Swedish folk music is agenre ofmusic based largely onfolkloric collection work that began in the early 19th century inSweden.[1] The primaryinstrument of Swedish folk music is thefiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish traditions, is thenyckelharpa. Most Swedish instrumental folk music isdance music; the signature music and dance form within Swedish folk music is thepolska. Vocal and instrumental traditions in Sweden have tended to sharetunes historically, though they have been performed separately.[2] Beginning with thefolk music revival of the 1970s,vocalists andinstrumentalists have also begun to perform together infolk musicensembles.
The history of Swedish folk music collection began with the formation of an organization called theGothic Society (Götiska Förbundet) in 1811, shortly after the establishment of Sweden as a modernconstitutional monarchy in 1809.[3] The first published transcription of a Swedishfolk tune came out in their journalIduna in 1813. The men of the Gothic Society were primarily interested in collecting the oldest materials they could find among the peasants of the Swedish countryside.[4] Collection in the 19th century largely followed this model; the music was generallyarranged for performance by people whose primary background was inart music.[5]
In the early 1890s, the first "public" performances of Swedish folk music by actualspelmän (folk musicians) were held atSkansen,Stockholm'sopen-air museum of Swedishfolklife.[6] The first Swedishspelman contest was held in 1906, and the first national gathering of Swedish spelmän in 1910.[7] Over time, the contests began to fade, and the less formal gatherings became the primary venue forSwedish folk musicians to interact with one another.[8] Instrumental folk music was still primarily asolo tradition during the first half of the 20th century, and the best-known players were virtuosic fiddlers from theprovince ofHälsingland.[9]
In the 1940s, the firstspelmanslag, oramateur folk music groups, were established, associated primarily with the music ofDalarna.[10] The first major recording project for Swedish folk music was also launched in the late 1940s.[11] Some of the most popular recordings were of spelmanslag in Dalarna, and during the 1950s the spelmanslag phenomenon spread throughout the country.[12]
The beginnings of thefolk music revival could already be seen in the mid-1960s,[13] influenced by albums such asJan Johansson'sJazz på svenska ("Jazz in Swedish") released in 1962 (EP) and 1964 (LP). The movement gained momentum in 1970 in the aftermath of Gärdesfesten, Sweden's answer toWoodstock.[14]
Elsewhere during the 1960s and 1970s, rock and pop musicians began adapting Swedish folk music into their own compositions. The 1967 albumStudio byTages along with subsequent singles "There's a Blind Man Playin' Fiddle in the Street" and "Fantasy Island" from 1968 were amongst the first rock recordings blending the genres.[15][16]
In the years since, Swedish folk music has once again receded into asubcultural niche, but the revival has effected a number of changes. These include the addition of a number of new instruments (saxophone,flute,tambourine,guitar, andmandola, to name a few) as well as some revived instruments (e.g.Swedish bagpipe,hurdy-gurdy, andhärjedalspipa).[17] The inclusion of these instruments has meant the invention of new forms ofensemble music (given that Swedish folk music had previously been primarily a solomelody tradition).[18] Apolska dance revival, beginning in the early 1980s, has meant new contexts for the music to be played in. Swedish folk music has entered the educational system at all levels; musicians are becoming more and more skilled at ever-younger ages.[19]
^"Sin främsta härd i Sverige fick de nya strömningarna i det välkändaGötiska Förbundet, bildat 1811… mot bakgrund av Sveriges krigsnederlag mot Ryssland 1809 [The new currents had their primary manifestation in the well-knownGothic Society, formed in 1811… against the background of Sweden's military loss to Russia in 1809]" (Ternhag 1980:49); "De första utgåvorna av folkmusik [kom till] inom Götiska Förbundet [The first publications of folk music {came about} within The Gothic Society]" (Ivarsdotter-Johnson 1992:58).
^"Vad man ville visa fram var en 'nationalegendom' av 'svenska folkvisor från forntiden'… den ålderdomligaste av visgenrerna i Norden [What they wanted to show was a 'national treasure' of 'Swedish folk songs from ancient days'… the oldest of Nordic song genres]" (Ivarsdotter-Johnson 1992:59).
