D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... UDK 78.087.6(430Berlin)M1973-2015":314.15 DOI: 10.4312/mz.55.2.79-110 Dorit Klebe Oddelek za glasbo, Univerza umetnosti v Berlinu Department of Music, Berlin University of the Arts Choir Formations (1973-2015) in Berlin - in Connection with Migration/Refugee Movements Ustanavljanje zborov (1973-2015) v Berlinu -v povezavi z migracijo/begunskimi tokovi Prejeto: 8. junij 2019 Sprejeto: 16. avgust 2019 Ključne besede: ustanavljanje zborov, razmerje med manjšino in večino, kreativne oblike samopomoči, glasbeni repertoar, glasbeno kulturne povezave IZVLEČEK Ustanavljanje zborov je predstavljeno v oziru na razmerje med manjšino in večino, zlasti v povezavi s socialnimi in glasbenimi dejavniki. Poudarek je na kreativnih oblikah samopomoči in glasbeno kulturnih povezavah, kakor se zrcalijo v glasbenem repertoarju in kažejo na osnovi analize strukturnih in oblikovnih elementov posameznih pesmi. Received: 8th June 2019 Accepted: 16th August 2019 Keywords: choir formations, minority-majority relations, creative forms of self-help, music repertoire, music cultural interactions ABSTRACT Two choir formations are featured in connection with minority-majority relations, under socially and music related aspects. The focus lies on creative forms of self-help and on music cultural interactions as reflected in the music repertoire and elaborated through analyzing structure and building elements of single music pieces. 79 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 1. Introduction1 As part of research on Urban Ethnomusicology and Diaspora Research, especially in Berlin since 1971, the author has examined in particular the music cultures that have developed within the communities of migrants from Turkey. On migrant and diaspora issues Bruno Nettl says: "One relevant area of study is the musical cultures of immigrant societies compared with the traditional homeland, a type of study fifty years earlier but now a standard, often labeled with the catchword 'diasporas'."2 Within this framework of studies, the author put emphasis on choral traditions and has documented about 20 German-Turkish choirs of different categories,3 partly for longer periods, with a focus on concerts of the performance cycle fastl.4 Her field research was extended on to new developments after the flood of refugees which began in 2015. They emerged from the cooperation of people from the majority society with refugees and additionally from multi-ethnic mass singing movements in public spaces, such as "Sing along, Berlin!". It is worth noting that such an old structure as the choir - an original, cultural-anthropological phenomenon -until today has an effective power of integration in regard to modern choir formations. This contribution presents two Berlin choirs, the Batiberlin i§gi Korosu (Westberlin Working-class Choir)5 and the Begegnungschor e. V.6 (Encounter Choir registered association). Batiberlin i§gi Korosu (BiK) was founded in 1973, its last concert dates from 1986, and the last record had been released in 1986, too. No official date of a dissolution of the choir is known. We may only assume that it does not exist anymore. Begegnungschor (BC) was founded recently in 2015. Both are mixed (male and female voice) choirs with instrumental accompaniment. Singers of both choirs are mostly amateurs, rarely semiprofessionals; the instrumentalists are semiprofessional up to professional musicians. The choirmasters of both choirs are professionally trained. In historical view, each choir will be classified in the frame of the general development of the choral system in Germany, especially Berlin. Regarding their date of formation, both choirs represent two quite different epochs. Each choir is differing from the other in relation to its position within its community as well as in relation and interaction with the majority society. Batiberlin i§gi Korosu (BiK) was a relatively isolated hermetic group, in some respects a minority within a minority. Some members had agitational conceptions, engaged themselves politically in matters of the working class. The choir sang in Turkish, accompanied 1 Unless otherwise stated, all translations from German to English, Turkish to German, Turkish to English and all transcriptions are by the author Dorit Klebe. 2 Bruno Nettl, The Study of Ethnomusicology. Thirty-one Issues and Concepts, 2nd ed. (Urbana, Springfield and Chicago: The University of Illinois Press, 2005), 72. 3 The author elaborates her field recordings for publication. 4 A compound suite-like concert form of the traditional Ottoman-Turkish courtly music, containing instrumental and vocal-instrumental oeuvres, on the basis of the musical features makam and usul. It is still performed until today, of course having undergone several changes. 5 In this article, the Turkish name of the choir is used; in addition, the choir called itself also Türkischer Arbeiterchor Westberlin (Turkish Working-class Choir Westberlin). 6 The addition "e.V." is an abbreviation for "eingetragener Verein" (registered association) and is only indicated in this article when it is first mentioned in the context of a name. This practice will be applied in this article also when naming further associations. The term "e.V." is a fixed expression and the term "Verein" (association) in its abbrevition by the letter "V" in this context cannot be exchanged by the term "society" (Gesellschaft). 