’s quite striking how often the biography of a musician mentions an ancestor who was also part of the music business. The children of the four BEATLES , for example, could found a band: Julian and Sean Lennon, James McCartney, and Dhani Harrison would share the guitar, bass, and vocal

The Beatles

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components, and Zak Starkey, the son of Ringo Starr, would be the drummer.

What the Beatles offspring could tell a thing or two about is the difficulty of being related to a famous musician. The wellknown family name might offer possibilities a newcomer without connections doesn’t have in the first place. On the other hand, the offspring of the renowned ancestor always has the label »son of…« or »daughter of…« stuck to them. And it’s hard to take a stand against it. They are also compared to the outshining family member their whole musical life. One possible way out is to perform with a different name. The British singer ELVIS COSTELLO , for example, was born as Declan McManus and is the son of ROSS MCMANUS , a quite prominent jazz musician of the 1950s and 1960s. And the singer

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e v i F Jackson

1973, Bee Gees Midnight Special

1972, CBS Television

1969, CBS Television

NORAH JONES doesn’t use her

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last name Shankar to avoid being compared to her father, the Indian musician RAVI SHANKAR . The English singer ELIOTT SUMNER , however, doesn’t have a hard time hiding her renowned roots.

Although she performs under her real name, it’s not obvious that she’s the daughter of STING .

In order to avoid being compared at all, family members could just join forces and make music together.

Just think of the JACKSON FIVE , the most successful black band ever. Or the BEE GEES , consisting of the Gibb brothers, who are called the »most successful family band of all time« by the Guinness Book of Records. And that closes the circle to the KELLY FAMILY. Even though they had their biggest success in the 1990s, they have been around for more than 40 years.

It was in 1974 when THE KELLY KIDS – as the family band was

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1989, The Kelly Family

called back then – played their first concert on a big square in Madrid. In 1976, they renamed themselves The Kelly Family and started touring through Europe making music. They played on the streets without getting paid but managed to release records.

One of them, the single »Who’ll Come with Me (David’s Song)«, even reached number one in the Dutch and the Belgian charts. The breakthrough, however, came in the 1990s when the album »Over the Hump« was sold more than 2.5 million times and spent two years in the German charts. In the 2000s, it became quiet around the

1994, Over The Hump

2017, We Got Love

Kelly Family, who had its comeback at the beginning of 2017 after a long hiatus. One if its members is Angelo Kelly, although he is also part of another band. Its name is Angelo Kelly & Family and it consists – what a surprise – of him, his wife Kira, and their five children aged between two and 17. This means that the next family of musicians is already on the horizon.

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A CHAT WITH elly K a i c i r t a P {

READ THE BOOK

CHILD IN A FAMILY OF MUSICIANS, ARTIST, FREE SPIRIT

}

sisterMAG writer Alex Kords already introduced us to the wonderful and exhilarating world of families of musicians in his article. When we talked about the topic in the last editorial meeting, the whole sisterMAG team immediately thought of one very special family: THE KELLY FAMILY. For this issue, we had the immense pleasure of interviewing one of its members, PATRICIA KELLY. Find out who shaped her childhood and read about her secret formula for families of musicians. And if you want more, read her wonderful book »Der Klang meines Lebens: Erinnerungen an stürmische und sonnige Zeiten«.

INTERVIEW SOPHIE SIEKMANN

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WEBSITE PATRICIA-KELLY.COM

DEAR PATRICIA, YOUR SURNAME IS A SYNONYM TO MUSIC FOR US. WHAT COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD »MUSIC«?

Mixed feelings come up. Some of the most intense moments of my life happened on stage or while writing songs. On the other hand, touring can be incredibly exhausting and it’s great to just come home to some peace and quiet after the 30th concert in a row.

Music is, first and foremost, an expression of my inner self. I don’t play on stage, I always aim to present my most authentic self at each concert.

That doesn’t always work, but most of the time I get there.

When I write a song, there is no hiding. It’s pure happiness,

ecstasy and freedom. When I can turn a feeling into a song – that is true fulfilment.

YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL FROM A YOUNG AGE. HOW WAS IT TO GROW UP UNDER THESE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES?

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I am extremely thankful to my parents that I got to experience such a special life. The older I get, the more I appreciate what life and my parents gave me.

There were hard times, like the death of my mum when I was 12 or when every day was just

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us standing on a street corner or besides the tracks in the Metro in Paris earning some money. But that’s all a part of it. I’ve lived a true hippie – bohemian – lifestyle like it's written in books. Sometimes I can’t even believe that’s me! I can only repeat myself: I feel so blessed by life and I hope that I’m thanking God and life enough.

WHAT AND WHO SHAPED YOUR MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT THE MOST? Funnily enough, my dad couldn’t read music and sang

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off key most of the time. He couldn’t even stay on beat but he is my biggest musical idol. He knew what was truly important and taught that to me. To him, it was all about the true substance and honest meaning. To live the music, not to play it. He taught me the courage it takes to be laughed at sometimes. The courage to dive into the »magical world« of music and just allow yourself to be swept away. I think my dad had a deeper understanding of music than the biggest virtuoso I’ve met. Music is a spiritual art form and he understood its

THE

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core. I am thankful to him for passing that on to me. I try to pass it on to my son Iggi who is 14 now and loves music too.

WHICH MOMENT(S) OF YOUR KELLY CAREER ARE YOUR FAVOURITES?

MUSIC

I learned back then – over 40 years ago. That song brings up memories from the roots of our careers and the goals we had.

WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES WORKING SO CLOSELY WITH YOUR FAMILY HAVE?

