Virtual Presentation: “The Singing of the Amish of Kalona,” May 16

Sunday, May 16, 2 p.m.

Presented by the German American Heritage Center

An esteemed instructor from the the University Mozarteum Salzburg will explore musical traditions an hour from the Quad Cities in the virtual presentation The Singing of the Amish in Kalona, a May 16 presentation hosted by Davenport's German American Heritage Center, and one offering fascinating insight gleaned by historian and author Thomas Nussbaumer.

Between 2005 and 2019, a team consisting of Nussbaumer and his University Mozarteum Salzburg colleagues Monika Oebelsberger and Peter M. Krakauer conducted field studies of the Old Order Amish in Kalona, Iowa, in cooperation with James R. Dow of Iowa State University. The Amish are a religious community which has been in existence since 1693, an especially conservative group of Anabaptists who primarily reject technology, whose ancestors emigrated to North America between 1736 and 1914 from southwestern Germany, Alsace, and Switzerland, and who today live mostly Midwestern and eastern states of the U.S.

It was possible to convince a group of 30 to as many as 160 people, of both sexes and varying ages, to perform for sound recordings. In several recording sessions the singers allowed us to record a total of almost 200 songs, a representing a cross-section of their repertoire. Among the recordings are 28 "slow tunes" and some yodels, sung by two former Amish who had grown up in Berne Indiana.

The tradition of "slow tunes" is intimately associated with the Ausbund, the Amish hymnal which has been in print without interruption, since 1583, and the hymnal Eine Unparteiische Leidersammlung, which is used by the Old Order Amish of Kalona instead of the Ausbund. The extremely melismatic "slow tunes," handed down primarily through oral traditions, trace back to spiritual and secular songs of the Reformation and the 17th century. The "fast tunes," also recorded in this fieldwork, are Anglo-American and German hymns of the 18th and 19th century, sung in three and four vocal parts.

Singing plays an extraordinarily important role in the social life of the Amish people, as singing together perpetuates Amish values and Amish identity. In general, the Amish sing at home, both during their work and with their children (even German folk songs and yodels), at their alternate "singings" of the young people on Sunday evenings. Typical recordings of the Kalona field studies will be presented, and the May 16 program will also include brief comments on Amish culture, a survey of scholarship on Amish music, and descriptions of the Old Order Amish songbooks and singing style.

Born in 1966 in Hall in Tirol, Austria, presenter Nussbaumer has been employed as an ethnomusicologist at the Innsbruck branch of the Music University Mozarteum Salzburg since 1995. Since his post-doctoral lecture qualification at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2010, Nussbaumer is associate professor for folk kmusic research at the Mozarteum. He has conducted numerous field researches and contributed to publications focused on Alpine Folk music and the historical sources of traditional music.

Nussbaumer's virtual program The Singing of the Amish of Kalona will be presented at 2 p.m. on May 16, a limited number of in-person seats will be available for the viewing, and donations to the free event are greatly appreciated. For more information, call (563)322-8844 and visit GAHC.org.