Third Scandinavian music course session

Another great session with yet another kind of polska, this time a Norwegian variety. A 'polsdans' from the border area between Sweden and Norway. These dance tunes with a short third beat are generally referred to simply as 'finnskogspols' to separate them from other kinds of polska rhythms.
 In the session I called the tune Black Marits, but it turned out to be a typo on my computer... it is supposed to by Back-Marits.

First here is my own recording of the tune with melody and the two different harmonies we did. The second harmony can be played together with the first one for a three part arrangement.

Here is the dots for the arrangement but as I have said before play with the recording first of all!

 
I found two slightly different versions of the tune on YouTube, the first one is played by the Norwegian melodeon player Ingunn Bjørgo, and the second one a version played by Atle Lien Jenssen and Olav Sæta is from the album '24 polsdanser frå Finnskogen', a CD which I played for you after the session (the whole album is actually available on YouTube).

Atle Lien Jenssen and Olav Sæta

Ingunn Bjørgo

And if you are interested in hearing some older field recordings from this area, I recommend the album "Puken i Kjerketårnet" (also available on YouTube)

The Scandinavian music course, 2nd session

Thanks for another good session last night, I thought it sounded really good at the end!

The tune we did was a polska after Elias Larsson, from Västergötland in Southwestern Sweden. I have recorded the various parts below and added an extra YouTube video with the group Crane Dance Trio (Jonas Simonsson (flute), Mats Eden (fiddle) and Mattias Perez (guitar)) playing their arrangement of the same polska. 

 

If you want to look at the dots for the music arrangement you can see them below but remember to listen and play with the recording as well. If you want to go back to basics you can have a look at the original transcription of the tune in the collections of the Swedish folk music commission here.

Some of the CDs I played before and after the course, was Crane Dance Trio, Härjedalspipan, and the Norwegian group Hått.

See you next week!

First session with the Trad Academy's Scandinavian Music Course

Yesterday was the first of four sessions for the Scandinavian music course. We met at a lovely new venue, the Vintage Emporium on Bacon street and were taken very good care of by Jess who served drinks as well as played the fiddle. Below are the two slängpolskas we played during the session, both from the island of Gotland, 'Gamble Mörti' and Vevlirepolskan (although we only started on the second one). I have also added a few links to other recordings of the tunes.
The music we listened to after the session was played by Gunnfjaun's Kapell, Jidder, 'Löfberg, Björnlert, Pekkari' and Luftstråk.

The polskas:
Gamble Mörti was first recorded by the singer Karl Lithberg for the Swedish Radio in 1956, but I learnt it from a CD with Gunnfjaun's Kapell, a influential folk group focusing on the music of Gotland. Gunnfjaun's also recorded vevlirepolskan, which has become a popular tune on the Swedish folk scene.

Gamble Mörti twice through slowly:

Harmony part (slightly different from the session version, sorry!):

Vevlirepolskan, only melody slowly:

Karl Lithberg singing Gamble Mörti:

Gunnfjaun's Kapell playing the same tune (at 3.15) in a set of short polskas:

Same group playing vevlirepolskan:

CV

At the present, I am a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at Royal Holloway, University of London, while also working as a freelance musician and music educator. Below is a selection of my qualifications, education, publications and work experience.  

For a full CV please contact me via the contact form to the left of the page.

Work
Since 2011 I have been a returning tutor for the English Folk Dance and Song Society, especially their youth folk music project, Get Your Folk On!. I am also teaching the folk music ensemble at the Centre for Young Musicians in Lambeth together with Laura Hewison, and have been involved in various other shorter projects with both EFDSS and CYM. I have also taught general instrument skills to beginners as well as more experienced students. Before my beginning my doctoral studies at Royal Holloway I also taught clarinet for Newham Council's Every Child a Musician project, as well as teaching private students on melodeon and clarinet. Before moving to London in 2009, I regularly taught music in both primary schools and music services. During 2015 I have been a visiting lecturer and teaching assistant at the Royal Holloway department teaching parts of the Introduction to World Music course. At the moment I am also working with the Trad Academy to do a number workshops focusing on Scandinavian music.
As a musician I have been performing at folk festivals in Sweden both as a dance musician and on stage. I have also performed at weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies and events. Since moving to London I have primarily been teaching, but also performed at open-stage events at various folk clubs. I have played as a supporting act to Brass Monkey at the Goose is Out folk club in Nunhead, and played Swedish music at various events. Until 2009 I regularly played with the Swedish-Vietnamese group [Ojzaioj] performing in both Vietnam and Sweden. 

