Westerwaldlied / Sauerlandlied

[labwizard]

[Topic renamed by the host, Ivan Ž.]

Many people claim that this march/song was the #1 of the German WWII soldiers' songs, but I'm not sure if this is really true.

However, it has an interesting history.
The origin of this march/song is an old German folksong from the region "Westerwald" located in the west of Germany.

The "modern" lyrics had been created in a camp (at that time actually only a wooden hut) of the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (FAD) at the Westerwald's Stegskopf mountain during a hailstorm in November 1932 by Director Willi Münker (b. 1896) of the local building authorities and two other men, Böhmer and Scharthauer, of the camp personnel. The lyrics they created consist of four strophes. The first three of them are still well known; most recordings include only the first or the first and second one. Since the lyrics were already sung by the local FAD men on the same day, it is very likely they used that old folksong tune for it.

The "modern" music was first scored by the German composer Joseph Neuhäuser (1890-1949). In 1934, he moved to Limburg (located at the southeast rim of the Westerwald region, not far from his birthplace) where he was then asked by a local music house for composing a march based on that old Westerwald folksong. A young Westerwald girl was sent to him to perform the old folksong, and Neuhäuser wrote it down. Since he could not find any copyright holder of that old song, he composed a march with a trio based on that folksong in 1935. The march was first published by Musikverlag B. Schott's Söhne in 1937, and it was first recorded in the same year (as far as I know by Carl Woitschach - I'm almost sure Ivan has got all of the Westerwald's original recordings in his great shellac collection...).
Later, also different "Westerwald" marches were composed by others, not to mention the different arrangements of all of those - but they all have a trio that is based on the same old folksong.

The Westerwald song is typically sung with a sung six-syllable "shouting" after the first verse of the refrain, filling the "official" rest of the singing voice. Today, most often the word "Eukalyptusbonbon" ("eucalyptus candy") is used for that (its meaning matches the contents of the text that follows this rest and translates to "the wind whistles so coldly across your [the Westerwald's] mountains" - as one's eucalyptus-oiled breath is felt cold when whistling across that candy). As I've heard, it has already been used in the pre-1945 era, but there were also other "shoutings" such as "Schmeißt den xyz vom Fahrrad!" ("Throw the ... off the bicycle!" with xyz ranging from "Spieß" ["sarge"] to what is not to be explicitly shown here), and "Prima Damenschlüpfer" ("great ladies' panties").

BTW., as far as it concerns post-WWII recordings, there is one of this piece you may like more than the one you are referring to - try this one (thank you for the upload, Ivan!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnaF4_LTovk

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello and thank you for the post, although I am not sure how accurate the information is. I will try to re-check it as soon as I have more time. In the meantime, here's something worth mentioning in this topic. The melody of "Westerwaldlied" (a.k.a. "O, du schöner Westerwald") was already present on records during the III Reich period before 1937 and Neuhäuser - as a slightly modified tune in Robert Zündorf's "Sauerlandlied" (a.k.a. "O, du schönes Sauerland"). This song was recorded from 1934 to 1936 (even by Leibstandarte) and "Westerwald" since 1937. Here's a brief discography of this popular melody during the III Reich period:

Sauerländer-Marsch (O, du schönes Sauerland) by Robert Zündorf, with the folk tune in trio
1934. sung by Erwin Hartung and a male quartet, with Hans Bund's dance orchestra
1935. sung by the "Adrema" chorus, with band of Adolf Hitler's SS Bodyguard, cond. H. Müller-John

Sauerlandlied (O, du schönes Sauerland), folk tune with lyrics by Robert Zündorf
1936. sung by Franz Wolf, with orchestral accompaniment

Westerwaldlied (O, du schöner Westerwald), folk song
1937. sung and played by the "Richter's Four" (singing guitarists)
1937. sung and played by Heyn's singing guitarists

