Beny Rehmann was born on 11 September 1936 in Kaisten AG as the twelfth of thirteen children. When he turned 16, he got a trumpet as a present from his brother. He graduated from military training school as a trumpeter, was discovered by Georges Hofer as a solo talent and admitted into the music society Strengelbach (MGS).
On New Year’s Eve 1962/63, he had his first appearance with his quartet “Die lustigen Tiroler Musikanten”. The performance was a huge success, including pieces such as “Tanz beim Dorfwirt”, or “Die Dorfschöne” von Slavko Avsenik. Beny had listened to a live concert with the “Original Oberkrainer” on the radio and was so enthused by it that he joined up with me to play this wonderful kind of music. Only a few people in Switzerland were aware of the sweeping Oberkrainer sound at the time. It is a type of music which has its origins in Slovenian folklore.
Successful with his own compositions
Encouraged by the success from the New Year’s Eve 1962/63 performance, Beny Rehmann began to compose his own pieces. He consciously emphasised his own style by using chord sequences which do not appear in Slovenian folk music.
In 1965, he participated in the well-known Blick-Festival at the time with his “lustige Tiroler Musikanten” and came third during the final in the Kursaal in Berne, after Paola del Medico and the Eugster Quartett. First sound recordings followed.
Beny renamed his formation “Beny Rehmann Quintett”, expanded the ensemble to a sextet, extended the music styles and finally performed under the name “Beny Rehmann Showorchester”.
About 4,000 live performances
With about 4,000 live performances, radio and TV appearances at the SRF, ORF, ZDF, ARD, e.g. eight times in the Musikantenstadel with Karl Moik, it was not possible to imagine the show scene at the time without him.
Beny Rehmann was a pioneer of the scene. Despite negative projections by various Swiss concert agencies, he still dared to embark upon a tour in autumn with twenty performances in well-known Swiss concert hall at the beginning of the 80ies. The result: Sold-out concerts!
Hits by Beny Rehmann turned into evergreens
His recordings were awarded with Gold (16 times), Platinum (7 times) and Double Platinum (once). In 1984, he received the Prix Walo as best Swiss Show Star. In 2012, he received another Prix Walo, this time the honorary award.
Evergreens such as the “Schiffsfeger-Polka”, “Dreamland”, “Morgenmuffel”, “Jeden Tag geht die Sonne auf” or “Oh Katharina” shall live on and stay on for posterity as his musical legacy.
Making people happy with his golden trumpet
Beny Rehmann was an open, honest, humble but also ambitious and pedantic musician. He received a great deal of support from his family who he put above everything else. He put his whole heart and soul into his compositions. Beny’s brilliant and sensitive play with the gold trumpet was unmistakable.
Since 19/12/2014, Beny Rehmann is no longer with us. He had to struggle with health problems for a number of years.
Thank you Beny, that you gave me the opportunity to accompany you over many decades as a colleague and musician and to make tens of thousands of people happy with your music.