I guess we -Austrians and Russians- have something in common regarding the approach to the Maultrommel/vargan: our classic musical tradition is very rich with composers like Chaykovskiy, Shostakovich and Gubaydulina or Mozart, Strauss and Schoenberg respectively; and instruments like piano, violin and accordion/bayan are so powerful that it needs quite some sensitivity and attention to recognize and correctly esteem the dimensions and possibilities of the Maultrommel/vargan.

The 19th century was the high time and at the same time the end of a highly developed period auf Maultrommel-culture in Austria. The Maultrommel-players impressed their auditory with artistic performances of musical pieces composed for instruments like piano or violin. Since the Maultrommel is an overtone-instrument, they needed up to 7 instruments at once for achieving pure tones. This is impressing, but anybody who has played the Maultrommel, knows very well that the real “kaif” of playing this instrument is in the free improvisation of a mixture of breath, rhythm and melody, opening up inner caves and linking them up with outer space - alone or in the communication with other players. It’s always an adventure, easy to start and without end of perfection and technical possibilities.

Still during the cold war, it were single charismatic persons from the two super powers -Ivan Alexeyev in Sakha-Yakutia and Fred Crane in the U.S.A.- who realised the subversive and cosmic beauty of this instrument and started the movement which led to the founding of national Jews Harp Societies and to International Festivals.

Thus, the 1st International Jew’s Harp Festival (IJHF) in Iowa City/US in September 1984 connected the US with Europe, gave through tapes a glimpse of the music in Sakha-Yakutia and focused on traditional folk music and on improvisation.

The 2nd Festival from June 1991 in Yakutsk/Soviet Union opened wide the window for musicians and researchers from the former Soviet Republics towards the western world. It was here that I got the dream of organizing this festival in Austria.

The fall of the Soviet empire and the development of global communication methods supported the worldwide renaissance of overtone-instruments in the 90s, with the main focus on throat singing, didgeridoo and the jew’s harp.

The 3rd International Festival from June 1998 in Molln/Austria, which I organized, outbalanced East and West and emphasized the cross-fertilisation between cultures, traditions and playing styles. Personal techniques and national traditions became accessible worldwide. This was also the moment when we founded the International Jew’s Harp Society with board-members from most important national jew’s harp societies. The International Society is responsible for the publication of the Newsletter (twice a year), the scientific journal (once a year), and for supporting the organizers of the International Jew’s Harp Festival-Congress.

The 4th from September 2002 in Rauland/Norway consolidated the east-west exchange with a focus on traditional styles, additionally introducing the element of dancing to improvised Jew’s harp music and convincing the jew’s harp world of the enormous capabilities of the Norwegian “munharpe”.

The 5th from 2006 in Amsterdam/Holland focused on the urban and experimental sides of this instrument, and brought to attention a powerful young generation of Jew’s harp players, who know to an astonishing degree the various national and ethnic styles and are representing a kind of technically global yet emotionally personal style of playing; this applies to Silvain Vartan (France), Nguyen Duc Minh (Vietnam), Daniel Hentschel (Netherlands), Wolf Janscha (Austria), Kim Borisov and Yana Krivoshapkina (Yakutia), Aron Szilagyi (Hungary), Luca Recupero (Italy), Li Wang (China), and others.

And what will bring the next festival, the 6th in 2010 in Kecskemet/Hungary?

I think, this festival should be the coming-out of the Russian vargan-players, as the 3rd was it for the Yakutians, the 4th for the Norwegians and the 5th for the Chinese. I know for many years now Olga Shotlandia and she introduced me to some incredible musicians, from which I especially would like to mention Aksentiy Beskrovniy. Because of Olga and Aksentiy, I know a bit about the many enthusiasts, players and makers of the vargan in cities like Moscow, Piter and Saratov. I am therefore very much looking forward to meeting you, dear participants of this conference at least during the next International Jew’s Harp Festival.

От лица Международного Общества Варгана мы хотим от всего сердца пожелать успешно провести конференцию. С наилучими пожеланиями всем участникам: варганистам и мастерам, любителям и профессионалам.

Франц Кумпл, Президент IJHS (International Jew’s Harp Society)
За Международное Общество Варгана

Vienna, 7 December 2009