Westerwald-Marsch (O, du schöner Westerwald) by Joseph Neuhäuser, with the folk song in trio
1937. sung by the "Metropol Vocalists", with Carl Woitschach's brass band
1938. sung by chorus of mot. comp. of the 3rd Rec. Batt., with band of the Berlin Guard Regiment, cond. F. Ahlers

O, du schöner Westerwald, march by Arno Hildebrand, with folk song in trio
1938. sung by a male chorus, with band of the State Labour Service, cond. Herms Niel

Listed above are commercially available recordings (= radio recordings excluded); "Westerwaldlied" was recorded (under that title) also in 1940 for RS Breslau (Neuhäuser's arrangement of the folk song, without the march intro). Finally, a couple of examples of melody's different arrangements 1) Zündorf-arr. 2) folk-arr. 3) Neuhäuser-arr. 4) Hildebrand-arr.

Cheers,
Ivan

[labwizard]

Many thanks for this information! I did not know that (shame on me!). I've just "googled" for it and found a copy of the handwritten score of "O du schönes Sauerland!" in G major from the booklet with the same title by Robert Zündorf. Here, its music is declared as "Volksweise" (folksong tune), so we know nothing more about the origin... It seems that the history of that original folksong is a little more complex. New questions are arising: How and when came the tune from the Westerwald to the Sauerland - or is the Sauerland its real origin...?

[Panzermahn]

Hello labwizard

Many thanks for the additional info on the Westerwaldlied. The whistling part, after the lyrics "Über deine Höhen pfeift der Wind" but before "so kalt", is a common style (due to the short rest of the tune between these two sentences) in all Westerwaldlied interpretations?

Also, there is a long version of Westerwald but only in march and no vocals. Do you know who composed and arranged the long intro?

Panzermahn

[labwizard]

Hello, Panzermahn,

there are some performances/recordings that have that whistling before "so kalt", some that have two whistlings (before AND after "so kalt") and some that have no whistling at all.

Regarding the "long version", I guess you are referring to the entire march. In this case, the "intro" is simply the first "part" (musically, it's better to say "piece") of the march. Any full march version of it has such a piece, including that one by Neuhäuser and later ones, e.g. by Husadel. (-- Not to be confused with the intros of the short versions consisting only of the customized-arranged or recomposed-from-scratch trio/song...)

But it's Ivan who has got all of those recordings and the better - if not the best - knowledge about the details of the recordings...

Best,
Thomas

[Panzermahn]

Hello Thomas

Many thanks again for the additional info. By the way, regarding the Westerwaldlied "shout-out", the only time I heard "Prima Damenschlüpfer" being used was the version sung by Sergeant Steiner and his men in the movie Cross of Iron (1977) when they were celebrating Lieutenant's Meyer. Do you know any other version of Westerwaldlied (besides this one) that used this shout-out?

Also, Westerwaldlied was quite popular with the French Foreign Legion as German veterans (who did not surrendered and made their way to Legion after WW2) introduced it to the legionnaires (in march style - boots stomping)

Panzermahn

[labwizard]

Hello, Panzermahn,

I know it directly from some WWII veterans and also indirectly from some guys of my generation who got it from their fathers.

Yes, after WWII, there were many German WWII vets in the French Foreign Legion, especially former members of the Waffen-SS. Someone I knew very, very well had fought there side by side with them in the 13e DBLE during the 1950s in Indochina and in Algeria. So I know that they adopted many of the German marches and songs, but typically slowed down from the original 114 BPM to the Legion's 88 BPM (since it would have been too exhausting to march with 114 BPM through the hot desert sands...). Of course, the songs have got new lyrics in French language...

Best,
Thomas

[Fallersleben]

Do you know any other version of Westerwaldlied (besides this one) that used this shout-out?

Hello,

same shout-out was used in german movie trilogy 08/15 (1954)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA9pvP-cSxU

Other variants are "Eukalyptus-Bonbon" (recording available) and "schmeißt den Spieß vom Fahrrad" (don't know a recording).