Weirdly, I don’t think of the 48 gold or platinum records we First of all, you’re not alone. won or the concerts in front of You ride the rollercoaster 280,000 people. The first thing of show business together. that pops up in my head are It is so valuable to share the early days in Spain when these experiences with your I was between 5 and 10. Back siblings. You can laugh about then, when mum and dad were the absurd parts of this circus; still a part of it, that was the you can share the beautiful best time ever for me. It wasn’t and touching feeling when an about success or performance, audience carries you through not about perfection or about a performance. You can cry winning awards. It was truly together and hug it out when a just about the joy of music and tour is over. Those are special the joy of sharing music with moments. Whenever one of other people. That us lets things get to »B ACK THEN, WHEN keeps being my MUM AND DAD WERE their head, a look at inspiration. I still your siblings’ face STILL A PART OF IT, have one ritual THAT W A S THE BEST is usually enough, I kept from this TIME EVER F OR ME… you don’t need many time: Before every words to know what IT W A S TRULY JUST concert, I warm up is going on. We take ABOUT THE JOY OF my voice with the MUSIC AND THE JOY OF care of each other, Spanish song that SHARING MUSIC WITH OTHER PEOPLE.« 161

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like a tribe in the old days when Native Americans lived in their tents. You feel like you are part of a community. Shared experiences bring you closer together in a very unique and special way. You get through WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF HAVING SUCH A tough times together, like SLIM LINE BETWEEN YOUR PRIVATE AND when one of us got sick in the YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE? middle of a tour but had to The risks are that you might keep going and the others then not talk about certain things carried that person through because you know that you the difficult times. have to be on stage After the tour, you together the next day. are more connected »SHARED That’s not the way to and respect each EXPERIENCES BRING go because unspoken other even more.

YOU CLOSER IN A conflicts are poison Another advantage VERY UNIQUE AND for all relationships. is, of course, that a SPECIAL W AY. « You have to learn to group is much more compromise and find powerful when a balance between performing together. There what you need and what the is so much more energy on group needs. It’s not always stage. We take turns singing easy to establish boundaries. so we have more power. There Siblings can be very honest are so many advantages, the which can be painful. They list is endless and I could keep might overreact or can’t see talking and talking. things the way they are. They also might be annoying when living together in such close quarters. I can honestly say that our relationship as siblings

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band. I think family bands or those whose members are related have a better chance of staying together for a longer time – as you know, blood is thicker than water. It’s easier to get back together after a fight.

after our tour with almost 40 gigs and about 400,000 fans in seven European countries has been improved hugely. We really grew closer. I’d even say we’ve never been that close.

That’s a positive surprise!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAMILY BANDS AND THOSE WHO AREN’T RELATED? That’s a good question but I can’t really answer it. I’ve only ever known being in a family

MUSIC

YOU TRULY GREW UP SURROUNDED BY MUSIC. DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD STILL BE A MUSICIAN IF YOUR FAMILY HADN’T INTRODUCED YOU TO IT? OR WOULD YOU HAVE WANTED TO BE AN ASTRONAUT, VET OR DESIGNER?

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I really don’t know. I feel like I have two souls – one is the practical one who loves numbers and always thinks ahead and the other one is more artistic and loves travelling. She’s open and has friends all over the world.

She taught her children that everyone is created equally in God’s eyes. Those two are not in a conflict but they make me a very multifaceted person.

HOW CAN FAMILIES, OR EVEN SIBLINGS, BE SUCCESSFUL TOGETHER? IS THERE A SECRET FORMULA?

I love my job more than anything and I would die if I couldn’t practice it anymore. But I probably would have become a doctor if things had been different. I still have a plastic skeleton in my basement that I bought on the flea market Waterlooplein in Amsterdam in 1990. Maybe I was still secretly hoping to become a doctor back then.

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First off, your questions are amazing, this is so fun!

I believe that this depends on the chemistry within families.

This invisible chemistry between siblings that develops during their first couple of years together. You share the bread and the toys. My song »BROTHERS AND SISTERS«

deals with that issue.

The experiences that we made as children when it was just us against the world are valuable and deeply rooted in us. I think that this is natural, it’s in the DNA of every human and it can’t be damaged or copied.

The most important part are the parents and their role. I believe that parents who see and nurture this help a lot. You might call this secret formula »chemistry« or »love«.

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WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AND THE KELLY FAMILY IN 10 YEARS?

MUSIC

»WHEN WE WERE KIDS

Those are two different things for me. What are my dreams and where do I see myself? I’ve reached a certain age when I am wise enough to not try and live in the past or the future.

I’m trying to be thankful for today and the next couple of days and I want nothing more.

Life has been incredibly kind to me.

On the other hand, I have so many dreams that I still want to live. I’m a big dreamer. Call me crazy, but one of those dreams is to travel to America to make people there as happy with our music as we do in Europe. This dream is deeply rooted in my heart. Life will decide what to make of it.

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WE SHARED BREAD WE SHARED OUR TOYS AND WE WERE FRIENDS THEN MAMA LEFT US ALL BEHIND WE SURVIVED AND HAD BIG DREAMS THEN L ATER ON WE SHARED GUITARS WE ROCKED THE STAGE AND WROTE GOOD SONGS« BROTHERS AND SISTERS

BY THE KELLY FAMILY

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MUSIC AS A BUSINESS AND PASSION

&

an interview with the music producer Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel is one of the most famous German music producers of our time. We talked to Mr. "Grand Prix" about his profession, which is also his passion.

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ralph siegel

Interview: Sophie Siekmann

website

lessons in piano, accordion, drums, and guitar, as well as harmony and composition since I was seven, I was a trainee in Paris and Nashville, Tennessee for a year.

DEAR RALPH, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS? Actually my whole life, since I grew up in a musical household. My father was a composer and publisher, and my mother was an operetta star in Berlin and Munich.

After my school time in Germany and Switzerland, and in England and France with simultaneous music 167

When I was 20, I had already written more than 100 songs and had my first big hit in the USA: Don Gibson’s »IT’S A LONG LONG WAY TO GEORGIA« . In 1965, I

started discovering and producing newcomers in Munich with little money and a low number of licences for the »GERMAN RECORD INDUSTRY« . The rest is written in my autobiography I published last year and, SISTERMAG 36 | 04 / 2018

rough-and-ready, on websites like Wikipedia.

