Steamboat Switzerland Extended: Föhnrausch

Contemporary literature, music, improvisation and the unmistakable sound of Steamboat Switzerland all come together in Lucas Niggli's commissioned work for the 2025 Alpentöne Festival, "Föhnrausch". The high-energy Swiss working band joins forces with two extraordinary female vocalists. The composition incorporates texts by Seraina Kobler, Peter Weber, Flurina Badel, Angelika Overath, C. F. Ramuz and other authors, which are woven into a multi-layered musical landscape. The participating musicians capture the moods of the weather and the subtlest microclimatic phenomena. Steamboat Switzerland's powerful ensemble sound forms the atmospheric foundation of large-scale weather patterns that are increasingly slipping beyond our grasp in the age of global warming. Joana Aderi and Meret Matter join as singers and performers, bringing two distinctive voices to the piece. They transform texts and words into onomatopoeic soundscapes, abstract lyrics and narrative sequences that propel them in ever-changing acoustic directions. "Föhnrausch" unfolds like an intense hike, a risky bouldering session or an impromptu tour without a fixed route – yet with clear reference points. It opens up many unknown territories, drawing on the wealth of meteorological and/or geological phenomena and linguistic flourishes of the Alpine region, creating a roughly 60-minute continuum that is like a relentlessly stormy frenzy.