Faun (final performance * Faerieworlds 2009 * August 2, 2009)

Faun

Faun – Day 3 @ Faerieworlds
Faerieworlds * August 2, 2009 * 7-8:45 pm * Mt. Pisgah, Eugene, Oregon *

Somehow I didn’t come to expect that I’d be blessed and lucky enough to see my favorite band twice at this festival. This time, for the finale for Faerieworlds, they played in the daylight as evening was just arriving on Sunday August 2, during family faerie day. An amazing spiral dance was danced to them. So very empowering. I have never been more mesmerized and enchanted by a musical ensemble before until my experiences with “Faun”. The name of the band comes from the Ancient Greek-Roman mythology term for the Deity “Faunus” or “Pan” which is represented as a forested spirit and is why Oliver Pade, one of the main singers, is nicknamed “Satyr” as it is very related to “Faunus”. Faun is a extremely talented German Pagan Folk / Darkwave band that was formed in 2002 by Oliver “SaTyr” Pade, Elisabeth Pawelke, Fiona Rüggeberg and Birgit Muggenthaler. The same year they released their first album “Zaubersprüche” which included the guest musician Niel Mitra who later joined the band as the only member playing electronic instruments. They were joined by percussionist Rüdiger Maul in 2004 replacing Birgit who joined the folk-rock band “Schandmaul”. They lost Elisabeth Pawelke in 2008 as she went to focus her studies in classical song in Basel, Switzerland and was succeeded by Sandra Elflein. Faun takes extreme pride and admiration in the use and incorporation of “ancient” & Medieval instruments that they are quite well known for such as the Celtic Harp, Swedish Nyckelharpa, Hurdy Gurdy, Bagpipes, Cittern, Flutes, Drums, and assortment of stringed instruments; merging them with modern inspiration and in some instances, synthesizing. Singing of old tales, epics, and sagas are the heart of their music incorporating their very skilled grasp of many languages they use in their music, including German, Latin, Modern German, Middle High German, Old Icelandic, West Low German, Hungarian, Finnish, Ladino, and Scandinavian. The band is very proudly inspired and dedicated to “nature” bringing back much of the lost Pagan, Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance flavor of high-admiration for nature, mythology, folklore, and woodland spirits/faeries. Oliver Pade said at the 2004 Summer Darkness festival in Utrecht, Netherlands “We don’t know ourselves what kind of music we play, so we call it paganfolk”. Historical and folk tunes blended in world music with a folk twist, ranging from melancholic ballads, ancient Perso-Arab melodies, Swedish nyckelharpa, Middle High German lyrics, to exuberant dances like the Brittanic An Dro, and Medieval/Goth club tunes.

Faun