“Stuttgarter Hohnerfreunde Prague Celebrate 75th Anniversary with Accordion Concert”

From Upper Swabia to America

Much has changed in these 75 years. The former music giant Hohner, who conquered America with his harmonicas from Trossingen in Upper Swabia in the 19th century, has now become a small, fine specialist company. And Prague in Stuttgart is present today as a gigantic transport hub, but no longer as the location of the thousands of postal workers and railway workers who once lived and worked in the north of Stuttgart. Today the musicians come to the rehearsals of the Hohner friends in the Rosenstein School from a much larger area. And not many play a Hohner instrument anymore, says the first chairman, Wolfgang Dreher. Today there are many other manufacturers of accordions with their own sound facets.

The music for the film “The Boat”

So the concert this Saturday is an opportunity to get to know these facets. The film music for “Das Boot”, composed by the jazz musician Klaus Doldinger, is part of the program. A few other instruments are also used. The film has meanwhile become a classic among German feature films. Another classic is Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite. One or the other will no longer remember the name of the composer and the piece, but at the latest after the first notes of “Morning Mood” or “In the Hall of the Mountain Lion” the recognition is there. The overture to “Dichter und Bauer” by Franz von Suppé with its bombastic coda is typical for the accordion.

The orchestra is well staffed with 15 people. To keep it that way, the Hohnerfreunde need more attention – in the north of Stuttgart, and in general in the city as one of the few remaining accordion ensembles.