Among other things, I had more than 100 chart hits and 25 appearances in the international Eurovision Song Contest – where I was in the top four eight times.

Now, at 72, I mostly write musicals and work 12 to 14 hours every day.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A MUSIC PRODUCER? There is a difference between a financing and an executive producer. It’s unusual that a producer is both but in my case, it worked out well most of the time. Generally, the producer is responsible for the selection of the artist, the songs, and the budget.

The executive producer also has the following tasks:

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1.

Selecting the studio and the sound engineer, determining the keys, arrangements, musicians, and programmers

2.

Rehearsing and recording the solo or group vocals or, respectively, selecting and recording the choir

3.

The final mixes (like the long, dance, or radio versions)

HOW DOES ONE BECOME A MUSIC PRODUCER? That’s a good question because nowadays everybody can act as a music producer.

You look for or are a singer, hire a studio crew, and pay for everything that’s

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today is that you produce a short video, upload it on the Internet, and hope that millions of people like (e.g. on YouTube) or download it.

HOW DOES THE TYPICAL DAY OF A MUSIC PRODUCER LOOK LIKE?

necessary, like I described before. Or you start being especially interested in music and the music business, do an internship with an experienced music producer, and grow into the job. You eventually have the desire to do your own production because you believe in the artist and the song and take the risk or look for a partner in the record industry. The common way

This depends on the person or the producer – everybody leads their own life and the answer depends on whether you do the job every day and with several artists or if you just produce one CD a year.

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST OR AS AN ECONOMIST? When I consider my life and my career, I rather see myself as an artist because

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I am a composer, lyricist, and producer. As a music publicist and company boss, I need to be a businessman, visionary, and discoverer as well – partly with great success but also with big failures. That’s part of our job!

»THERE ARE UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES TO CREATE SOUNDS AND TIMBRES AND TO BRING INSTRUMENTS TO LIFE USING KEYBOARDS.«

But the performance and creation of the musical piece is still a job for humans – and that’s fine the way it is.

In the past, we had to run or rent a big studio; today it’s enough to have a wellequipped control room. It’s said that Phil Collins even recorded some of his songs in a hotel room at Lake Geneva.

HOW DID MUSIC PRODUCTION CHANGE OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS? The biggest change is that there are less and less live recordings with musicians

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because almost everything is produced with computers.

As you know, the computer doesn’t make music, doesn’t write lyrics, and doesn’t sing very well. But there are unlimited possibilities to create sounds and timbres and to bring instruments to life using keyboards.

WHAT WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER?

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many: »DSCHINGHIS KHAN« and »MOSKAU« , Nicole and »A LITTLE PEACE« (»EIN BISSCHEN FRIEDEN« ), Katja Ebstein with »THEATER« or all the hits with Peter Alexander, Chris Roberts, Roy Black, Lena Valaitis, Karel Gott, Mireille Mathieu, and Patrik Duffy or Wind. And especially the career starts of Gerhard Polt and Willi Astor or Silver Convention and Penny McLean. I loved opening the door to success for them.

OF

» THERE IS NO SECRET RECIPE THAT ALWAYS WORKS. BUT WHEN YOU ARE IN THIS JOB LONG ENOUGH AND DO IT WITH FULL COMMITMENT AND LOVE, YOU’LL EVENTUALLY HAVE LUCK AND SUCCESS. «

were

WHAT ARE TODAY’S REQUIREMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR A PRODUCER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? Contacts, contacts, contacts – and, of course, new experiences in as many fields as possible. But with all the offerings of the World Wide Web, luck is also a factor.

MUSIC

WHAT DOES ONE NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AS A MUSIC PRODUCER? IS THERE A SECRET FORMULA?

Yes, but I only reveal it to my artists! All jokes aside, there is no secret recipe that always works. But when you are in this job long enough and do it with full commitment and love, you’ll eventually have luck and success. That’s what I wish for everybody!

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DREAM JOB Music producer A CONVERSATION WITH OLIVER PINELLI

NAME

OLIVER PINELLI

AGE

49

JOB

MUSIC PRODUCER, SONGWRITER, LYRICIST, MIX ENGINEER, COACH AND LECTURER FOR MUSIC BUSINESS

HOMETOWN

BERLIN

LIVING IN

AUSTRIA

HOMEPAGE

WWW.OLIVERPINELLI.COM

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Interview: SOPHIE SIEKMANN

OLIVER PINELLI HAS BEEN IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND HAS WORKED WITH ARTISTS SUCH AS HELENE FISCHER, WOLFSHEIM, ROSENSTOLZ, YVONNE CATTERFELD, CASSANDRA STEEN, REAMONN, ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, PAUL VON DYK AND UNHEILIG. IN 1989, HE DIRECTED THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE HOLLYWOOD FILM »RUN LOLA RUN« AND IS STILL ACTIVE AS A LECTURER AND COACH IN THE FIELDS OF MUSIC AND MEDIA. WE ASKED HIM WHAT BEING A PROFESSIONAL MUSIC PRODUCER IS ALL ABOUT – AND HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS FAST-PACED INDUSTRY.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS? On

my

my

sister

sixth

glockenspiel. instrument

birthday,

gave

me

a

This

little

made

me

discover my love for music and since then, I have never been bored when working with sounds, tones or words. In the course of

my life, I learned various instruments, but my »main« instrument has always been the piano.

Although I have specialized for years in the field of modern metal and Djent, I will probably never lose my devotion to the piano.

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WHAT IS THE TASK OF A MUSIC PRODUCER? In the classical sense, the producer is responsible for supporting artists during recordings. They ensure that the results are the best possible. A producer should understand all areas of music and have great craftsmanship in each one of them.

