“The Dolomites greet us from afar, in red glow for the last farewell,” says the march “The Loyalty to the Land of Tyrol”. Florian Pedarnig composed the piece of music when he was 17. Now he greets his beloved Tyrolean wind and folk music family for the last farewell.
Pedarnig was born in 1938 and grew up at the “Krasshof” in Schlaiten with 15 other siblings. He began playing the clarinet at the age of twelve, five years later he took over his home band as conductor. Pedarnig started an impressive music career: He studied in Munich, was a member of the military band and was the Tyrolean state bandmaster.
The “Flor”, as it was called in its East Tyrolean homeland, also played a significant role in the further development of the quality of folk music in Tyrol. And he also acted as an ambassador for the East Tyrolean dulcimer. Music professor Peter Kostner paid tribute to Pedarnig’s work in the book “A Life for Music”which was published at Easter this year. He received the Folk Music Prize of the State of Tyrol in 2013.
“Loyalty to the state of Tyrol”
Pedarnig will be remembered around the world as the composer of the march “Dem Land Tirol die Treue”, which became the secret Tyrolean national anthem. He himself had an ambivalent relationship to his “hit”. The work, whose lyrics were written by Florian’s brother Josef, is in itself a piece of extremely high quality. It hurt him that folk bands often covered the march badly, and that in tent festivals the line “A hard fight cut you in two, South Tyrol was torn from you” was often shouted “Thank God”.
Pedarnig was a down-to-earth musician who loved his homeland and its culture. “The peaks shine brightly in their splendour, and shine far from the steep cliffs,” says the march. His work will shine long into the future of Tyrolean and Austrian brass bands.