Best,
Frank

[labwizard]

...same shout-out was used in german movie trilogy 08/15 (1954).... Other variants are "Eukalyptus-Bonbon" (recording available) and "schmeißt den Spieß vom Fahrrad"...

Hello,

- yes, again a confirmation of the versions we had discussed, especially the occurrence in "08/15" which I did not know and which is the version with the most whistlings - thank you very much! -- And - as I had already mentioned - there are also some sub-versions of "Schmeißt den ... vom Fahrrad!", one of them was very popular, but would result in lots of trouble if being mentioned here...

As far as I have a view of it, I can say the following:
1) pre-1945 recordings typically lack any shoutings and whistlings
2) post-1945 recordings typically have at least one shouting or whistling
The only reasonable explanation I know for that is that pre-1945 arrangements/recordings of soldiers' songs and sung march trios emphasized a more artistic form, whereas the post-1945 arrangements/recordings emphasized a more casual form (forme légère), at least regarding the singing itself. Since the casual form is more like it sounds when being sung by soldiers marching in the field, it may induce a stronger impression of briskness and/or martiality.
And - according to my own observations - this impression is perceived as "cool" in some of the younger males of the post-WWII generations lacking the appreciation of "old" music, since they can use it as a means of defining themselves and making themselves distinct from others who typically fall for the undermining "modern popular music".

Best,
Thomas

[Ivan Ž.]

Also, there is a long version of Westerwald but only in march and no vocals. Do you know who composed and arranged the long intro?

Hey, Jochen

I'm not sure which version you had in mind, but here are a couple of examples (there are more) of postwar arrangements; maybe one of these composers/arrangers is the one you were looking for...

1) Theo Knobel 2) Erich Gutzeit 3) Hans Felix Husadel 4) Gustav Kneip 5) Bert Brac 6) Manfred Stacho 7) Sven Björnson

(most often recorded after the war were Husadel's and Knobel's arrangement)

Ivan

[Panzermahn]

Thomas,

Thanks again for the additional info.

same shout-out was used in german movie trilogy 08/15 (1954)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA9pvP-cSxU

Hello Frank

Many thanks for the link! That's the second time I heard it and it's much clearer!

here are a couple of examples (there are more) of postwar arrangements

Hello Ivan

Many thanks again for posting the intros of the Westerwaldlied. I believed the first one (Theo Knobel) is the one I meant about the long version of Westerwald Marsch.

JC

[labwizard]

Furthermore, all of these shoutings were "unofficial" both in the sense of military service and in the sense of the music. So you can be sure that in service's everyday reality there were many, many more distinct ones of such shoutings than you can find in ANY recording - and maybe than you can find in your imagination. As far as I know, even the known version "Schmeißt den Spieß vom Fahrrad!" ("Throw the sarge off the bicycle!") was grinningly tolerated (obviously even by the respective Spieß himself ) and therefore sung. Just imagine a hungry private "Meier IV" fell into the mud while trying to catch a running chicken. After this, it's likely that when singing the Westerwaldlied during the following march, the whole company shouted "Meier braucht 'ne Dusche" ("Meier needs a shower") or something similar... That's the way it was... -- So when you go out after that, feel free to create your own "shoutings" while singing the Westerwaldlied...

[labwizard]

"Westerwaldlied": A Note on Composition vs. Arrangement
(This may appear to be somewhat off-topic here, but it perfectly fits the topic's piece of music...)