Furthermore, they represent an interface between the artist and the music industry. As a confidant of the artist, the producer, partner, mentor and coach should be the interpreter.

Nowadays, however, the role of a producer often goes far beyond that. In my case, I usually play an important role in the field of songwriting and lyrics. Furthermore, I always engineer and mix productions myself – I see myself as a musical Swiss army knife. But this is almost the standard nowadays.

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HOW DOES ONE BECOME A MUSIC PRODUCER? I have no idea, because I never really wanted to be a producer. At the age of 19, I got one of the biggest record contracts of the 90s at EPIC / Sony as a singer for my own project. After living the high life and all associated ego impulses (including moderate megalomania), this led to an abrupt crash

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myself as a »ministry«. But the latter role is actually an important part of my job. You can also learn this profession at various institutions, like the SAE (School of Audio Engineering). landing. The music I made was pure plagiarism and I had no idea. But my karma then gave me the opportunity to take my first steps as a producer.

I soon realized that I could actually do this job the way I wanted and I fell in love with the idea of being a producer from then on. I think that I still represent a rather unusual version of this profession.

Basically, I have been doing »self-realization projects« all my life and I don't see

Afterwards, however, one is faced with the task of earning a living as a freelance artist.

How have I done that so far?

A lot of work and diligence, a clear focus with goals, and 99% luck.

A PRODUCER SHOULD UNTERSTAND ALL AREAS OF MUSIC AND HAVE GREAT CRAFTMANSHIP IN EACH OF THEM.

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HOW DOES THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF A MUSIC PRODUCER LOOK LIKE?

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF MORE AS AN ARTIST OR AS AN ECONOMIST?

Somewhat like the cliché: sex, drugs & rock´n roll! :-) I believe that my way of life is therefore not representative for what's typical. I get up around 5 o'clock in the morning, meditate for an hour and do an hour of sports. Then I usually work.

I only eat once a day, mostly in the early evening or late afternoon. As a divorced husband, I also have the responsibility of keeping two children, a household, and a fabulously overgrown garden under control. My day ends as it began, there's usually not more than five hours of sleep involved. I love my life and so far I can say it seems to love me too. Despite all the trials and tribulations, all the dramas and disasters, I'd say that I'm very happy.

It took me 30 years to see myself as an »artist« and to pronounce myself as an artist. But if I had to decide then, yes, I am definitely an artist!

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HOW HAS MUSIC PRODUCTION CHANGED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS? The shift from the record industry to today's streaming services was a radical upheaval. This topic fills entire books, but I think every progressive person is impressed by the rapid speed at which we can benefit from the technology and the digitization. Since this development is exponential and not linear, we are facing ever greater challenges to be able to keep up with the pace and adapt.

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WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER? Although I am more of a marginal figure, if not an outsider in the music industry (I have nothing to do with record companies anymore and find them mostly obsolete), I was always lucky enough to work with established stars. The most important thing for my reputation was certainly the many years spent collaborating with The Count of the band Unheilig.

Nevertheless, the most important moment of my

OF

MUSIC

career was when I decided never to record another song that doesn't have a) something important to say, and b) is really music that I love, breathe, and fully adore. I found such a project in a collaboration with the German Metal band Null Positiv . Together with management, I have been building up the band for three years now and in two months, the second album will be released. The band returned from a 77-day non-stop European tour a few days ago, and all signs are pointing in the right

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direction. In the end, I find it really important for everyone to find their thing. Be satisfied if it works – or just go down with waving flags.

Authenticity has always been an attribute an artist should radiate. Unfortunately, I often miss that in today's platinumpop world.

enough – you need money, concrete plans, manpower, originality, stamina, intelligence, analysis, good friends – and a long breath.

A producer should, in my opinion, be part of a team that is fully committed to one artist or band.

WHAT ARE TODAY'S REQUIREMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR MUSIC PRODUCERS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? Over the last 20 years, the music industry has completely changed.

Streaming is the magic word. Music is »consumed« online. There are still opportunities to earn a lot of money with music, but there is no middle class left.

And good music alone is not

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MY TIP: THE SMALLER YOUR EGO, THE GREATER THE SUCCESS.

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TEXT: ANGELA MARIA PELTNER

The Disenchantment

of Pop Music DOES A SUCCESSFUL

INGREDIENTS:

POP SONG OF TODAY

SEVERAL HOOKS,

REALLY ONLY CONSIST

THREE CHORDS, AND

OF THE SO-CALLED

AN AVERAGE SPEED

POP FORMULA?

OF 118 BEATS PER MINUTE.

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Mother says I was a singer before I could talk.

AND INDEED,

music has always been a part of my life Relevant studies swear, for example, that something like prenatal music exposure is existing. Music is always with us, whether we are happy or sad. It reinforces our emotions.

For this reason alone, we will probably never all like the same song.

Music is a matter of taste.

However, there seems to be a common denominator when you look at the local charts and radio landscape.

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And we, the humans, are repeat offenders. It seems as if we are always falling for the same melodies and structure patterns.

The basic chords, the melodious intervals, and 120 BEATS per minute that perfectly complement our heart rate.

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Did we really crack the code for creating successful pop songs? Are we really content to live with neverending repetition?

Let's look for clues.

Pop songs

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Music is magic. Period.

How else could we describe this thread that flows through our DNA to evoke emotions such as joy and sadness?

Music has always been existing.

Before Spotify, before antibiotics, even before printing.

Long before someone put the eight basic notes on paper as funny-looking lines, some with flags, children were sung to sleep. And before that, ghosts were summoned around the campfire with the help of rhythmic drums.

Music is a universal language with a very pure origin.

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But this »purity« is finite.

Looking at the radio landscape in Germany, one can sense that there seems to be a kind of predictable formula to what infiltrates our ears. What's most discouraging is the art form’s interchangeability, and the feeling that you already know what’s coming. One reason is that record companies fear flops. On the other hand, it has to do with perfecting the songwriting.