80 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... by an instrumental ensemble of non-Turkish and some Turkish musicians; they played on "western instruments", as well as traditional Turkish instruments like the long-necked lute saz. The Turkish-speaking choir members were mostly workers, some were students, partly politically involved. Begegnungschor (BC) is non-ideological, with cosmopolitan musical views and referring to "world music", multiethnic and multilingual music. Access to research was made easier for the author by the fact that she knows the leaders of both choirs from her studies (2nd half of the 1960s) and her lectureship (2000-2013) at the Berlin University of the Arts (formerly Hochschule der Künste). The study is also affected by the author's experiences as a choral soloist.7 The following elaborations will discuss some socially and music related aspects by means of comparing the functioning of both choirs with the emphasis on the selection of the repertoire. Further, a focus of the research lies on questioning, to what extent the chorus structures are fixed or open to socio-political changes. And in what way this is expressed in the repertoire or in individual pieces of music. The research also reveals the reasons and purposes of choir foundations. Further on, questions are raised whether chorus formation could contribute to identity building and has integration-promoting functions or even re-integrating aims for a return to their home country in future. Through the choir models represented by the two choirs and the basic principles for the applied models, the following will be explored: the "self-help/supported-help principle" and the "tandem partner principle", as well as their effects on the stability of the choirs' existence and duration will be evaluated. Further issues of the article are the musical approach to the internal and external relationship between migrants/refugees and majority society as well as tracing of the forms of reception by majority society. In regard to the music related aspects the focus lies on examination and comparation of repertoire formation (i.e. mixing of songs of the countries of origin as well as the ones from the majority society) and to what extent the repertoire has widened and enriched the music culture of the majority society. In this context transcultural interactions are investigated underlining change processes and mutual interactions like permeations and amalgamations of the respective poetical and musical elements: in the poem's structure, its embedding in the traditional Turkish folk literature, the formal structure of the stanzas in relation to musical sections, metric-rhythmic structuring, melodic/harmonic basis, choral performance forms of unisono, multi-part and heterophonic singing as well as instrumental accompaniments with monophonic versus heterophonic sections. Furthermore, the individual style of composers/arrangers will be thematized. 2. The Term "Chor", English: "Choir"/"Chorus" Choral singing is a global-wide phenomenon. The term "Chor" had taken different meanings at different times since antiquity. The term "Chor" (English: "choir"/"chorus") is 7 E.g.. she was a member of the Berlin oratorio and concert choir Fritz Weisse and solo and chorus singer in the musical "Hair" (Berlin of the 1970s). Furthermore, she functioned as a choir director of, also mixed German-Turkish, school/student/teacher choirs, in the subject-specific education of Turkish teachers in a model experiment (TÜLL) of the Berlin Senate, and as an Assistant Professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. 81 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 - besides choral singing - used in music-related contexts like for music theory, for many part instrumentation, the choral work to be performed, only to name some. Further attributions of meaning can be found in areas like architecture, theater, dance (especially round dances). Rather, this paper focuses on choral singing in German-speaking countries and especially the city of Berlin. Documentary references about choir singing in the sacral context mention already in 1465 five Singeknaben (boy singers), appointed by the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich II at the Berlin cathedral.8 From the 18th century, there is to mention an event that developed especially for the emergence of mixed choirs with a predominantly secular repertoire in the bourgeois milieu: the foundation of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin (1791). The choir took a unique position as an independent musical institution. At that time, an early form of singer associations emerged, which can be seen as precursors of today's associations. The use of the German term "Chor" in this contribution is based on today's colloquial usage in Germany. It generally means „eine Gruppe von Singenden, die in verschiedenster Besetzung (Kinder-,...Manner-, Frauen-, gemischer Chor...u.s.w.), ein - oder mehrstimmig ohne Begleitung oder mit Instrumenten singen kann"9 (a group of singers, who can perform in a variety of types (children's-,...male-, female-, mixed choir etc.) either in unisono or in many parts without accompaniment or with instruments). Both choir forms, those who mainly perform a sacral and those who mainly perform a secular repertoire, call themselves choir. A distinction between "choir" and "chorus", as it is often made in English-speaking countries,10 is not common in Germany. However, the use of the term "chorus" quite often occurs e.g. in connection with "musicals". Choirs of migrant communities mostly use in their names the term for choir that is common in their homeland, e.g. "koro", as contained in the name of Batiberlin i§gi Korosu for communities from Turkey. 2.1. Short Remarks on the Musical Life in Germany after the end of World War II Ordinary life in Germany at that time was first dominated by survival strategies and attempts of rebuilding, reconstructions of cities. Only two weeks after the capitulation, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra improvised its first concert.11 In 1949, the two German states that were characterized by different political conceptions were established. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) aligned itself towards international developments. In the rapidly developing FRG economy, there was a need for labour force. From the beginning of the 1950s "guest workers" migrated to West Germany mainly from Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia. The migrants performed in the beginning predominantly their own music. Communities from Turkey, the largest 8 Kai-Uwe Jirka and Dietmar Schenk, eds., Berliner Jungs singen - seit 550Jahren (Beeskow: Ortus, 2015), 11. Today's Staatsund Domchor Berlin, a boy choir, derives its origin from the five boy singers (1465). 