SUSANNE WENGER Choirs are omnipresent in the run-up to Christmas. Festive concerts come thick and fast from ensembles such as the Bach Choir of Berne, the Swiss Youth Choir, the Appenzeller Mittelland Gospel Choir, and the Pro Arte Choir of Lausanne. But choirs also sing all year round. Switzerland has a rich choral scene. Federal statistics show that one in five people in the country sing in their free time – mostly every week and most often in a choir. “Compared to other European countries, Switzerland has one of the highest numbers of singers per capita,” says Caiti Hauck from the University of Bern. It is hard to pinpoint the exact number of choirs, because they come in many forms. Over 1,200 are currently affiliated to the Swiss Choral Association (SCV), the country’s umbrella organisation of secular choirs. They include male, female, mixed, children’s and youth choirs. Following a decline during the Covid pandemic, the number of choirs has levelled out, says Anna-Barbara Winzeler of the SCV. There are also hundreds of church choirs, hundreds of yodelling clubs, and many informal ensembles that do not appear in any official registers. Historical roots There is a particularly high concentration of choirs in the canton of Fribourg, whose choral scene is included in Switzerland’s national inventory of “living traditions” – a list compiled by the Federal Office of Culture in accordance with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Yet why are choirs so popular in Switzerland? Group singing improves mental health and demonstrably strengthens the immune system, but historical factors are also at play. In the 19th century, choirs were more than just a way to make music. They gained political clout at a time of tension between liberals and conservatives, and the Reformed and Catholic Church. The federal Swiss state was born in 1848, one year after the Sonderbund War. It was Europe’s How choir music shaped modern Switzerland Choirs are extremely popular in Switzerland. Singing in a choir is a hobby for many people today. Yet in the 19th century, choirs exerted political influence heralding the birth of the modern federal Swiss state, says Berne musicologist Caiti Hauck, who has completed a pioneering study of the choral scene. first-ever modern democracy. “Male voice choirs helped to further political awareness during the infancy of the Swiss state,” explains Hauck, who has conducted a pioneering in-depth study of the choral scene in the cities of Berne and Fribourg, relying on commemorative publications, association records, membership lists, written correspondence, concert programmes, and press articles as sources of information. Political agenda Hauck found over 100 choirs in Berne and Fribourg. Notable examples included French-speaking Switzerland’s first-ever secular men’s choir, the Société de Chant de la Ville de Fribourg, founded in 1841, and the Berner Liedertafel, established in 1845. Both choirs espoused liberal-radical views – unlike the Catholic and conservative-leaning Fribourg The Chœur mixte St-Michel from Haute-Nendaz – one of over 1,200 choirs in Switzerland. Photo: Keystone Caiti Hauck of the University of Bern studied the early history of choirs in Berne and Fribourg. Photo: Dres Hubacher Swiss Review / December 2025 / No.5 9 Society
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