Apr 23 2017
Beerthoven Concert Series: Texas Love Songs

Beerthoven Concert Series: Texas Love Songs

Presented by Beerthoven Concert Series and Austin Creative Alliance at Saengerrunde Hall

Beerthoven is getting ready for its end-of-season blowout event on April 23rd, billed to be its largest event ever! Texas Love Songs will be a celebration of German song and German-Texan culture, a mix of classical lieder, polka, and beer, ideally placed in the home of one of Texas’ oldest German singing clubs, the Austin Saengerrunde! The performance will feature an all-star ensemble including four singers from the Grammy-winning chorus Conspirare: Laura Mercado-Wright, Shari Wilson, Paul D’Arcy, and John Proft. They will be accompanied at the piano by pianists Michael Schneider and Daniel Swayze. 

In addition, free refreshments will be served at the show, including German-style beer from Lazarus Brewery, hand-made pretzels from Easy Tiger, samplers from Frank, and Traubenhaus German wines!

The musical centerpiece of the program is a set of new German songs called Texanischer Liebeslieder or Texas Love Songs, written by composer David Hanlon and premiered in 2015. The text is drawn from stories collected by speakers of the German-Texan Dialect Project, reminiscing about what it was like for generations of Germans moving to Texas and becoming part of the culture. It talks about everything from food and family life to the German singing clubs around Texas (the Saengerrunde itself is explicitly mentioned in the song text). The tone contains elements of march, polka, Texas swing, and jazz, and features a classical level of sophistication.

Texanischer Liebeslieder is written for four voices and piano duet (two pianists at the same piano). This was David Hanlon’s way of tipping his hat to Brahms, who wrote a similar set of German songs with the same number of voices and pianists called Liebeslieder Walzer. We will be featuring Brahms’ Op. 52 Liebeslieder Walzer (Love Song Waltzes) in the program as well, along with other German music for voice and piano.

Texas Love Songs will prove to be a great point of connection for Texas’ German heritage, featuring presentations from the Texas-German Dialect Project, the Austin Saengerrunde, and more!

Beerthoven events are family-friendly; children are welcome! Our servers are TABC-certified and will not serve alcohol to minors.

$10 student rush tickets will be available at the door.

Admission Info

General: $20 online, $25 at the door
Students: $10 at the door

Phone: 541-261-9839

Email: Daniel@Beerthoven.com

Dates & Times

2017/04/23 - 2017/04/23

Additional time info:

Doors open one hour before showtime; food and drink service begins fifteen minutes before showtime. Parking on street and in neighboring street garages is generally free after 6pm and all day on Sundays, however this may change in light of special events in the area. We will do our best to advise you to any changes as they come in.

Location Info

Saengerrunde Hall

1607 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701