9 Walter Blankenburg, "Chor und Chormusik," Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 2nd ed., Sachteil vol. 2 (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1995): 766-774, 776-777. 10 See Smith, James G., and Percy M. Young, "Chorus(i)," In Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2001, accessed July 18, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05684. 11 On May 26, 1945, at the Titania Palast Berlin playing the 4th Symphony of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 82 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... migrant population in Germany and especially in Berlin (West), developed a limited, but rich cultural life. Choral formations were established among these communities in the 1970s (we have only sparse documents from the time before). The German Democratic Republic (GDR) was looking for contact with the socialist, brother countries. "So-called contract workers from communist countries, the Eastern bloc, the Balkans, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, were employed from 1965 to 1990 to work for limited periods of time in East Germany. Little is known about the private activities of these workers and to what extent they maintained their musical cultures."12 2.2. After the Reunion in 1990: Choir Statistics and New Developments Data on the musical life in Germany after the reunion of the two German States was collected between 2004 and 2008 by Deutscher Musikrat, gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH (German Music Council, non-profit project society Ltd). The publication Musical Life in Germany. Structure, facts and figures13 informs us on choir organisations. Among amateur singers "the 55,000 choruses organized in registered associations include 22,000 secular ensembles, most of which are found in the German Choral Association. Some 33,000 belong to Germany's two major (Catholic and Evangelical) churches".14 Choirs of minority groups are not included in this Germany-wide inventory. And the 2019 subsequent edition Musikleben in Deutschland does only marginally consider choirs of migrant communities.15 According to the Chorverband Berlin e. V. (Choir Association Berlin registered association), there are an estimated 1500 choirs in Berlin, single-sex or mixed, from professional, semi-professional up to amateur choirs of different style orientations.16 Since probably only those choirs are listed, which have organized themselves as registered associations, it is unclear whether church choirs and choirs of migrant communities were taken into account or not. We can also assume that autochthonous minorities - some of whom live in Germany for many hundreds of years, and which were officially recognized by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997 - nowadays also have a lively choir life. But there are hardly any researches or statistics. For one of the autochthonous minorities - the people of the Lusatian Sorbs -, having migrated around 600 AD to East Elbia, we can refer to the publication of Rosemary Statelova.17 12 Dorit Klebe, "Germany: Modern and Contemporary Performance Practice," in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture, ed. Janet Sturman, vol. III (Washington: SAGE Publishing, 2019), 1002. 13 Deutscher Musikrat, gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH, Deutsches Musikinformationszentrum eds., Musical Life in Germany. Structure, facts andfigures (Bonn: Deutscher Musikrat gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH, 2011). 14 Ibid., 98-99. 15 Astrid Reimers, "Amateurmusizieren," inMusiklebenin Deutschland, eds. Deutscher Musikrat, gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH, Deutsches Musikinformationszentrum (Bonn: Deutscher Musikrat gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH, Deutsches Musikinformationszentrum 2019), 182-83. 16 See "Mehr als 1500 Chöre freuen sich über Mitsänger," accessed May 1, 2018, https://www.morgenpost.de/familie/ article104911001/Mehr-als-1500-Choere-in-Berlin-freuen-sich-ueber-Mitsaenger.html. 17 Rosemary Statelova, Musikalische Begegnungen bei den Sorben. Aktuelle Musikpraktiken einer ethnischen Minderheit (Bautzen: Domowina Verlag, 2013), 70, 90. 83 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 With the refugee wave since summer 2015, refugees came from countries/regions like Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North and Black African regions to Germany to apply for asylum. In 2015, there had arrived about one million refugees, and in October there lived already about 70,000 of them in Berlin. The refugees, in Berlin and also generally in Germany, differ from minority communities in so far as they fled as single individuals - even in adolescent age - and after that many formed small communities during their migration route. Or they came with small communities as existed already in country of origin, like families, family-like groups. In regard to their religious affiliations, it can be assumed that a large part of the group is of Muslim faith (Sunnites and Shiites), smaller groups are of other religious affiliations, among them Syriac Christians e.g. from Syria, or the ethnic/religious group of the Yezidis. Exact statistics are missing so far. 3. The Batiberlin Ij^i Korosu (W^stberlin Working-Class Choir) and the Begegnungschor (Encounter Choir): Comparative Study of Socially and Music Related Aspects 3.1. Social/Life-Practical Matters, Creative Forms of Self-Help Below, the charitable, nonprofit or beneficial aspects as well as administration, management, purposes, objectives and social encounters of the choirs will be pointed out. 3.1.1. Initiatives for the Formation