Music in Sweden 2 - Folk music
Folk musicians and their music (3)

 

The most popular dance was the polska, of which many variations exist: each parish around Lake Siljan in the county of Dalarna has its own version, for instance. The origin of the polska is uncertain, but its name suggests that it came from Poland. The polska usually has three beats to the bar, but some tunes with an even beat also bear the name. This confusion is thought to arise from the fact that the polska originally evolved from a pair of dances one of which had an even beat, the other three beats to the bar. The most common – and perhaps the oldest – kind of polska is the eighth-note polska where the first and third beats are heavily accented and the second beat is very long. Another common type is the "slängpolska" or sixteenth-note polska, where the rhythm is so even that it is hard for the uninitiated to tell whether the beat is even or not. The "slängpolska" arose under the influence of the polonaise. New dances and a new sound came in the wake of the accordion, which arrived in Sweden towards the end of the 19th century and soon became popular. Photo: Nordiska museet. New dances came to Sweden during the late 18th century and the 19th century: first the quadrille and the waltz, then the mazurka and polka, the latter giving rise to a Swedish version called the "schottis". New dances and a new sound came in the wake of the accordion, which arrived in Sweden towards the end of the 19th century and soon became popular. The accordion had a greater volume than the Swedish instruments and was moreover easier to master than the fiddle or keyed fiddle. The one- and two-rowed melodeons which were sold in Sweden were suitable for music in major keys – it was almost impossible to play the minor polskas of Sweden with their frequent complicated passages on such an instrument. The new dances – waltz, polka and later tango – were played instead, and the polska was transformed into a simpler dance called the "hambo". The repertoire which is associated with the accordion is called "gammaldansmusik", which, more or less means "old-time dancemusic", and purists do not regard it as genuine folk music. During the second half of the 19th century a religious revival movement spread over large areas of Sweden. The preachers condemned the fiddle as a tool of the Devil, which enticed the young folk from the path of righteousness. Many fiddles were smashed to pieces. In some areas the instrumental folk music tradition was exterminated.

 

Folk musicians and their music (3)
Music in Sweden 2 - Folk music