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It’s also hard to find a song longer than three-anda-half minutes today. It's inconceivable that a hit like »NOVEMBER RAIN« by Guns n' Roses, which lasts 9 minutes and 8 seconds, would find success today.

It seems that music has lost its magic.

It's all about the pop formula. Ten years ago, there was a particular song structure: INTRO, VERSE, PRECHORUS, CHORUS . Repeat, then C part, and the chorus again – et voilà. Today, we work with a collection of different hooks, which throw new melodies into the ring over and over again.

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was just under 22 seconds long, but in 2015 it only lasted around five seconds. But not only the intro has shrunk. The whole song, with all its individual parts, has been condensed and given way to efficiency.

unconscious attention economy The advent of streaming and other music technologies have reduced the value of music. It doesn't take any medium, like a CD, to listen to your favourite music. Today, people download mp3's to their mobile phone or stream them on Spotify.

WE ARE USED TO SKIPPING, SWIPING, AND WIPING.

Similar to Tinder, listening to music has mutated into a short-term ego trip. For the musicologist Hubert LĂŠveillĂŠ Gauvin, we have all fallen victim to an unconscious attention economy. For example, an instrumental intro in the 1980s

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In today's songwriter camps, there are many songwriters who bundle their talent into one song. Seven songwriters had a hand in Rihanna's super hit »Umbrella«. Two of them wrote the text, two made the beat, one wrote the hooks and two others the vocal melody, the topline.

The most successful songs today are midtempo, with 118 beats per minute.

OF

MUSIC

»30 SECONDS BEFORE THE CHORUS« is the rule of thumb

because it accommodates our attention economy. Success validates this mantra. The fact is that international songwriters like Max Martin or German stars like Martin Fliegenschmidt regularly use their pop formula to create hits that play on an endless loop on the top radio stations. I'll just say, »HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME» or »80 MILLIONEN« .

A radio DJ recently told me that there are actually only 30 songs in her heavy rotation. The amazing thing for her was that listeners almost exclusively wanted music from this limited selection instead of requesting new songs. In essence, we humans are repeat offenders after all. The most successful songs today are mid-tempo, with 118 BEATS per minute.

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This leaves music consumers with a pleasant rhythm to the beat of our hearts. Volkmar Kramarz, one of about 60 songwriters in Germany, explains hits like this: 1. HAVE THE COURAGE TO USE CHORD SEQUENCES THAT ALREADY EXIST A THOUSAND TIMES. LET

diversity of music will continue to diminish. He also believes that complex music consisting of more than four chords will no longer be heard in 50 years.

This is due to the simplicity of the chords and harmonic feeling of certain intervals because they appeal to our feelings. And music is exactly that: a feeling.

FREQUENCY BE THE GUIDE.

2. BUILD YOUR VERSES AND CHORUS WITH YOUR MELODY OVER THE MAXIMUM OF FOUR CHORDS. THERE SHOULD BE A LOT OF TEXT IN THE VERSE, AND A ROUSING MELODY WITH LONG TONES IN THE CHORUS THAT ARE ON AVERAGE HIGHER THAN THE TONES OF THE VERSE.

Kramarz is convinced that the

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Another effect that is very popular among songwriters is the so-called »MILLENNIAL WHOOP« . It is used for almost all hits. The »MILLENNIAL WHOOP« is a melody that changes in eighths between the third and fifth step of the major scale. The lyrics are often »WA-OH-WA-OH« , as in Katy Perry's hit »CALIFORNIA GURLS« . There is indeed calculus behind pop songs. The three plagiarism accusations against four-hooks-per-songdude Ed Sheeran reveal just how obvious the repetition of

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this kind of songwriting is.

In the end, the song just has to feel light and good. From afar, I hear the wilting voice of audio magicians of years past singing in a loop: »THE SHOW MUST GO ON«.

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30 30

DAYS

DESIGNS

FASHION DESIGNER MARINA SCHWAN CHALLENGED HERSELF AND HER TEAM TO DESIGN A PIECE OF GARMENT EVERYDAY IN APRIL. WE FOLLOWED ALONG THE JOURNEY. INTERVIEW FRANZI WINTERLING SISTER-MAG.COM

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THE BEGINNINGS I wanted to try new design processes and get out of old habits which is why I didn’t really prepare any of that.

WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THIS PROJECT? Usually, I have ideas at night, just like this one. I woke up one day and had this idea of being creative for 30 days straight.

WHAT WERE SOME CHALLENGES THAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IN THE BEGINNING? I was really excited for the project from day one and felt like I was already doing it. That is why I didn’t really think about challenges but just let it happen.

WHAT WERE THINGS THAT YOU HAD PLANNED AHEAD OF TIME? SPECIAL MOODS, FIRST IDEAS, WORK PROCESSES?

The first things I took care of were organization and wording of the whole project. Next up was putting together a team.

A few days before we started, I created a moodboard to get myself in the right mood and visualize my thoughts.

WERE THERE MORE PREPARATIONS NECESSARY? To be able to fully immerse myself into the design process, I made sure that tasks were clearly divided within the team and I wouldn’t be distracted.

We also filmed a video teaser to show the idea of the project.

And, of course, I had to run some errands such as fabrics,

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I WOKE UP ONE DAY AND HAD THIS IDEA OF BEING CREATIVE FOR 30 DAYS STRAIGHT.

“ SISTER-MAG.COM

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tools and other »ingredients« I would need for the pieces. Finally, I let people around me know that I wouldn’t be around during those 30 days and hardly have any time for private relationships.

DURING THE PROJECT

WHAT WERE THE FIRST FEW DAYS LIKE? ANY SURPRISES? Of course, I was very excited for the project. Accordingly, the first few days were very exciting. They were also really long and ended in long nights, which wasn’t really a surprise though.