of the Choirs Initiators for the establishing of BÍK were a group of workers under the leadership of the musician and composer Tahsin Incirci (born in 1938). He studied first in Ankara (Turkey) at the Gazi Egitim Enstitüsü (Gazi Institute for Education), with Eduard Zuc-kmayer18 who had founded the music branch of the Teacher's College in 1938 and was its director until 1970. In the 1960s, Tahsin came to West Germany through a DAAD scholarship, studied violin (Siegfried Borries), choral conducting and composition at the Musikhochschule Berlin (Berlin Academy of Music). After a stay in Turkey from 1969, he returned to Berlin around 1971/72 and taught violin at the State Music School. Furthermore, he arranged 23 Turkish folk songs for two violins, published in 1972.19 Since 2000 he has also re-arranged some of his arrangements of 23 Turkish folk songs, now for solo voice, violin and piano. The author Klebe recorded two concerts in which Incirci's daughter Asli Incirci performed the vocal part and Tahsin himself played the violin part accompanied by a German piano player.20 Incirci later turned his attention 18 Eduard Zuckmayer, brother of Carl Zuckmayer, lived 1890-1972. He was a German pedagogue, composer, conductor, choir leader, pianist. Because of an occupational ban under the Nazi dictatorship, he had emigrated to Turkey in 1936. 19 Tahsin Incirci, 23 Violin-Duos über türkische Volksweisen (Berlin [West]: Robert-Lienau Verlag, 1972). 20 The re-arrangement of one of the 23 folk songs, the türkü Daldalan, was recorded on August 1, 2000, Berlin Academy of Arts by Dorit Klebe (signature: K 2000/3). See also in Dorit Klebe, "Music of Sephardic Jews and Almancilar Turks," in Music and Minorities, eds. Svanibor Pettan, Adelaida Reyes, and Masa Komavec (Ljubljana: ZRC Publishing, 2001), 283-84. 84 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... to the Klasik Türk Müzigi21 (Turkish art music), became leader of the choir Berlin Klasik Müzik Dernegi (Society for Classical Music Berlin). Klebe recorded a choir's concert at the Berlin Congress Hall, 3 June 2000.22 Begegnungschor (BC) is a cooperation project of the Leadership Berlin - Netzwerk Verantwortung e. V. (Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility registered associations3 in collaboration with Chorverband Berlin. In October 2015, Michael Betzner-Brandt and Bastian Holze founded the Begegnungschor. Artistic directors are the bandleader Michael Betzner-Brandt24 and the choir leader Bastian Holze.25 Michael Betzner-Brandt (*1972) was Lecturer at the Berlin University of the Arts from 2000 to 2016. His concept Chor kreativ: Singen ohne Noten (Choir creative: singing without notes) made him internationally renowned in the 2000s. In the fall of 2003, he founded the Fabulous Fridays - the Jazz Pop Choir of the University of the Arts. In 2011, he invented the Ich-kann-nicht-singen-Chor (I-cannot-sing-choir). Bastian Holze is founder (together with Dr. Thomas Busch) and director of TOTAL CHORAL, an annual Berlin Pop and Jazz festival and B Vocal - the house of vocal art, an a-cappella Pop Floor.26 Both, Michael Betzner-Brandt and Bastian Holze, arrange songs of different cultural origins for BC choir and band and, with their versatile improvisational and creative approaches, manage to ensure that all those involved lose their fear of contact and shyness towards strangers. In 2018, Lydia Griese - a former student at the Berlin University of the Arts - played the violin part in the instrumental ensemble of the BC - was also Managing Board member. 3.1.2. Models for Choirs As models for the choirs BiK and BC several principles can be observed. These are the "self-help principle", the "supported-help principle" and the "tandem partner principle". The self-help principle means that the self-help activities come from the inside of the choir and rely on the members itself. Self-help, also "Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe" (Help for self-help), is supposed to empower people to help themselves. This includes receiving help but also passing it on, meaning a continuous learning process for the participants. In relation to the sociopolitical situation and development in (Western) Germany in the 1970s, the BiK wanted to give its members assistance in raising awareness of one's own position in the social system, "to fight for their rights, to be proud of their work".27 It can be seen as a self-recognition process. 21 The term Klasik Türk Müzigi (also called f.i. Türk Klasik Müzik) can comprise contemporary Turkish art music, partly using Western many part composition techniques, as well as - in the meaning here - the heritage of the former traditional Ottoman-Turkish courtly music. See also footnote 4. 22 The concert was partly recorded by Dorit Klebe (signature: K 2000/5). 23 Founded in autumn 2011. See "Leadership Berlin - Netzwerk Verantwortung e.V.," accessed August 14, 2018, http://leadership-berlin.de/. 24 For further information see Begegnungschor, "Menschen," accessed May 2, 2018, http://begegnungschor.com/menschen/. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27 Edda Brandes, Dieter Hauer und Marcella Hoffmann, "Der türkische Arbeiterchor in West-Berlin," in Musikalische .Streiflichter einer Großstadt - gesammelt in West-Berlin von Studenten der Vergleichenden Musikwissenschaft, ed. Max Peter Baumann (Berlin: Fachrichtung Vergleichende Musikwissenschaft des FB 14 der Freien Universität Berlin, 1979), 81. 