^"I denna inramning fick stockholmarna för första gången höra spelmännen själva framföra sin musik i original. Den förste fiolspelmannen, Skölds Anders Hedblom från Leksand, framträdde redan invigningsåret 1891 [Within this context, the Stockholmers for the first time were able to hear the spelmän play their music themselves in its original form. The firstfiddler, Skölds Anders Hedblom fromLeksand, performed already during {Skansen's} inaugural year, in 1891" (Ivardsotter-Johnson and Ramsten 1992:239-240).
^"1906 – året för den första spelmanstävlingen [1906 – the year of the first spelman contest]" (Roempke 1980:264); "riksspelmansstämman… 1910… var emellertid i sammanhanget något helt nytt [The national spelman's gathering… in 1910… was something completely new in this context]" (Roempke 1980:269).
^"Tävlingarna fortsatte fram till första världskriget, men med en avmattning redan efter riksspelmansstämman på Musikaliska akademien och Skansen sommaren 1910…. Stämmor senare börjar dyka upp parallelt med tävlingarna [The contests continued up until the first world war, but with a decline beginning already after the national folk musicians' gathering at the Musical academy and Skansen in the summer of 1910…. Gatherings later begin to pop up running parallel with the contests]" (Roempke 1980:269).
^"Men under 1940-talet slår spelmanslagen igenom. Den tändande gnistan var Dalaföreningens spelmanslag…. 1940 bildas Leksands spelmanslag, följt av Rättvik 1944 och Transtrand 1945 [But during the 1940s the spelmanslag break through. The spark was the Dalarna Association Spelmanslag…. In 1940 Leksand's spelmanslag was formed, followed by Rättvik in 1944 and Transtrand in 1945]" (Roempke 1980:280-281).
^"Som nämnts ovan hade Radiotjänst åren 1948-49 på Olof Forséns initiativ börjat följa upp den då avslutade folkvisetävlingen med inspelningar.... Vid dalaresan användes en 5-tons inspelningsbuss med tekniker och chaufför" ["As mentioned above, in the years 1948–1949 the Radio Service had on the initiative of Olof Forsén started to follow up the then completed folk song contest with recordings.... For the trip to Dalarna a 5 ton recording bus was used, with a technician and a chauffeur" (Ramsten 1979:135).
^"Arnbergs insatser genom insamling av folkmusik… var förutsättningen för den nya folkmusikvåg som redan vid mitten av 60-talet var klart skönjbar [Arnberg's contributions through the collection of folk music… were prerequisite to the new folk music wave that was already clearly noticeable in the mid-60s]" (Ling 1980:40).
Ivarsdotter-Jonsson, Anna (1992). "Upptäckten av folkmusiken." InMusiken i Sverige III, edited by Leif Jonsson and Martin Tegen, 53-70. Stockholm: Fischer & Co.(in Swedish)
Ivarsdotter-Jonsson, Anna, and Märta Ramsten (1992). "Folkmusiken som nationell och provinsiell symbol." InMusiken i Sverige III, edited by Leif Jonsson and Martin Tegen, 237-250. Stockholm: Fischer & Co.(in Swedish)
Jersild, Margareta (1976). "Om förhållandet mellan vokalt och instrumentalt i svensk folkmusik.Svensk tidskrift för musikforskning 58(2): 53-66.(in Swedish)
Kaminsky, David (2005). "Hidden Traditions: Conceptualizing Swedish Folk Music in the Twenty-First Century." Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University.
Ling, Jan (1980). "'Upp, Bröder, Kring Bildningens Fana:' Om Folkmusikens Historia och Ideologi." InFolkmusikboken, edited by Jan Ling, et al., 44-65. Stockholm: Prisma: 11-43.(in Swedish)
Ramsten, Märta (1992).Återklang: Svensk Folkmusik i Förändring 1950-1980. Stockholm: Svenskt Visarkiv.(in Swedish)
Roempke, Ville (1980). "'Ett nyår för svensk folkmusik:' Om spelmansrörelsen." InFolkmusikboken, edited by Jan Ling, et al., 263-296. Stockholm: Prisma.(in Swedish)
Ternhag, Gunnar (1980). "'Att rädda några dyrbara lemningar af fordna tiders musik:' Om folkmusikens källor." InFolkmusikboken, edited by Jan Ling, et al., 44-65. Stockholm: Prisma.(in Swedish)
