I Strìi da Püs
This project aimed at arranging and recording some manuscript melodies recently found in a theatrical manuscript of the 1860’s. This resulted in a little suite.
Performed by Katharina Huber (violin), Thomas Huber (violoncello), Sergio Brivio (contrabass), Benedetto Castelli (trumpet), myself (clarinet). These are low quality previews of the recording of may 13, 2006, hosted and sponsored by Radio Svizzera di lingua italiana, Rete 2 
About the project:
The idea came about as Mario Delucchi was finishing his book on the history of Massimo (Massimin) Cometta, a multitalented (and politically very active) artist that was born and lived in Arogno during the 19th century. Among other things, Cometta wrote some theater plays to be performed in the village’s theatre (one of the first theatres in the region, sponsored by the owners of the workplant that brought a sudden development to the small village). The most famous among his plays, I strìi da Püs (the witches of Püs), is still remembered - and sometimes even performed. Mario Delucchi found the original manuscript, that had been lying for almost a century in an old house of the village, now owned by miss Rita Cometta.
The surprise of this fond was that in the manuscript Massimin sketched the melodies that had to be performed during the play. These are very rough annotations but quite understandable, as Massimin was also an amateur musician. This is even more interesting as the play relies heavily on the music.
Indeed, the story is about a group of “witches” meeting in the woods of Arogno and their interaction with the population of the village - indeed, they will favor the marriage of a young bride pair (Mimì and Filìzz) in spite of the envy of egoistic Pepp who also wants to marry Mimi. Each of the three characters successively gets to take part at a sabbath (barlozz) by hiding behind a tree and loudly “throwing in” a completion of the song the witches are singing. The first two nights, the ideas of Mimì and Filìzz indeed sound well and improve the chant of the witches, who (unexpectedly) reward them with gifts that will eventually carry to their marriage (they give jewels to the lady and take away the hump that made Filìzz so unattractive). As egoistic Pepp comes to have his goitre healed and be able to take away Mimì from Filìzz, his suggestion sounds bad and does not fit the tune of the witches. They will then make fun of him by appending to his back the hump they took away from Filìzz. The marriage of Filìzz and Mimì is then celebrated in the square of the village with the people dancing and the witches singing.
The idea has been to take these melodies and arrange them in a small suite, in order not to let them disappear again and to fix them on a recording. The arrangements take some freedom at times, but we believe that we kept the joyful spirit of Massimin. The instrumentation with three strings, clarinet and trumpet was inspired by the Fränzlis da Tschlin.