A Saga of Schlager
In 2018, Forbes published its annual list of the highest paid women in music. Among the familiar names of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift was Helene Fischer, coming in at number 8 and earning a cool $32 million on the back of an enormously successful tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Fans in Germany, and across Europe, would surely not be surprised to see “The Queen of Schlager” appearing on the list, however English-speaking commentators were left with two questions: Who is Helene Fischer and what on earth is Schlager?
The first of those questions is easier to answer; Helene Fischer is one of the most successful German recording artists of all time, having achieved the best-selling album in Germany five times, and winning numerous awards over the last decade. Despite this success, few in the English-speaking world know her name, mainly because Fischer’s music is in German. Aside from collaborations with Michael Bolton and Robbie Williams, Fischer has only made one English-language album, titled 'The English Ones' (2010). It’s rare for a non-English language song to top the charts in the US or UK, and most of the time these are novelty one-hit wonders. Given her track record of chart success, Helene Fischer could hardly be described as a flash in the pan.
That being said, Fisher’s chosen genre has a whole lot of novelty, and explaining it is no easy task. Schlager is not only difficult to pin down, here in Germany it’s considered practically impossible to define, given that it bridges so many different styles. For instance, there is "classic Schlager" that sounds something like lounge music, or "traditional Schlager" which features lots of Lederhosen and accordions. There’s the more pop-oriented Schlager, still featuring Lederhosen (usually covered in glitter) but sounding something like Euro-pop, and then there is Helene Fischer, all dance synths and slick live performances. I’m sure there are plenty of other varieties I’m missing out, not just in Germany, but across the German speaking world. As Fischer’s tour stops suggest, Schlager is popular across Europe, and as such there must be many more regional and national variants.
The fact that Schlager comes in many different flavours is perhaps due to the longevity of the genre. The term Schlager, simply translated as “a hit”, traces its origins back to Johann Strauss II’s The Blue Danube Waltz of 1866. Of course, the works of modern day Schlager stars are far removed from Strauss, but if anything, this speaks to the ability of Schlager to evolve and change over the decades. Despite being considered old fashioned in the 1960s, Schlager is still a mainstay of German music, albeit not always well respected or well loved.
Schlager rarely features on the radio, aside from those stations dedicated to it, and a casual scroll through Spotify’s 'German Top 50' suggests German music lovers are not spending a lot of time swaying rhythmically and clapping their hands along with such hits as “Schön ist es auf der Welt zu sein” (How beautiful it is to be in the world) or “Himbeereis zum Frühstück” (Raspberry Ice Cream for Breakfast). It seems that aside from a handful of success stories, Schlager is not necessarily the path to wealth, fame or credibility. Since the 60s, Schlager has dipped in and out of fashion, spending decades in the wilderness, only to be “discovered” every so often by a new generation.
Though incredibly long lived, the most obvious question remains: is Schlager any good? I’ve spent a long time wondering about this. It’s hard to deny how catchy it is, but catchy doesn’t mean good, people also enjoyed "Macarena" and "Gangnam Style" after all. In this last point, we see a fundamental dilemma of discussing music, since my British culture heavily informs my opinions, as well as my willingness to offer them. In Britain, there’s a general snobbishness that goes hand in hand with the enjoyment of music, especially when it comes to one hit wonders or pop music coming out of other European countries. The British will describe such music, if they are willing to admit it at all, as “guilty pleasures”, a phrase used to indicate an awareness that such music is low quality, but still enjoyable. This is a sound strategy for those living in Britain, since it often feels like the British have more music snobs per capita than any other nation on earth. Placating these people is more important than simply enjoying music.
Even though the British hold their musical opinions in high regard, Schlager has at times been popular in the UK, especially during the 1960s (see Cliff Richard). Despite the minor successes, I don’t imagine many British DJs would improve their followings by dropping Helene Fischer into their set list. The weird kitschy joy that Schalger can instil in German audiences is hard to replicate in a country that puts its humourless music tastes on a pedestal. Given this background, I should be hardwired to dislike Schlager, but I can say from experience that it’s very hard not to enjoy music that has such a visceral reaction for so many people. Music that makes people happy is hard to argue with.
Germany, in contrast to the British, seems to enjoy music guilt-free. Though snobbishness still rears its ugly head, I’ve watched diverse groups of music fans bop along to some well known Schalger hits with little concern for how they might be perceived. Watching punks pump their fists to the sound of some well remembered nonsense about ice cream, or a folksy number about love and Greek wine is actually rather beautiful. Germans aren’t by nature sentimental, and because of this, there is something tremendously enjoyable about the continued and varied popularity of Schlager music. Germany has a fantastic ability to compartmentalise, with people maintaining strict mental borders between different aspects of their lives, be it work, family, hobbies or even friendships. There is something of this compartmentalisation in Schlager, as if all the schmaltzy kitsch that inhabits the German psyche has been outsourced to this one musical genre, powered by the often closed box of German sentimentality.
After spending many hours this week watching and listening to Schlager music of all forms, from fuzzy Youtube videos of the 70s 'Musikantenstadl' to the more recent 'Schlager-Spaß mit Andy Borg', I’ve come to the conclusion it really doesn’t matter what I think about Schlager, I’m pretty sure Schlager doesn’t care either way. Whether I love it or hate it, I’m not even the target market. With so many new Schlager artists coming out, it seems to have more than enough juice to see it go for another hundred years.
Image Credit:
Photo by Nainoa Shizuru on Unsplash
