Marco Nussbaumer drew inspiration from the folk music of Ticino for the music of the dialect musical *Die Schwarzen Brüder*, which was performed in 2012 by students in Arlesheim (BL, Switzerland). The lyrics are based on the novel of the same name by Lisa Tetzner. This overture for wind orchestra brings together the musical’s main themes into a self-contained concert version.
The piece opens with “Ticino music.” Twelve-year-old Giorgio lives with his family in poverty in Sonogno in the Verzasca Valley. After two years of crop failures, hunger, and misfortune, his father sees no other way out than to sell the boy to Milan to work as a chimney sweep.
Giorgio says goodbye to his family (bar 14) and sets off for the meeting point in Locarno. There he meets numerous other boys. During the crossing of Lake Maggiore, the child traffickers’ completely overcrowded boat is caught in a severe storm (bar 17). The boat capsizes, and only Giorgio, his friend Alfredo, and one child trafficker survive the disaster. Upon arriving in Milan, Giorgio is sold to a master chimney sweep and must learn the hard and dangerous work of a chimney sweep (line 30).
The chimney-sweep boys suffer from hunger, smoke inhalation, and abuse at the hands of their masters. In addition, they are hounded, mocked, and beaten by the “Wolves,” a gang of Milanese boys. To protect themselves, they band together to form the “Black Brothers” (line 36). Together, they find the strength to stand up to their tormentors and endure their harsh fate.
When Alfredo falls seriously ill and eventually dies, some of the chimney sweep boys decide to flee (line 38). After a long and exhausting journey, they finally reach their homeland and return to their beloved Ticino (line 40).
