Hen Fercheten

[Slow Worm]

Over two months since the last post!

A bit of light-hearted and OW/YM related trivia – schlager music seems to have reached Wales.

Welsh band Eden have put together clog dancers, a pop background and a traditional song about a woman of mature years intent on remaining single but enjoying the company of young men.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWZ4zUVjHe8&list=RDWWZ4zUVjHe8&start_radio=1

A clumsy translation, which loses some of the expressiveness of Welsh:

An old spinster lost her lover
To get another one was her plan
But there wasn't one of the village boys
Who matched Lisa fach yr Hendre

So the old spinster keeps on trying
All fine in satin lace
But even though every raven finds his mate somewhere
There's no one for Lisa fach yr Hendre

The old spinster's heart is nearly broken
Every one of her old lovers has married
There'll be new potatoes on apple trees
Before Lisa fach yr Hendre will marry

The old spinster went to the Bala Fair
Met Siôn Prys a comely young colt
With words said as they went home
Lisa fach yr Hendre's heart was lightened

SW

 

[ian25]

Thanks for sharing! This song is beautiful. Also, speaking of attractive older women, hello singer!

 

[Slow Worm]

This song is beautiful. Also, speaking of attractive older women, hello singer!

Schlager goes right across the age range. Older performers tend to the pop end of the schlager spectrum.

Andrea Berg is 55: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT2BrbdphJ4

Gitte Haenning is 75: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06KQ5_hej-M

Michelle is a mere 49: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w21PLgLl2mI


The younger performers tend to be a bit closer to schlager’s folk roots.

Marilena Kirchner aged 14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1v8wpScKNI and combining a dirndl, turbo-polka and disco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FiwwTxQ4bg or just bursting with energy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpxkB890tY4 in her late teens.

This amateur clip comes from a occasion when a rock band due on stage were found in their dressing room all too drunk to stand up let alone play, and Marilena, then 16, volunteered to go on and keep the crowd occupied while the MC figured out what to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEgPUpGA1y4


SW

 

[ian25]

Schlager goes right across the age range. Older performers tend to the pop end of the schlager spectrum.

The younger performers tend to be a bit closer to schlager’s folk roots.

It's interesting/cool to me that it works that way. People would assume it would be the opposite and be way wrong

 

[Slow Worm]

It's interesting/cool to me that it works that way. People would assume it would be the opposite and be way wrong

It's logical if you think about it. Huge high-budget concerts like the one in the Andrea Berg clip need a large number of followers with substantial incomes, who will buy the tickets. Looking at the shots of the audience in the clip, there are clearly a lot of fans there who have been listening to Berg since she and they were in their early 20's, thirty-ish years ago. It is as much a fan convention and a nostalgia fest as it is a concert. New young performers can't attract those huge and affluent audiences. They are more likely to be booked by the sorts of venues where the audiences turn out most weeks to see whoever is on, so they appear in smaller, lower-tech (and therefore cheaper) venues, which encourages a lower-key performance style.

Over in the classical sphere, Amira Willighagen is the obvious exception, backed by orchestras whose hourly wage bill doubtless exceeds the costs of staging an Andrea Berg concert, but she really is exceptional all round: aged 10; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9PQ7qPkluM and aged 13;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnl-jEhnf6M


SW