More German Beer-Drinking Music - 13 Wir bleib'n beim Bier (We'll Stick with Beer) - Alfred Pongratz

13 Wir bleib'n beim Bier (We'll Stick with Beer) - Alfred Pongratz

More German Beer-Drinking Music

Alfons Bauer and His Hofbrau Entertainers Featuring Die Hofbraumusikanten and Other Bavarian Stars

Every year, when the leaves begin to fall, Munich, "The City of the Joy of Living," gets ready for the greatest, most distinctive and most popular of all German festivals, the Oktoberfest.

From high in the rooftops of the city, looking out toward the often-photographed, round-capped towers of the Gothic Frauenkirche, the old Peterskirche built in 1169, the prickly-spired Rathaus and the other famous landmarks- even up there you can hear the hubbub of the fair, the temporary show stalls and carousels and a gentle roar from giant tents call Bierzelten, set up by the large breweries and dedicated to the noble pursuit of drinking Munich's glorious beer.

Inside the Bierzelten and outside on the broad streets you hear jostling sounds of a thousand shrieking brass bands, large and small. You smell the perfume of streaming trays of Hendlwurst (chicken sausage), Schweinwurst (pork), fried fish, and beef roasted on spits. Folk dancers are everywhere, dancing the famous Schubplattler (Bavaria's most typical dance) and a special variation of it called Zwiefache, which mixes 2/4 and 3/4 rhythms together in an outlandish confusion that makes the dancers appear dangerously intoxicated. They whoop and holler, obviously delirious with fun, but you'd better be sure your own feet are steady before you join them, because the steps of the Schuhplatter are complicated and athletic.

In the Bierzelten sturdy waitresses wade through an almost endless sea of loaded tables, rushing with heavy trays of foaming mugs and snacks (including the traditional crisp, white radishes) like lifeguards swimming to the rescue. In such a setting you may sing or yodel along with the music, join in the dancing, eat and drink to your heart's content or - more typically of the conservative Munchner - just sit smoking your pipe and enjoying it all. Der Munchner is wise to go slow, because the Oktoberfest lasts for sixteen days!

Alfons Bauer has brought together in this album many famous musicians associated with the Oktoberfest and the beery good cheer of Bavarian folkways. Here are big brass bands and little ones, yodlers, comic singers, tuned cow bells, fat country trumpets, accordions and zithers. They add up to a heady brew, solidly rooted in tradition and bubbly with the joy of living.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• German
• German Beer
• Beer Drinking Music
• Oktoberfest