We had to learn how to structure our day in order to be able to finish a piece by the end of the day.

YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE PROJECT FOR ABOUT 15 DAYS NOW. HOW DO YOU FEEL AND HOW IS IT GOING? I learned that the project is unpredictable.

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Some days start out great and end in a terrible disappointment.

But it can also go the other way around and a slow day can bring out a design I am really happy with.

I am experiencing the time as well as my emotions very intensely, every day is special. I have a different sense of time.

The days fly by, but there is always something going on and becomes a source for many nice and helpful memories.

I also think that I now have a better understanding of what 30 days / 30 designs means. I don't have time to think about yesterday nor about tomorrow.

I have to be present to achieve what I want to – physically as well as mentally.

One example is that I didn’t open any mail since the beginning of the project. I also had to learn that, even if I am not satisfied by the end of the day, I have to leave a design behind and be open for a new one.

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WHICH SUCCESSES CAN YOU LOOK BACK ON SO FAR? DO YOU HAVE FAVORITE DESIGNS? My approach to design has completely changed which was one of my primary goals for my personal development during the project. The realization that I am designing for 30 days and can actually concentrate on my ideas is a kind of success to me and I do enjoy that.

The team turned out to be another success. We are working in harmony, energetically and support each other – also beyond the project.

WERE THERE CHALLENGES? DID YOU HAVE DAYS WHERE YOU COULDN’T COMPLETE A DESIGN? The first tough day was the fourth one, when I first wasn’t able to construct my idea.

That was also the first day I started doubting whether I would be able to fulfill my own

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30 30

DAYS

DESIGNS

expectations. However, by the end of the day – which ended in the middle of the night, of course – we were able to create an exciting design.

Another challenge is that we often don’t have much time to communicate within the team.

However, that also teaches us to find out about our mistakes and correct them.

DID YOU FIND A DAILY RHYTHM OR IS EACH DAY DIFFERENT? Of course, there is the danger of getting used to a routine, but we try to avoid it. It was important to me that especially the design team stays open which is why we also get out now and again to collect

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new ideas and impressions.

However, we did come up with some new structures to work more effectively.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT DAYS? ARE THERE THINGS YOU WANT TO CHANGE? I want to focus even more on developing ideas and designing instead of working with the designs.

AFTER THE PROJECT

30 30

DAYS

DESIGNS

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YOUR 30 DAY PROJECT IS OVER – WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY? My most important take-away was that it is very important for me as a designer to spend as much time as 196

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“

TO TURN INSPIRATION INTO AN IDEA AND ACTUALLY TRANSLATE IT INTO A DESIGN IS THE REASON I BECAME A DESIGNER.

possible being creative and focus on designing. To turn inspiration into an idea and actually translate it into a design is the reason I became a designer.

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Usually, I am inspired by whatever is around me – people, books, moments, feelings. Or simply a piece of fabric.

WERE THERE PHASES WHEN IT WAS PARTICULARLY HARD TO STAY WITH IT AND WHY WAS THAT? Of course, there were difficult phases. The reason for that was mostly my mood, when a lot was going on for me. For example, when I had other things to do, organizational stuff and things like that. However, it was interesting to see how these days especially turned into exciting designs.

DID YOU FIND NEW SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?

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During the project, one of my biggest sources of inspiration was my mood. When I am not in the mood to design at all but still had to find a way to complete a piece.

That way, feelings that I wouldn’t usually associate with creativity helped me finding new ways.

DID YOUR DESIGN PROCESS CHANGE AND DID YOU ESTABLISH NEW HABITS THAT YOU WANT TO KEEP?

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During the project, I realized how important it is to really focus on the design process. I tried a bunch of different things in that regard to be able to find new approaches. I also DAYS DESIGNS got more into the habit of designing, constructing and sewing which is why these processes go more smoothly.

A habit that I want to keep is designing regularly, especially when I am inspired by anything around me.

30 30

OF

MUSIC

project, when the end was in sight, I felt like the project was truly doing great things for me and I felt sad that it was coming to an end. I could also imagine that this will become part of my label, taking one month a year for intensive designing and turn the results into a collection.

COULD YOU IMAGINE REPEATING THIS OR A SIMILAR PROJECT? ARE THERE THINGS YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY? Absolutely! Is there anything better than taking an extended amount of time to focus on what you love and what makes you happy?

From the second half of the

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Artists

FAMOUS FEMALE

& SISTER-MAG.COM

WOMEN IN EXILE

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TEXT MICHAEL NEUBAUER

Is the homeland usually the place where we were born, were we grew up, were we speak our mother tongue?

Where culture and togetherness suit us best?

ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF GLOBAL CITIZENS AND DIGITAL NOMADS, BUT ALSO IN A DIFFICULT POLITICAL CLIMATE, WE ARE FREQUENTLY LOOKING FOR A DEFINITION OF THE TERM »HOMELAND«.

If you follow this definition, it is shaken to its very foundation when political or religious strife, ideological aberrations, war, and terror make life in the homeland impossible. Until today, history provides many examples of this in all religions of the world.

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Especially close and still relevant today are the many people, scientists, and artists who had to leave their homeland in the time of National Socialism in Germany from 1933 to 1945 – and had to go into exile.

Being of Jewish origin was enough to be treated as a nonhuman being in Germany.

Defamations, job loss, ban from writing, chicane, violence, and complete loss of human dignity culminated in the Kristallnacht of 1938 and made the life of these Germans in their homeland impossible.

Others who abhorred the prevailing ideology also had to go into exile in order to save their lives.

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Exile actually started at home because all mentioned reasons lead to an alienation from the own »HOMELAND«.

The difficult decision of leaving everything behind, the reprisals on offices, hope and disappointment, as well as the prospect of an escape route full of privation, lead to high psychological pressure during exile.

Which routes did these expatriates take, and how did they get along in a foreign country without a homeland?