The different recordings of the Westerwald march and song are a very good example of what can happen to a piece of music, in the given case a simple old folksong. The comparison of excerpts posted in this thread shows that different people derived really different things from it. (Thank you, Ivan! - Btw., you may laugh at me, but - honestly spoken - the version by Knobel - I didn't know it at all. )

Regarding the records' declarations applied to the different recordings, I find it "interesting" that they are almost always classified as arrangements. But it seems to me that, over the last decades, the meaning of the term "arrangement" has been somewhat undermined. Since all of the Westerwaldlied's derivatives include - if not to say base on - the same almost unchanged folksong tune, the author of which is still unknown, their "composer" is normally called "Trad." ("traditional"). - Yes, good old "Mr. Trad."... Given that, music publishers, record labels, and archivists conclude that all of the different performances/recordings must be regarded as different arrangements (Bearbeitungen) of the same work by the original composer "Mr. Trad.". Formally, there's nothing wrong with that in principle. But at least when it comes to entire marches, I totally disagree with that. Listen to the march by Neuhäuser and later ones, e.g. those by Husadel and by Knobel. They are distinct full-score musical works consisting of two or more movements, not to mention "intro", "bridges", and such "micro" stuff - the only "alien element" is always the main tune of the trio. So, imho., it is really unobjective in this case to refuse recognizing the "authors" as Neuhäuser, Husadel, Knobel et al. as composers - and calling them only "arrangers" instead. (Not to ignore the unknown author of the original folksong, one should add that the composition is based on or "about" a traditional tune, but that should be enough.) - Of course, if Husadel had adapted Neuhäuser's Westerwald march to make it fit e.g. an orchestration required by a certain band, then, Husadel's work should have been regarded only as an arrangement, and, when listening to it, you wouldn't have to have a doctoral degree in music theory to be able to recognize - already during the first movement(!) - that it's only a variant of Neuhäuser's composition. (Btw., I don't know if there's exactly such a piece of music in reality...) But it's a matter of fact that the Westerwald marches of these composers are distinct works - as you will only be able to recognize a connection between them when already listening to the trio...

In contrast to the entire marches, there are also "short" versions that mainly consist of nothing more than the song itself, usually decorated with a few bars of "intro" - as it typically appears in the post-WWII Bundeswehr potpourri recordings. These versions are movements fully dominated by the singing voices that are almost unchanged compared with the original folksong tune. (The same is true when regarding each one of the marches' trios separately.) For this reason, one may regard these pieces of music only as arrangements. However, the very most portion of work is manifested in the instrumental parts which most untrained listeners are only consciously registering in the "intro" and during the rests of the singing voices. So it's difficult to precisely define where to place the boundary line between "arrangement" and "composition"...

However, I won't be able to have any influence on the decisions of music publishers etc., and there's no practical alternative to leaving the entries of collection listings as they are - since any change would result in an endless series of confusion... -- But I find these thoughts worth being posted here as an attempt to protect some really great composers from being degraded to "arrangers" in the given cases... And if this doesn't work - so I've at least let some steam off... :roll:

[Panzermahn]

Hello labwizard

I be most interested to know all common shout-outs for Westerwaldlied apart from the ones that you mentioned. I think Westerwaldlied was one of the most popular German folk music which was known internationally. I had heard a couple of interpretation ranging from martial style to the cheerful Oktoberfest-type. It seems that the 3rd verse of Westerwaldlied is rarely sung, with the 1st and the 2nd verse most common.

And you're right about the shout-outs since it depends on which the people that sung Westerwaldlied. I believed even Germans from different places and regions in Germany would have a particular shout-out that they used for Westerwaldlied which related to their region or has a particular socio-cultural meaning related to their place where they came from.

Panzermahn

[labwizard]

Hello, Panzermahn,

yes, you are right - what shouting was exactly used in a given case depended on so many factors...
-- And that is also true for many other soldiers' songs!! --
The shoutings we had mentioned in this thread are only the best known and very common ones. And, of course, we won't be able to reconstruct each single one that may have been appeared...
I'm sure there were also many vulgar and suggestive shoutings - but it's the same problem of reconstruction...
And it's already a little bit too late - today, there are not many veterans any more we can ask about that all...

As for the popularity of the strophes - the third one is still well known and even sung quite often. It's the fourth one which you can rarely hear or read about.

Best,
Thomas

P.S.: Read my PM