Music in Sweden 2 - Folk music
Folk musicians and their music (2)

 

The "spelman" was often thought to be something of a wizard: many were said to have been taught to play by the "necken", a being who, according to popular belief, lives in brooks and rivers and has special relationship to the Devil. People were said to be unable to resist dancing to tunes learned from the "necken". Even tables and chairs would join in! There are many tales of musicians who used their wizardry to make the strings break on their competitors fiddle or to conjure flies into their clarinets. But these magic powers could sometimes be brought to help in critical situations. Byss-Kalle (1783-1847), a "spelman" from Uppland is said to have met a few cartloads on a long, steep, slippery hill on his way home from a dance one cold winter morning. The horses were unable to draw their loads up the hill so Byss-Kalle, despite the protests of the carters, sat on the foremost cartload and played it up the hill. The tune he used is still played, and is named "Storsvarten" ("The Big Black" = the name of a horse). Wedding with folk games in Jämtland 1910. A "spelman" was kept busy at weddings and funerals. Practices in connection with such occasions vary greatly from one part of Sweden to another. In some areas – Dalarna for instance – they played in church, a practice unthinkable in certain other areas. Usually a "gånglåt" – a marching- or walking-tune – was played when the wedding-procession was on its way to the church. During the dinner, which was several hours long, each drink and course was borne to the table to the accompaniment of its particular tune: snaps-polka, joint-tune etc. Later the dancing would begin, to continue all night long. Everyone could not, of course, afford such an expensive wedding. If, for one reason or another a "spelman" could not be engaged, a "trallare" – a performer of dance-music with a special, wordless song-technique – could suffice.

 

Folk musicians and their music (2)
Music in Sweden 2 - Folk music