- Schlager
Schlager (German "Schlager", literally "hitter" or, more loosely translated, "a hit") is a style of
popular music that is prevalent innorthern Europe , in particularGermany ,Austria ,Switzerland and the countries of the formerSoviet Union , but also to a lesser extent inFrance ,Belgium and theNetherlands . Typical schlager tracks are either sweet, highly sentimentalballad s with a simple, catchy melody or light pop tunes. Its lyrics typically center on love and relationships, and feelings. The northern variant of schlager, most notably inFinland , has taken elements from Nordic and Slavic folk songs, with texts tending towardsmelancholia and elegiac themes. Musically the Schlager has some similarities to other styles likeEasy Listening -Music.The style has been frequently represented at the
Eurovision Song Contest , and has been popular since it started in 1956, even though it is increasingly replaced by otherpop music styles. While at one time music of this style was also fairly popular in the UK andUSA , due to the constant change of fashion inpopular culture , since the 1970s schlager has fallen out of favour.Finland
A particular feature of Finnish schlager music ("Iskelmä") are the so-called "translated schlagers" ("Käännösiskelmä"), being songs translated into Finnish from other languages. There are also noteworthy Finnish schlager-composers including
Junnu Vainio .The roots of Finnish schlager tradition have been retrospectively traced into interwar period, when popular singers included
Georg Malmstén andMatti Jurva . A particularly important song was opera-singerTure Ara 's smash hit "Emma" in 1929. Later schlagerstars in Finland includeEino Grön ,Katri Helena ,Tapani Kansa ,Annikki Tähti ,Kirka , Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen,Olavi Virta ,Marion Rung ,Reijo Taipale ,Teuvo Valo andTopi Sorsakoski .Schlager tradition has had and still has a very important place in Finnish popular music and its melodic language has influenced also
Finnish rock . The schlagermusic has most of the time shared its audience withFinnish tango music, both being popular among middle aged people and some younger adults,also.Germany and Austria
During the mid-to-late 1990s and into the early 2000s, however, German-language schlager saw an extensive revival in Germany. Even reputable dance clubs would put in a stretch of schlager titles during the course of an evening, and numerous new bands specialising in covering original '70s schlager tunes as well as performing "new" '70s-ish material were formed. In
Hamburg , schlager fans still (as of 2006) gather annually by the tens of thousands and dress up in freakish '70s wear for a streetparade called Schlager Move. This revival has always been associated with ironickitsch and, to a certain extent,gay culture (seeCamp (style) ).Stylistically, schlager continues to influence the German "party pop" genre to this day, i.e. the music most often heard in
après-ski bars andMajorca n massdisco s. Partly due to this and due to the older, more downscale audiences of schlager-based television shows and radio networks, the schlager genre is increasingly, though subtly, associated with the lower strata of the population.Contemporary schlager is often mingled with
Volkstümliche Musik .Sweden
In
Sweden schlager has been a popular form of music since at least the 1970s, even though it has had its up and downs. It is often considered to be too "popular and commercial" by many people, but still enjoys a large place in Swedish culture. The SwedishMelodifestivalen that selects the Swedish competitor at theEurovision Song Contest is popularly called "Schlagerfestivalen" (The Schlager Festival) since it has traditionally been characterized by schlager songs. The amount of schlager has dropped a bit in recent years, but schlager songs are the most frequent single genre to win the competition. Melodifestivalen is the single most popular TV-program in Sweden. It occurs annually, and in 2006 an estimated 47% of the Swedish population watched the finals. In Sweden, "schlager" often refers to Eurovision participating songs.Yugoslavia
Yugoslavian schlagers started to appear in late 40s. One of the pioneers of schlagers is Darko Kraljević, born in Zagreb, lived in Belgrade. He is best known by his hits "Čamac na Tisi", sang by
Lola Novaković , big hit in revolutionary Hungary, and music made for the film "Ljubav i moda" (Love and fashion) such as "Devojko mala", later covered by Yugoslavian band VISIdoli . Kraljević's schlagers symbolized the entrance of western European culture and capitalism into liberal communism in Yugoslavia.ee also
* Schlager and Volksmusik (genre)
* Compare:adult contemporary music , "mainstream contemporary pop music (on the radio) intended for a mature adult audience"
*Roland Kaiser
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