Which powers and which ideas did these superhuman challenges release? We dealt with this issue because

203

of its relevance for the film »SOUND OF MUSIC« . That’s why we looked for some famous and less well-known examples and especially focussed on female expatriates.

SISTERMAG 36 | 04 / 2018

L i s e M ei t n e r

(1878 – 1968) If you leave the highway B1 (»UNTER DEN EICHEN« ) in Berlin-Dahlem going out of town and make an acute-angled turn into the Thieleallee, you reach an impressive building on the left side of the street (Thieleallee 63) after about 700 metres.

It’s the former Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, which was built in 1912 after a construction time of only one and a half years.

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Today, it’s part of the Institute for Biochemistry of the Free University of Berlin.

In this building, OTTO HAHN and FRITZ STRASSMANN discovered the nuclear fission of uranium on December 17th, 1938 .

It’s

here

where LISE MEITNER and OTTO HAHN worked on radiophysical problems from 1913 to 1933 .

In 1918 , they discovered the element number 91 of the periodic table: Protactinium.

OF

MUSIC

secondary school and a teaching exam in French. In 1907 , she moved to Berlin and, as the first women ever in Prussia, got an assistant position at the University, assisting Max Planck. She was in work contact with Otto Hahn who worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry. In 1913 , she was introduced as a scientific member there.

Despite the occasional advances of young men, Lise Meitner was unmarried her whole life. One thing was important: Physics.

Lise Meitner, born in 1878 in Vienna as the daughter of Jewish parents, studied Mathematics, Physics and Philosophy at the University of Vienna after finishing 205

I cordially love physics. t’I s a kind of personal u o y n o rs e p a r fo e k li , e lov owe a lot.

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When she was 48, she was offered an associate professorship for experimental nuclear physics at the institute.

But she was Jewish. In 1933 , her teaching permit was revoked, leaving her the nuclear research at the institute of OTTO HAHN . After the annexation of Austria, her only option was to escape into exile. The nearly 60-yearold fled to the Netherlands and Denmark and received an entry permit in Sweden and a modest opportunity to work. It was modest because Swedish nuclear physicists saw her as a rival and limited her working opportunities.

However, she stayed connected with OTTO HAHN through an intensive exchange of letters. This allowed her to follow Hahn’s experiments and even describe the experimental set-up for a fission from afar.

After this first nuclear fission at the beginning of 1939 , she and her nephew Otto Frisch were the first people to describe and explain the experiment theoretically in the English journal »Nature«.

Together with Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch, Otto Hahn and his team had made one of the biggest discoveries of the century – with Lise Meitner in the distance, living in the unbeloved exile.

wasn’t happy in Sweden at the time; disregard of her past achievements and the general political situation in Germany and Europe weakened her sentiment.

The subsequent honours were unilateral. Only Otto Hahn received the NOBEL PRIZE in 1944 for his achievements, Lise Meitner didn’t. Even their common workplace in Berlin-Dahlem, the »KAISER

LISE

MEITNER

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Lise Meitner with students WILHELM INSTITUTEÂŤ , was

regarded scientist, not least

named Otto-Hahn-Bau in 1956 ; it was only in 2010 that Meitner received a belated tribute when it was renamed Hahn-Meitner-Bau.

because of the achievements she accomplished in exile.

She stayed in Stockholm, held guest professorships abroad and was the director of the nuclear department of

In 1957 , she received an honorary doctorate by the FU Berlin, in July 2014, a Meitner memorial was unveiled in the commemorative courtyard of the Humboldt University in Berlin. In the post-war years, Lise Meitner was a highly

the physics institute of the Royal Institute of Technology in

Stockholm.

On

27

OCTOBER 1968 she died at

the age of almost 90 years in Cambridge where she spent the last years of her life close to her nephew Otto Frisch.

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r e y a m k c u Z n a d Alice Her (1901 – 1991)

When they met for the first time, ALICE and CARL ZUCKMAYER had already experienced a lot, despite their young age.

Carl Zuckmayer who was prosperously released as a lieutenant from First World War, studied

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law, literary history and sociology in Frankfurt and Heidelberg. Early poems, a failed stage play, a huge theatre scandal in Kiel, a marriage for one year and a loose living shaped the first 20 years.

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The young actress Alice, for her part, who wasn’t even 20 yet, already exchange rings and had a child with one Mister Frank, commuted between Berlin and Munich and promptly dissolved her early marriage. Then they met at a party in Berlin. Alice copied plays for Carl.

They got married in 1925 and one year later, their covenant was sealed with the birth of a child.

OF

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C a r l Z u c k m ay e r

Alice was born in 1901 as a daughter of a Jewish solicitor in Vienna. She attended the very modern and extraordinarily formative school of the Viennese education reformist Eugenie Schwarzwald.

The sweeping success of Carl Zuckmayer’s play »Der

fröhliche Weinberg« (»THE MERRY VINEYARD« ) enabled them to lead a satisfied life after their marriage. Alice satisfied her wish and started studying medicine, which Emil Jannings commented: »So her husband doesn’t notice that she can’t cook!« (www.fembio.org).

But she only mastered seven semesters because then, the National Socialists ended the short time of happiness. Alice was the daughter of Jews, so the small family didn’t have a choice but to leave Germany. They moved to the property they had purchased in Henndorf at the Wallersee

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in Austria. After 1938 , however, it wasn’t safe there either.

