With his fifth fairytale musical "Jackie MacSäbel unddie Party Piraten", successful children's songwriter Andrew Bond (51) is once again spreading good cheer.
In this country, Andrew Bond's children's songs "Zimetschtern han i gern", "Suneschtraal tanz emaal" and "Schternefeischter" have long since become catchy tunes that even delighted the audience at the rainy open-air concert at this year's Züri-Fäscht. "With children's songs, it's crucial to work in a text-centered way," he reveals during the "event." interview in his Wädenswil studio. "First you have the text. And every text has its own linguistic melody that you have to support musically. When I write a new text, I start by whistling it to match the content. If you get the melody in your head very quickly, then other people will probably do the same." For Bond, ABBA songs such as "Money Money" are a good example because they contain a lot of repetition. "This helps the brain to remember a melody. Artists such as Prince, for example, are completely different, as only the song 'Purple Rain' actually has a melody and became his biggest hit. Children's songs thrive on content."
After "Tom Träumer" now the party pirates
Bond is currently working on the completion of his fifth fairytale musical "Jackie MacSabre and the Party Pirates": "Jackie MacSabre is a princess who is protected from the world by a security officer and from being kidnapped by pirates. But for her, that would be the biggest dream of all," he summarizes the plot. The play is very different from his last children's musical hit "Tom Träumer", which was very balladic and profound. "This time I wanted to write a piece that is cheerful from the start."
Musical recommended for ages 4 and up
Born in England, the trained pastor spent four years of his childhood in the Congo before coming to Switzerland at the age of 12: "At that age, fairy tales were no longer an issue for me," he recalls. "But in England there is a huge pantomime tradition, especially in the run-up to Christmas, which I loved as a small child." Nevertheless, Bond only recommends a visit to a musical for children aged four and over: "One, two and three-year-olds can often sing along to my songs and dance to them. But a whole musical can quickly become scary for them. The youngest children also find it difficult to sit still for a whole hour or longer." Incidentally, this also applies to Bond himself: "My wife won't come to the movies with me because I can't sit still for more than half an hour. I do read a lot, but otherwise the consumption quickly becomes too much for me."
JACKIE MACSÄBELANDTHE PARTY PIRATES
22.10.16-09.04.17, various locations
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