Biography
Die Knödel has brought fresh definition to Austrian blasmusik, the brass-band tradition long confined to commercial clichés that trade on images of lederhosen-clad youths and dirndl-wearing women forever raising beer steins and consuming sauerkraut. Serious listeners had never anticipated artistic depth from the form, yet the ensemble did not attempt to resurrect a spent tradition; instead it originated a post-modern variant suited to the new millennium. Rhythms drawn from Austrian folk sources supply the foundation for wide-ranging sonic explorations that draw on the group’s full complement of wind and string instruments. Christoph Dienz, who plays bassoon, dulcimer, and vocals while writing the majority of the material, conceived the project. The remaining members—Alexandra Pedarnig on bass and dulcimer, Michael Öttl on guitar, Julia Fiegl on violin, wooden laughter, and vocals, Walter Seebacher on clarinet and dulcimer, Cathi Aglibut on violin, viola, and vocals, Andreas Lackner on trumpet, flugelhorn, and bass, and Margret Köll on harp—are likewise rooted in Tyrol, the southwestern Austrian region that shares a border with Italy. Their first recording, Verkochte Tiroler (issued in North America as Overcooked Tyroleans), appeared in 1993 and met with instant acclaim. Steady performances across their home country soon positioned the band among the most compelling Austrian acts of the 1990s. Two further albums arrived in 1995: Panorama, which gathers pieces written by others, and Die Noodle!, both marked by inventive detail. Der Unfisch, the 1997 soundtrack to Robert Dornhelm’s film of the same title, came next, followed in 1998 by the collaboration No Lo So Polo with Seattle composer Amy Denio—an opera centered on the travels of Marco Polo.
Albums