85 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 The supported-help principle differentiates between the self-help principle in so far as the supported help comes from outside the choir, mostly in form of financial support e.g. by institutions, the government, organs of the state, more seldom private sponsors. The eingetragener Verein -e. V. (registered association) plays an important role, is indispensable for the application of support. Because not being a registered association, the BiK did not get any financial support by the government. The BC as a registered association can profit from supported help. The tandem28 partner principle applied for the Begegnungschor consists of a membership constellation in such a way that a member of majority society (a "long-established Berliner") brings a refugee ("New Berliner") into the choir. Thus, the choir has created a new way or new form to link people together in order to correspond to current social needs and new forms of community. Through the musical encounter at choir rehearsals, the choir members establish contacts with each other. They create a network which supports the choir members on both sides: e.g. they help each other finding a flat or a job, provide translations, assistance for visiting the authorities or joint concert visits. Other Choirs as Models In the two Germanies of the 1970s, the situation for workers-singers movements was different. In the FRG, in connection with the student movements from the 1968s, there isolated choir foundations took place in the sense of working-class choirs. These choirs existed more in the students' and not in workers' environments. In the GDR, there were few workers choir formations, not comparable to the situation of the workers in Germany before 1933.29 In West Berlin, we can find two choir formations in 1973. The founding of the Hanns Eisler Chor Berlin - Ensemble für neue Chormusik e. V. (Hanns Eisler Choir Berlin -Ensemble for new choral music registered association) on 6 July 1973, was the result of a long (music) political development. It has been inspired by the idea of using choral singing "to set in motion political and aesthetic learning processes, with a 'music that generates, activates attitudes', a music that can move."30 The second choir foundation was the Batiberlin i§gi Korosu, which today does not exist anymore. Today's Ernst Busch Chor Berlin e. V. (Ernst Busch Chor Berlin registered association), was first founded in East Berlin (GDR) on April 18, 1973 as Chor der Berliner Parteiveteranen (Choir of the Berlin party veterans) with approval and support of the District administration Berlin of the SED.31 In 1983, the name of the singer and actor Ernst Busch was added, becoming Chor der Berliner Parteiveteranen 'Ernst Busch'. When the end of the GDR was foreseeable in 1990, the choir changed into Veteranenchor Ernst Busch 28 The term "tandem" is used e.g. in the context of learning languages, see "What is Tandem?" last modified Mar 23, 2019, accessed September 23, 2019, https://www.sprachenzentrumhu-berlin.de/en/independent-study/tandem/was-ist-tandem?set_language=en. 29 See Inge Lammel, Arbeiterlied, Arbeitergesang (Teetz: Hentrich, 2002), 72-114. 30 The citation (translated to English) follows Internationale Hanns Eisler Gesellschaft (IHEG) e. V., ed., "Chorgeschichte," EislerMitteilungen 59 (April 2015): 22. See also "Hanns Eisler-Chor Berlin - Ensemble für neue Chormusik e.V.," accessed April 23, 2019, https://www.hanns-eisler-chor-berlin.de/. 31 SED= Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany). 86 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... (Veteran choir Emst Busch), registered as an association, e.V. From 1991, after the reunion of the two Germanies, they sing under Ernst Busch Chor Berlin e.V..32 A choir foundation, which took care of the refugees in 2015 as well, and has similar objectives comparable to the Begegnungschor, is the Kölner Willkommenschor (Cologne Welcome Choir).33 The model for its founding however is unclear. Further Models The idea and motto34 of the non-profit organization Leadership Berlin - Network Responsibility "Begegne dem anderen" (Meet the other) was taken up by the Begegnungschor. The verb "meet" means in German "begegnen", thus being the basis for the choir's name Begegnungschor. Help came also from the Chorverband Berlin providing their knowledge of setting up a choir. The BC is based, on the one hand, on a tradition of "open singing", a musical phenomenon which has a long and varied history in Germany. This tradition relates to singing movements in churches, or among movements of the youth, e.g. Jugendbewegung, Bündische Jugend. Since 2011, on the other hand, increasingly open singing formations and sing along choirs in public space can be observed.35 3.1.3. Purpose and Objectives The activities of the BiK aim a step forward towards joint actions that could be the union of workers' organizations, union membership. Another concern is to maintain the cultural bond with the homeland. The choir's objective is also - in connection with re-integration of returnees - a contribution to a social-political change in the homeland, in order to open a possibility for the workers to return to Turkey, for example by creating new job opportunities. For the Leadership Berlin, Susanne Kappe,36 underlines that the members (volunteers and refugees) of the BC are meeting and thus constantly learning from and with each other. Everyone can actively contribute. Singing connects people, communicates a sense of community and offers access to language and culture. In this way, BC is contributing to the integration of refugees. 32 "Ernst Busch Choir cultivates the tradition of the workers-singers movement, which has its roots in the liberation struggles of previous centuries and in the year 1908 when the Workers' Singing Association was founded [...] The choir is committed to the artistic and humanistic work of this great artist-personality. [...] Like him, we cultivate the tradition of the workers-singers movement". For all citations, see the website of the choir. "Ernst Busch Chor Berlin e.V.," last modified March 29, 2019, accessed April 23, 2019, https://www.ernstbuschchorberlin.de/. 33 Kölner Willkommenchor existed from September 10, 2015 to February 21, 2019, see "Kölner Willkommenschor," accessed April 24, 2019, https://integration.miz.org/koelner-willkommenschor-k40461. Reasons for its dissolvation are not known. 