Haertel Wascher Duo

The Haertel Wascher Duo performs at Dachstein Dialoge 2024.
Hermann Haertel (violin) and Simon Wascher (hurdy-gurdy) perform the traditional music they grew up with in Styria and the Traunviertel – yodels, ländlers, Styrian dances and schleunigers. They bring the music into the here and now, not because it’s old, but in spite of that. Improvised present-day music. This traditional, two-part music is rich in embellishments and full of surprises. It soars, races and touches the heart. The Haertel Wascher Duo performs a selection of magnificent and largely unknown works from the manuscripts of dance musicians such as Johann Michael Schmalnauer, Josef and Franz Steinegger, Bernhardt Stüblinger and Franz Xaver Glöggl, inviting listeners both to dance and to listen meditatively. Hermann Haertel and Simon Wascher bring the same depth and brilliance to this traditionally improvised dance music that they have gained through years of experience in other musical styles such as csardas, polska, or bourree, yodel, ländler, Styrian dance or schleuniger – on a par with the rest of the world.

The duo’s first CD, ‘The Dance’, was released in 2012 at (http://www.nonfoodfactory.at), and their second is scheduled for release this year.