Faun (band)
| Faun | |
|---|---|
 Pade and Pawelke live at the 2007 Wave-Gotik-Treffen |
|
| Background information | |
| Genres | Pagan folk Darkwave Medieval Music |
| Years active | 2002-present |
| Labels | Banshee, Noir Records |
| Associated acts | Schandmaul |
| Website | www.faune.de |
| Members | |
| Oliver SaTyr Fiona Rüggeberg Rüdiger Maul Niel Mitra Margareta Aibl ("Rairda") |
|
| Past members | |
| Elisabeth Pawelke Birgit Muggenthaler Sandra Elflein |
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| Notable instruments | |
| Celtic harp, nyckelharpa, hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, cittern, flute, bousouki, nyckelharpa, jaw harp, whistles, seljefloit, tar, riq, davul, panriqello, darabukka, timba, gaxixi | |
Faun is a German band formed in 2002 who play pagan folk, darkwave and medieval music. The originality of their music style is that they fall back to "old" instruments, and the singing is always the center of attention. The vocals are performed in a variety of languages, including German, Latin, Greek and Scandinavian languages. Their instrument include celtic harp, Swedish nyckelharpa, hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, cittern, flutes and many others.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
The band was founded in 2002 by Oliver "SaTyr" Pade, Elisabeth Pawelke, Fiona Rüggeberg and Birgit Muggenthaler. Two years later, Rüdiger Maul got into the band as percussionist. At the same time, Birgit left the band, to continue her musical life with the folk-rock band Schandmaul. In 2002, they released their first album Zaubersprüche. Niel Mitra was a guest musician on this album, and he later became a full-time member of the band, the only one playing only electronic instruments. Elisabeth Pawelke left Faun in 2008 to focus on her studies in classical song in Basel, Switzerland. She was succeeded by Sandra Elflein who left Faun in April 2010 due to a pregnancy and health issues. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Rairda replaced her.
[edit] Members
- Oliver Sa Tyr – vocals, bouzouki, nyckelharpa, celtic harp, jaw harp
- Sandra Elflein – vocals, violin
- Fiona Rüggeberg – vocals, recorders, whistles, bagpipes, seljefloyte
- Rüdiger Maul – tar, riq, davul, panriqello, darabukka, timba, gaxixi and many other percussion instruments
- Niel Mitra – sequencer, sampler, synthesizer, FL Studio, Buzz, Logic Audio, tascam us 224, boss dr 202, Korg Alpha, granular synthesis, folder synthesis, feedbacks, sounds taken from nature and everyday life
- Margareta Aibl, "Rairda" – vocals, harp, various flutes and percussion instruments, hurdy-gurdy, piano
[edit] Former members
- Elisabeth Pawelke - vocals, hurdy gurdy
- Birgit Muggenthaler (1998–2000, recently a member in the German band Schandmaul) - whistles, bagpipes, shawm, vocals
- Sandra Elflein
[edit] Style
[edit] Music
To express their own bond with nature the band coined the term "Pagan Folk" for one style of their concerts. While the term was initially used for electronically amplified concerts only, it is now used by fans and band for their music itself. A quote by Oliver Pade reveals another possibility for having chosen this specific term: "We don't know ourselves what kind of music we play, so we call it paganfolk" (Oliver Pade 2004 in a song announcement at the 2004 Summer Darkness in Utrecht, Netherlands).
Faun's repertoire ranges from melancholic ballads to exuberant dances like the Brittanic An Dro. Thereby they set historical tunes from various periods and regions to music and on the other hand create a lot of own compositions as well.
Faun combines ancient Perso-Arab melodies with the Swedish nyckelharpa and Middle High German lyrics. Equally distinguishing are Pawelke's and Rüggeberg's singing, mostly in two voices and, on newer recordings, the driving beat by Niel Mietra.
The debut album Zaubersprüche deals mainly with slow ballads from the era between the Late Middle Ages and Romanticism. The instrumentation is kept entirely acoustic and waives modern instruments and electronic beats. The second album features far less ballads but offers considerably more danceable tunes like Andro, Unda or the double song Dava/Punagra.
Faun is a prime example of Mittelalter music, a German musical style mixing medieval folk and folk metal.
[edit] Lyrics
The lyrics originate from very different languages, Standard German, Middle High German, Old Icelandic, Low German, Latin, Hungarian, Finnish and Ladino among them.
[edit] Meaning of the name
The name Faun comes from ancient Greek-Roman mythology, where it equals the herders' deity Faunus or Pan. According to the band, this figure which is often also depicted as a natural or forestal spirit, shall express the members' connection with nature. For the same reason Oliver Pade's pseudonym is the Satyr, who is closely related to Faunus.
[edit] Discography
- Zaubersprüche (2002)
- Licht (2003)
- Lichtbilder (DVD, 2004)
- Renaissance (2005)
- Totem (2007)
- Ornament (DVD, 2008)
- FAUN & The Pagan Folk Festival - Live feat. Sieben & In Gowan Ring (2008)
- Buch der Balladen (2009)
- Eden (2011)
The band feature as guest musicians on several tracks of the 2009 Mediæval Bæbes album Illumination.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- This article incorporates information from the revision as of 2008-12-18 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.