34 The Leadership Berlin explains his motto the following: "[...] that in its training programs and projects [it] brings together numbers of executives from the business, public and non-profit sectors, who then work together on the social dimension of leadership responsibility." ("Über uns - Idee begegne dem anderen," accessed August 14, 2018, http://leadership-berlin.de/idee/.) 35 For example "Rudelsingen" (horde singing) - a cult format of singing along in communities, see "Rudelsingen," accessed April 18, 2019, https://rudelsingen.de/. 36 The explanations of Susanne Kappe (Project Coordinator) are shortened by the author Klebe. Full text, see http://www. berlinerratschlagfuerdemokratie.de/projekte/begegnungschor-berliner-singen-mit-gefluechteten/, accessed May 1, 2018 . 87 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 3.1.4. Conditions for Membership and Membership Structure A precondition for membership at BiK is the social position as a worker. The BiK members consists from about 90% workers, the remaining part are students. No previous musical knowledge is necessary. The tandem partner principle of the BC requires the so-called membership admission, meaning that a member of the majority society brings a refugee into the choir. The members of the majority society are often volunteering in refugee work. Some of the older generation have similar experience, as they have been refugees after the end of the Second World War. For this choir, also no previous musical knowledge is necessary. 3.2. Music-Related Aspects The focus is on the evaluation of the sources in order to examine to what extent the material is significant. Batiberlin i§gi Korosu and Begegnungschor are represented by their song repertoire as being performed in concerts to an audience in public, or live recordings of concerts and studio shots on disks. The main part of this section will be the description of the repertoire, the construction of the programs, and the classification of the songs, supplemented by details of performance structures, performers, instrumentation. Some insights are given on the reception by the majority society. 3.2.1. The Choirs' Performances, Programs, Repertoires During the years 1973-1986 BiK gave several concerts, solo concerts or concerts with other choirs, and published several records.37 To mention some of the concerts:38 one in front of the exhibition building Bethanienhaus on the occasion of the exhibition Mehmet Berlin'de - Mehmet kommt aus Anatolien (Mehmet in Berlin - Mehmet comes from Anatolia) in Berlin-Kreuzberg in 1975.39 Second, it is necessary to highlight a joint concert of the Batiberlin isgi Korosu with the Hanns Eisler Choir. It was devoted to the poet Nazim Hikmet,40 it took place in the Audimax of the Berlin Technical University in 1977. The third to name is the participation of the BiK at the 11th Festival of Political Song 1981 in East Berlin. Among the performers was e.g. the Chor der Berliner Parteiveteranen based in East Berlin.41 37 See Discography. 38 It is unclear if any sound documents exist. 39 Subproject of the "Berliner Festwochen" celebrating its 25th anniversary. Kreuzberg is a district of Berlin with a high percentage of German-Turkish inhabitants. 40 More information about the poet, see section 4.1 ff. 41 Which took the name Ernst Busch Chor Berlin after the reunion of the two Germanies. 88 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... Figure 1a and 1b: Batiberlin isgi Korosu in concert at the Audimax of the Berlin Technical University, 15 November 1977 (© by the Henschel-Fotobestand, FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum).42 Three records can be useful as sound sources for the study of the repertoire. The first is "i§ci §arkilari ve mar§lari" (released in 1974), the second is "Bang ve gurbet türküleri -Lieder für den Frieden und Lieder aus der Fremde" (released in 1979) and the third one is "Wenn die Feinde mächtig sind... : Chöre live" (released in 1980).43 There is a further record (released in 1986), but it is not taken into account here because it contains mainly traditional Turkish folk songs and folk dance tunes, thus greatly differing from the song repertoire from the years 1974, 1979, 1980. Ela Gezen has analyzed the record "i§ci §arkilari ve mar§lari" in her article "The Soundtrack of Migration: Tahsin Incirci and the Türkischer Arbeiterchor West Berlin". In the chapter Sound of Solidarity she foregrounds three songs. Two of them are based on the song texts by Bertold Brecht/Hanns Eisler which are originally in German and were translated for the performance into Turkish. The third one is a song based on a traditional epic tale about Kerem and Asli. Ela Gezen sees the innovativeness of the BiK in the musical settings of poems written by the Turkish writer Nazim Hikmet. She stated that "they transformed traditionally solo and male-dominated repertoires into choral repertoires [...]".44 She furthermore sums up in her conclusion that Tahsin Incirci through his musical settings of Turkish poems, "accentuates the mutual interactions of Turkish and German traditions, which he illustrates by his creation of something new that draws on both traditions".45 Demonstrations of the interactions between Turkish and German traditions through music and its structures are unfortunately missing in this article. The second source comprises the repertoire of the LP Pläne 88196, titled "Bang ve gurbet türküleri - Lieder für den Frieden und Lieder aus der Fremde" (Songs for Freedom and Songs from Abroad). Performers of this studio recording from 197946 are the 42 I am grateful to the Museum Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (Berlin) for providing me with the copyright for these photos (numbered B01_0149_23 and B01_0149_24). 43 See Discography. 