After one year in Switzerland, they wanted to go to the USA. Despite all efforts and several underpaid employments of Zuckmayer, the family didn’t manage to get to America and also didn’t get along financially. They chose to take a step forward and, from 1941 on, tried to become farmers in Vermont, a part of New England in the East of the USA. A completely different life in a primitive, rural environment demanded the full strength of the family in order to survive the daily life of farmers in an SISTER-MAG.COM

unfamiliar solitude and far away from every intellectual life. It soon became apparent that Alice didn’t only tame chickens and goats but also had the natural gift of observing the characteristics of the surrounding Americans – and of describing them. In the portrait of her friendship with the Zuckmayers called »Die Sterne sind geblieben« (»THE STARS REMAINED« ), Christine Heiskanen writes: »On the farm, Alice Zuckmayer became a novelist – interestingly due to the description of the same circumstances that were so difficult for him as a poet…« In two very readable and amusing books, Alice Zuckmayer depicts the difficult circumstances of their escape and the problems of a farmer in the USA during the Second World War they mastered with humour, love and wit. Already in 1949 , the

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book »Die Farm in den grünen Bergen« (»THE FARM IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS« ) was published, »Das Scheusal. Die Geschichte einer sonderbaren Erbschaft« (»The monster. The story of a strange inheritance«) followed in 1972 . In the latter one, she tells about the difficult journey into exile that got more complicated because of an inherited and very eccentric dog.

Because of these books, Alice is not the wife of the author Carl Zuckmayer but proves her literary independence very vividly. Both books are easy to read and, at the same time, encourage living a life under difficult circumstances. They are contemporary witnesses, simple and folkloric and were enthusiastically received by a wide readership.

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series of letters I wrote to the parents of my husband after the end of war. … When Erich Kästner set eyes on some of these letters when he visited Zuckmayer’s parents, they suddenly appeared in his feuilleton, much to my astonishment. Encouraged by that and motivated by many questions, I wrote the present report.« Only in 1957 , the Zuckmayer family returned to Switzerland.

When she was 89 years old (11 MARCH 1991 ), Alice-Herdan Zuckmayer died in SaasFee, a small town in the Canton of Valais.

Carl Zuckmayer had already died in 1977 .

Reviewing her book »DIE FARM IN DEN GRÜNEN BERGEN« , Zuckmayer writes: »This book wasn’t supposed to become a book. It developed from a

»THE FARM IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS«, 1949

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e l a e n K rr e K h t i d Ju (born 1923)

Judith

already

experienced

the

during

childhood.

her

Christoph Rieger, Judith Kerr on September 15, 2016 at the International Literature Festival Berlin , CC BY-SA 4.0

exile

When she was nine, she had to leave Germany with

her

family.

How

did she get along with this

extraordinary

THE

WAR

ENDED

IT

WAS

CLEAR TO ME THAT

life

THIS

situation? You have to

(ENGLAND)

WAS MY HOME.«

know: She was born into a family that was already renowned; her father was the famous theatre critic Alfred Kerr.

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»WHEN

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The journalistic culture that boomed in the twenties of the last century shone with its feuilletons and intellectual theatre criticisms that were able to present or to finish authors. ALFRED KERR was a master at this – or, as his biographer Deborah VietorEngländer writes: »He was the original!

Kerr juggled many balls at once in Berlin life – until 1933 .« Kerr was Jewish and a fierce opponent of the arising National Socialism.

With sarcasm and intellect, he used written and spoken

Alfred Kerr

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words to fight it. The Nazis saw him as their enemy. In 1933 , the family had to flee within a few days, leaving everything behind that was part of their upper-class life. Via Zurich and Paris, they arrived in London in 1935. While Alfred Kerr lived in financial difficulties at all these locations and his wife had to earn the daily necessities as a secretary, his children Michael and Judith took the initiative themselves. In Paris, Judith attended a French school and deliberately integrated herself into the new and different country. It was easy for her to adapt to the other circumstances; she incorporated them and saw them as a chance and an adventure. During war, she volunteered at the Red Cross and distributed clothes to

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British soldiers. The end of war came when she was 22.

She said: »WHEN THE WAR ENDED IT WAS CLEAR TO ME THAT

THIS

(ENGLAND)

WAS MY HOME.«

A scholarship allowed her to study at a college for art and design. The subsequent employment at the BBC was substantial because then, she got to know her future husband Nigel Kneale. They got married in 1954. Drawing, illustrating, artistic activities increasingly came to the fore and Judith began to draw and to illustrate books on a selfemployed basis.

Initially,

JUDITH

KERR-

KNEALE wrote and illustrated

now-famous children’s books like »MOG THE FORGETFUL CAT« or »THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA« for her own SISTER-MAG.COM

two children. It was them who encouraged her to tell the story of her childhood, her escape and the initial exile. It all lead to the publication of the book »WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT« in 1971. The pink

rabbit toy had to be left behind in Berlin during the escape. It was the first book for young people that authentically gave the younger generation an understanding for the events around 1933 . Until today, Judith Kerr-Kneale writes, draws and illustrates children’s books. She happily lives in London. She considers the events of her escape and the experiences of war a legacy to make use of live, to communicate, to maintain respect for one another. The many difficult but mastered life situations gave her the gift of seeing the world better than it actually is. In an interview

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published in ZEITmagazin on 19 April 2017, she said at the end:

MUSIC

IN 1984, THE SOCIETY FOR EXILE RESEARCH (GESELLSCHAFT FÜR EXILFORSCHUNG E.V.) WAS FOUNDED

»I AM READY TO DIE, OF COURSE. NEVERTHELESS, IT WOULD BE MY DREAM

IN GERMANY TO DEAL WITH THIS ISSUE SCIENTIFICALLY. IF

TO BECOME 95 YEARS

YOU WANT TO BUSY

OLD AND TO FINISH THE PICTURE BOOK I’VE BEEN WORKING ON. I COULD

YOURSELF WITH THIS ISSUE OF OUR TIME, HAVE A LOOK AT THE

SAY THAT I WANT TO

WEBSITE

BECOME 96 BUT I DON’T

.

WANT TO BE GREEDY; 95 WOULD BE ENOUGH.«

People have been living in exile at all times, women, men and children still escape from war and terror today.

The reaction of people living in exile is different. Many of them experience this time as a huge burden but there are people as well who see exile as a chance.

The examples above show that.

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Theresa Neubauer

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