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Sunday morning: devout, a little stiff, embarrassedly hiding my camera (flash switched off), this is how I sit in a back row in the entrance hall at Reichenau Castle (Switzerland). A carpet is spread out in front of the large gate to the courtyard park. Stage for the ensemble "Fiacorda", which promises an encounter with Schubert. 12 rows of chairs in front of it, about 80 concertgoers sit on hard chairs that wobble a bit, because the floor is a mosaic of unhewn stones. We have just been introduced to Schubert's "Octet in F major D 803" by Arthur Godel, a renowned musicologist.

Introduction to Schubert's Octet in F major D 803 by Arthur Godel. Performed at Reichenau Castle.

He speaks of a "tonal colour palette", demanding "an ear for the finest tonal shadings, a sense for daring transitions, as well as a persistent but also flexible rhythmic pulse". And I think I can hear and perceive all this - and more - in the six movements of the work. Admittedly, Robert Parker, Michel Bettane or René Gabriel are more familiar to me as experts than Arthur Godel, the long-time director of the cultural programme on "Swiss Radio".
I hear the dancing in the Menuetto, the dramatic in the Andante molto, the mysterious, quiet, sublime, sensual in the Adagio, and I notice how difficult it is for me to find the right words to describe impressions and deal with the feelings of the experience, even in a very well-known work.
Moved, but also a little ashamed, I stare at the floor, at the stones joined together to form an ornament, with which the castle was probably made accessible some 250 years ago. All of a sudden I realise that right there - a few metres below - wine bottles and barrels are stored, that another "concert" is being given down there, not to be heard, but certainly imaginable.

Concert in the entrance hall of the castle. The wines rest under the mosaic floor.

The lord of the castle - Gian-Battista von Tscharner - is also a winegrower and one of the very good ones in Switzerland. His work: Castle bottling, with the Maienfeld, Jenins, Goldrush, "z'blau Wunder", Mariafeld, Anna, Waisenhaus-Winget and a few more. They are vinified in the cellar of the castle. Here, just a few metres below, they can grow into works of art, mature, develop their enchanting powers.
Music and wine, two cultural assets that I have hardly ever associated until now. But already in the introductory words to the concert, I am struck by the linguistic affinity: "calmly held, moving, heavy, racy, lively, warm, elegant, profound, pleasing, harmonic..... arabesques, tonality, reverberation, sound, depth....". We also find these and similar terms in wine language; we use them as if they were created to describe what is to be experienced in the enjoyment of wine. Jean-Jacques Rousseau is said to have once described sensual perception "as the preliminary stage to happiness".

The musicians each receive a bottle of wine from the Schlossgut as a thank you from the winegrowers.

All this runs through my mind during the hour in which the eight musicians transform Schubert's notes into tones, melodies, sequences of tones, in other words, into music; in which eighty listeners hear the same thing at the same time and yet probably experience something completely different. For me, it is first of all the atmosphere of the castle that fills with beautiful, sublime, moving music. Then - I cannot suppress it - the thought of what else happens here in everyday life; everyday life on a wine estate, everyday life of a "castle family" that has long since ceased to "rule", but produces wine, can no longer collect its "tithes", but has to sell and survive with its offer in the wine scene.

Wines from the Tscharner Castle Estate

I ask myself: can sounds be put into words at all? And immediately a next question arises: can qualities of wine be expressed in words? In terms of technology, perhaps this works, both in music and in wine. In music, for example, tones are designated by letters: C-D-E-F-G-A-H-C the semitones with c-sharp-d-sharp-f-sharp-ais-des-es-ges-as-b, but then we already resort to a visual aid, the sheet of music. Is there a similar, binding order for wine - a scale or a sheet of music, as it were? In the production of wine, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, we know certain techniques, processes, procedures that can be put into words: Yield reduction, defoliation, spontaneous fermentation, concentration and, and, and...

Music expressed in notes

In the reception of wine, it is not much different from music. Words are aids, often miserable, simple, misleading designations for what is to be experienced, felt, perceived - and what often moves us and our minds so strongly. Even as the eight musicians begin the last movement: Andante molto - Allegro - Andante molto - Allegro molto, those feelings that are so difficult to describe, but which also arise in me when I enjoy great wines, take hold of me more and more clearly: "long, drawn-out sound arcs", for example, says the music critic, "infinitely long finish" formulates the wine critic; "wonderfully cheerful sounds", says the music, "flowery tones, amazing density" with the wine.

Aperitif after the concert

After the concert, an aperitif is served in the Rococo room of the castle, "Schiller", a Graubünden wine speciality, a chilled rosé made from red and white grapes mixed before pressing. Still inspired by the music, I meet the music critic who analysed and described the music so beautifully an hour ago. I spontaneously try to talk about the wine we both have in our glasses. After two or three sentences I realise that although we use the same language and similar terms, we can't understand each other. "Beautiful music, a good wine! What's it called? Does the octet often play together? Schiller!. Yes, the wines from Graubünden are far too expensive. When was this work written? One can hardly afford a Gantenbein anymore..." That's all there is to it. Two worlds of experience are reduced to one product, the origin, the costs. I mingle with the guests again, all of them have a glass in their hand, and I think: "Probably a missed opportunity".

Sincerely

Yours sincerely

Peter (Züllig)

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