44 Ela Eylem Gezen, "The Soundtrack of Migration: Tahsin Incirci and the Türkischer Arbeiterchor West Berlin," Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur 24, no. 2 (2010): 121. Remark of the author Klebe: Already from the 1930s onwards, Turkish composers, educated in Western composition techniques, set songs to be sung traditionally as solo into music for many-part choirs. See Hayrettin Akdemir, Die neue türkische Musik: dargestellt an Volksliedbearbeitungen für mehrstimmigen Chor (Berlin: Hitit, 1991). 45 Ibid., 128. 46 LP, Pläne 88196, see Discography. 89 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 solo singer Sümeyra47 and the BiK accompanied by an instrumental band; the leader is Tahsin Incirci. On side A, Sümeyra sings mostly alternating with the choir. The songs on side B are sung solo by Sümeyra with instrumental accompaniment. The third source for research is a recording of a live performance of the BiK in 1980, LP Pläne 88 240, titled "Wenn die Feinde mächtig sind ...: Chöre live" (If the enemies are powerful ...: choirs live). The BiK is represented by two songs. Further choirs performing at this concert recording were for example: Bert Brecht Chor Essen, Ernst Busch Chor Kiel, Bremer Chor Die Zeitgenossen and Hanns Eisler Chor Berlin.48 Figure 2: Record's label of the LP Pläne 88196, Side A (© Dorit Klebe). As documented in Table 1, the repertoire of the BiK examined for this contribution consists of twelve music pieces, arranged/composed by Tahsin Incirci. For the author's detailed investigation of the song "Asker Kagagi" is taken into account, see section 4.1. Remark: "Asker Kagagi" is Incirci's musical setting of the poem "Köyün evleri..." (of the Turkish poet Näzim Hikmet). The song was part of a concert at the International Congress-Centrum Berlin 1980. Though the choir sang the song in Turkish, the title is presented on the label (Pläne 88240) in German: "Der Deserteur" (The Deserter) instead of "Asker Kagagi". 47 Sümeyra ^akir (1946-1990), had studied Western Music Voice Training at the Istanbul Music Conservatory. 48 See Discography. 90 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... Repertoire of the Batiberlin i§çi Korosu (Westberlin Working-class Choir) LP Pläne 88196, 1979 "Bari§ ve gurbet türküleri - Lieder für den Frieden und Lieder aus der Fremde" (Songs for Freedom and Songs from Abroad) Studio recording Performer: Solo singer Sümeyra and Batiberlin i§gi Korosu with instrumental ensemble Music and choir-/bandlea-der: Tahsin Incirci Side A (1) "El kapilari" (Foreign Doors), lyrics: H.H. Korkmazgil (2) "Ate§giler türküsü" (The Song of the Stoker), lyrics: Ya§ar Mirag (3) "Dursun kaptan" (Captain Dursun), "Halk Türküsü" (Folk song), lyrics: traditional/ Sadettin Kaynak (4) "Bari§ türküsü" (Peace Song), lyrics: Rezul Riza Side B "Nazim Hikmet'in §iirleri üzerine Türküler" (Songs on poems of Nazim Hikmet) (1) "Varna türküleri -Burda Yesil Biber, Dikili ta§lar, Sofra" (Three Varna Songs - Green Pepper, Standing Stones, Table) (2) "Japon balikgisi" (The Japanese fisherman) (3) "Kizgocugu" (Little Girl) (4) "Hürriyet Kavgasi" (Fight for Freedom) LP Pläne 88240, 1980 "Wenn die Feinde mächtig sind... : Chöre live" (If the enemies are powerful ...: choirs live) Concert recording. Compilation of several choirs on the record, as "Bert Brecht Chor Essen", "Ernst Busch Chor Kiel", "Bremer Chor Die Zeitgenossen", "Hanns Eisler Chor Berlin" and "Batiber-lin i§gi Korosu". Batiberlin i§gi Korosu with instrumental ensemble perform two songs. Choir-/bandlea-der is Tahsin Incirci. Side A (7) "Der Deserteur" (The deserter), lyrics: Nazim Hikmet, music: Tahsin Incirci Remark: Title of the song "Asker Kagagi" on the Pläne label in German: "Der Deserteur"; the choir sings the original version in Turkish. Side B (1) "Lass mich heiraten, Vater, sonst brenne ich Dein Haus ab" (Let me me get married, father, otherwise I will burn down your house), lyrics: traditional, music: Tahsin Incirci Remark: see above, title on the label in German, choir sings in Turkish. Table 1: The repertoire of the BlK, a selection from the records: LP Pläne 88196 and LP Pläne 88240. 91 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 Figure 3a and 3b: sing-along concert of the BC, 25 May 2018; a. The choir with its choir leader Bastian Holze; b. the instrumental ensemble with its bandleader Michael Betzner-Brandt at the piano (© Dorit Klebe). Although the BC is a very young choir, it has already had about 70 performances since its foundation in 2015 (as of April 2019). They perform choral concerts on various occasions, such as charity concerts, community concerts with other choirs (such as the Chamber Singers of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, USA), run workshops with concerts, perform sing-along concerts in social clubs, such as the Nachbarschaftshaus Friedenau (Neighborhood House Friedenau49), Telefonseelsorge Berlin e. V. (Telephone Pastoral Care registered association) and other foundations, like Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH (Robert Bosch Foundation Ltd.), and also at summer festivals (like school festivals). Furthermore, they perform at political and social events, such as ceremonies in the Federal President's Office, awards, such as an integration award, to the opening of action weeks, e.g. against antisemitism, racism. Since 2016, the performances have spread beyond the Berlin area to other cities, such as Rheinsberg, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund. The following three concerts are considered exemplary by many: 1. the Flashmob50 "Ode an die Freude" - Ausstellung Erlebnis Europa der Europäischen Kommission (Exhibition European Experience of the European Commission) at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, 14 May 2016,51 2. a concert in Hamburg "Wir singen heute alle zusammen!" (We All Sing Together Today!), together with the International Mandolin Orchestra "SOL", at the Foyer of Hamburg Central Station on 28 October 2018, 3. a sing-along concert of the BC with neighbors and guests in the Nachbarschaftshaus Friedenau, Berlin, on 25 May 2018. The titles and some background information on the lyrics were given to the audience by the choirmaster. The lyrics were projected onto the wall with a projector. The sing-along concert program consisted of fifteen songs, see Table 2, and section 3.2.2. 