The story of Tritonus goes back to before 1980. Urs Klauser and Beat Wolf, both of them instrument makers and musicians, were united in their interest in old folk music of varied provenance, and in their desire to research thoroughly the Swiss folk music of previous centuries. They reconstructed instruments according to historical models, and on these, they brought the melodic material that they had discovered to new life, as it would originally have sounded. At the centre of their interest were instruments such as the Swiss bagpipe, the shawm, the cittern, the fife, the hurdy-gurdy and the Jew's harp. These were the instruments that had been popular and widely spread until they were superseded in the 19th century, primarily by the accordion (the so-called "Schwyzerörgeli"). The price-winning first Tritonus-CD «Old Folk-Music in Switzerland» (1991) marked a turning point in research into these old traditions. About fifteen years after this CD appeared - it has since become a 'standard work' - Tritonus ventured into new musical territory, with added personnel. Together with young jazz musicians, they created «Alpan» – a repertoire that unites tradition and innovation, the origins and future of our folk music.