Education
I hold a Swedish Teachers Degree in Music (Master of Education) from the Malmö Academy of Music, University of Lund (2009), as well as a Master's degree in Ethnomusicology from Goldsmiths, University of London (2010). Prior to my university studies I did a one-year long course in traditional singing at the Malung Folk High School (2002). In addition to full-length degrees, I have also studied, contemporary philosophy (Södertörn University, 2012) and Medieval History (University of Gävle, 2006). Since 2012 I am a PhD candidate at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Publications 
2008, “Tunes from Enånger, Njutånger and Nianfors”. (Self published, copies and PDF's can be bought from me)

2010,  “Thang Long Ca tru Club - New Ways for Old Music”. (Peer-reviewed article in the “Finnish Journal for Music Education”, vol.13, nr 1, 2010.)

2012, “A meeting in Ninh Binh: reflections on Buber and the ethnographic meeting point”. (Book chapter in ‘If I were a Drongo bird: Reflections on yearning, imagination and creativity - a tribute to Håkan Lundström’ (Lund University Press; Berry, ed.))

2015(tbc), “Ca trù: the Revival and Repositioning of a Vietnamese Music Tradition”. (Peer-reviewed chapter in the edited volume ‘Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: an Ecological Perspective’ (Oxford University Press, Schippers & Grant, eds.), co-authored with Prof. Hakan Lundstrom.)

Awards
In 2005 I was awarded the title Riksspelman [National folk musician] for my performance of traditional music from the province of Hälsingland.

A melodeon polska

I learnt this tune many years ago, but it suddenly popped up again when I was sitting at home playing some tunes a few days ago. Its a sweet little polska from the fiddler Per Westberg's (1886-1975) handwritten music manuscripts. Per's son Arvid Westberg (1918-2013) let me copy his father's tune collection and I often used to play pieces from Per's repertoire when I when went to Arvid's house. If I remember correctly this particular tune, which can be found in many version around Sweden, was dated 1911. When I was little we used to sing one version in school while dancing around the Christmas tree; "Morsgrisar är vi allihopa, allihopa, allihopa...." 

Swedish folk music lecture at Royal Holloway

At the moment I am preparing a lecture on Swedish folk music revival, tradition and heritage, for the undergraduate course in World Music at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The idea is that throughout the course the students should meet different musics around the world, beyond the genres and styles which they may already be familiar with, in addition to getting an understanding of key concepts in ethnomusicology and music research.

It will be interesting to see how the students react to the various takes on three-beat rhythm in Scandinavian dance music, but also I hope to get them to critically engage with ambivalent concepts such as tradition and heritage in relation to music.

I am planning to use my own work as a musician as the subject for the lecture to, in a way, give a face to the real musicians who often hides behind ethnographic descriptions in journals and books.  As such it will be a kind of autoethnographic account on Swedish traditional music; which I think will be interesting for me as well as the students.

The main reading will be an article by Owe Ronström on Swedish fiddle music, tradition and heritage, and the additional reading is David Kaminsky’s article on dancing, gender and eroticism.  It is difficult to find English language academic writings on Swedish traditional music, but I think Ronström’s and Kaminsky’s very different texts will provide some interesting discussion in the seminars after the lecture. In general I find it easier to engage groups if they get to do something else in addition to listing so there will definitely be some student participation in the lecture, maybe singing or dancing, and some live music on clarinet and melodeon from me.

A flyer