49 Friedenau is a district of Berlin. 50 A flashmob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails, see "Flashmob," Wikipedia, accessed July 31, 2019, https:// en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flash_mob&oldid=902269281. 51 Flashmob "Ode an die Freude", Brandenburg Gate Berlin, May 14, 2016, for an audio example see "Flashmob 'Ode an die Freude'," accessed August 14, 2018. http://begegnungschor.com/videos/. 92 D. KLEBE • CHOIR FORMATIONS (1973-2015) IN BERLIN... Program of the Mitsingkonzert beim Fest der Nachbarn (Sing-along concert at the Festival of neighbors) at the Nachbarschaftshaus Friedenau (Neighborhood House Friedenau), Holsteinische Straße 30, 12161 Berlin-Friedenau, May 25, 2018 Performer: Begegnungschor with instrumental ensemble Choirleader: Bastian Holze, Bandleader: Michael Betzner-Brandt. Guest singer: Sonja Poland (1) "Wir singen heute alle zusammen..." (Today we sing altogether), anonym (2) "Hallo Nachbar, Sidi Mahzur" (Hallo, neighbour), anonym, lyrics in German and Arabic (3) "Lamma bada yatathanna... " (When she appeared, my lissome love...), from the Masriq, lyrics and melody are anonym52 (4) "Komma zamma, na samma mehra" (Come together, then we will become more), anonym, lyrics in Bavarian dialect, with guest singer Sonja Poland from Bavaria (5) Ludwig van Beethoven: "Ode an die Freude", lyrics by Friedrich von Schiller (6) "Nassam alayna El-hawa" (The air breezed upon us), from the Libanon, well known and popular song by the Lebanese singer Feyrouz (7) "Jannie Mama", traditional from Jamaika (8) "Mensch« (Human being); lyrics and music by Herbert Grönemeyer (9) "Musik ist meins, Musik ist deins... "(Music is mine, music is yours), anonym, with guest singer Sonja Poland from Bavaria (10) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (Erster Satz, Ausschnitt), instrumental (11) "Die Gedanken sind frei" (Thoughts are free), traditional, German-speaking folk song (12) "Labkhand" (Das Lächeln), anonym, from Persia (13) "Liebeslied" (Love song), lyrics and music by Bodo Wartke, multilingual lyrics in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Finish; (14) "Bi na mo", traditional from Africa (15) "We want peace", lyrics by Lenny Kravitz, music by Lenny Kravitz, Kadim Al Sahir. Remark: The program was documented in written form during the concert by the author, who added supplementing informations partly given by the choirmaster to the choir and the audience during the concert. The choir sang fifteen titles with a pause between the eighth and ninth song. During the pause the author could talk to some of the refugees from Syria on their situation in Berlin and also on their knowledge about the music of their home country. Table 2:. The program53 of the sing-along concert oof the BC, 25 May 2018. 52 Refering to Habib Hassan Touma - the lyrics belong to the genre muwassah. "The term muwassah refers not only to a poetic form, as used in the andalusi nuba [a suite-like large form composed of vocal and instrumental pieces], but also in the [Arab] East, a separate vocal art genre of the Arabs, basing on a poem genre of the same name". Following Touma, lyrics and melody are anonym. As shaping features he indicates nahawand for the maqam and samz 1 taqil (10/8) for the metro-rhythmic structure wazn. See Touma, Musik der Araber, 117-120. Music notation, 119-120. 53 The source are handwritten field notes by the author Klebe. 93 MUZIKOLOSKI ZBORNIK * MUSICOLOGICAL ANNUAL LV/2 3.2.2. The Selection and Structure of the Repertoire, Performance, Performers and Instrumentations The repertoires of both choirs consist of songs that are sung chorally with occasional solo performances and accompanied by instruments. These are songs that have been passed on in aural/oral or written tradition. For the choir performance, most of the songs have been arranged or more rarely set to music at least in parts. Furthermore, they got a frame of pre-, inter-, and postludes and/or additional composed parts. The lyrics can be classified as belonging to folk literature in its broadest sense. Classical poem forms are infrequent, exceptions are e.g. "Ode an die Freude" (Friedrich von Schiller); songs in Arabic may have lyrics in forms of classical Arabic poetry. Predominantly the songs belong to the fields of folk songs, love songs, ballads, political songs, battle songs, dance songs. Many lyrics are in German and/or in languages from the areas of the refugees and even multilingual (up to 8 international languages in one song). In majority, they are secular songs if they come from the German and Western cultural areas. In the songs from Mediterranean cultural areas in the broader sense, -with regard to the textual content and the music - a secular reference cannot always be distinguished from a sacral one, especially when the sacral piece is performed in an extra-ceremonial context. Occasionally, arrangements of instrumental pieces known world-wide are performed, like "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The repertoire of the BiK: it is safe to assume that the choirmaster of the BiK, Tahsin Incirci included the members into the choice of the repertoire, for example, the selection of lyrics and the translations of non-Turkish lyrics into the Turkish language. The choirmaster himself has made musical settings and/or arrangements. To what extent the accompanying instrumentalists have been involved in this process is not known. The lyrics forming the basis for the BiK song repertoire are mostly of political content. They can be classified as belonging to folk literature in its broadest sense; structures from Ottoman poetry are not used. All lyrics are in strophical form and with an end rhyme. They were written by three poets of Turkish and one of Azeri origin from the 20th century. The poets are Hasan Hüseyin Korkmazgil (1927-1984), Ya§ar Mira