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The Concertina In Sweden?


owlgal

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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find more information about the conceritina in Sweden. Was it called something other than concertina? I've looked in the National Library catalog but I can't find anything. Found this old website http://www.concertina.se/ but there isn't much left of it.

Concertina is called 'concertina' in Swedish.

Occasionally it is called 'dragspel' - but that is most often associated with accordions.

Concertinas in Sweden were also previously associated with The Salvation Army (Frälsningsarmén).

There are a number of concertina players in Sweden who are also members of this forum - I'm sure they'll chime in.

 

Myself, I play mostly Nordic music on the English concertina.

Edited by SteveS
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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find more information about the conceritina in Sweden. Was it called something other than concertina? I've looked in the National Library catalog but I can't find anything. Found this old website http://www.concertina.se/ but there isn't much left of it.

 

Hej ugglaflicka, var i Sverige bor du? (Hi owlgirl, where in Sweden do you live?)

 

Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to Pontus about that web site.

 

I live in Helsingør, Denmark, and I have many music friends in Sweden -- from Skåne to Jämtland, -- including a few concertina players, so maybe I can help?

 

As for the name in Swedish, it's often called dragspel by those who don't know any better, but concertina is the only name I know for it that distinguishes it from accordions. (In Denmark it's sometimes known as klovnharmonika, i.e., "clown accordion", but I'm not aware of anything like that in Swedish.)

 

And as far as I know, there's no tradition of concertina playing in Sweden besides its former use by the Salvation Army (Frälsningsarmén) and a very few contemporary musicians for Morris dancing (an imported English tradition). There are a few essentially independent individuals today, and I've heard that there were also a few in the past, but I have almost no information about those earlier ones.

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I'm up north in Härnösand.

 

Closest I've been to Härnösand is changing trains in Sundsvall, but I'm often in Jämtland, in a village about 100 km south of Östersund and 40 km from Vemdalen.

 

The Scandinavina Squeeze-in in April looks like it could be fun....

 

I certainly hope so. That's my responsibility. :)

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Thanks, I'm up north in Härnösand. The Scandinavina Squeeze-in in April looks like it could be fun http://www.nonce.dk/SSI/

This is lovely! I read through the site with a smile on my face. It looks like such fun! I've yet to make our own NE Squeeze-In in the US, so the Scandinavian Squeeze-In will have to be a vicarious pleasure.

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Thanks, I'm up north in Härnösand.

Sits in a very nice location at the gateway to Höga Kusten (The High Coast) - I drove past Härnösand up the E4 on my way to an assignment in Örnsköldsvik years ago.

 

I try to get to Dalarna and/or Småland in the summer, and Stockholm as often as I can.

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I've read the topics of this discussion with interest. I live on an island off the swedish west coast and have been playing the anglo now for a couple of years and go to Ireland a couple of times every year for education and see Noel Hill and others in Co Clare for inspiration.

No, there is not another word for the concertina and just, concertina, in the swedish language. And as Jim says, the only tradition(?) there is in Sweden is the Salvation Army. There are no evidence among those thousands and thousands of traditional tunes in Sweden of any concertina. And every time I use the concertina during concerts I have to explain what it is!

I have a friend who is one of the most loved actors in Sweden, he uses it sometimes when he appears as a clown in a theatre piece! And it's a Crabb with english system. So. I reckon, you can count the anglo-players on one hand. And it's a pity! So, welcome in the small community. There are a few Facebook-communities if you are interested as well!

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So. I reckon, you can count the anglo-players on one hand.

 

I'm pleased to say that the situation isn't quite that bad.

 

Of those who take their anglo playing seriously, I can count six that I know personally, and that's without counting yourself or owlgal. In the past I've known a couple of others who had anglos and dabbled, but I haven't seen them for a while and don't know what they're doing currently.

 

To that I can add at least six who own and play English, a couple of others who own them but don't yet play/practice much, and a couple more who used to have Englishes but currently don't.

 

Finally, there's Pär Sörman, who uses a Crane duet to accompany some songs in his performances, plus two of the above-counted anglo players who also have Crane duets but so far don't use them very much.

 

So don't give up hope. :)

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Goran Rahm who lives in Sweden is the man you should contact. He plays the English Concertina, and has written extensively in the I.C.A, Publications. I have met him on several occasions at Concertina Weekends in England, and I am sure there is not much he doesn't know about concertinas in Sweden.

Inventor.

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Goran Rahm who lives in Sweden is the man you should contact. ... I am sure there is not much he doesn't know about concertinas in Sweden.

 

Worth a try, though in my past contacts with him he showed neither interest in nor knowledge of the concertina in any sort of folk context.

 

Göran lives in Uppsala.

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To that I can add at least six who own and play English, a couple of others who own them but don't yet play/practice much, and a couple more who used to have Englishes but currently don't.

 

Finally...

 

Actually, that wasn't quite "final". In my quick count I somehow neglected concertina.net member Henrik Müller and his "anguish" concertina. (That's my name for it, but he doesn't object. ;)) With hand bars and straps, it looks like an anglo, but it has an essentially English keyboard layout. He built it himself, and he plays mainly Irish music, excellently.

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Hmm, strange that the concertina wasn't used more.

Strange? Not really.

 

Even in the countries where it's most evident, the concertina is far outnumbered in folk and popular music by accordions of various sorts, fiddles, and often even by flutes.

 

In pre-internet America I came across more than one individual who thought, before being in touch with me, that they were the only concertina player in all of North America. I'm aware of a few historical pockets of interest over there: a former music dealer in Cincinnati, Ohio with a stock of mainly D/A anglos; a number of Englishes for sale in the Portland, Oregon area; a former concertina band in Massachusetts; the Matusewitch family in New York City teaching English concertina as a classical instrument; etc. But the only things approaching the breadth or depth of a "tradition" are the Salvation Army (where the concertina is now virtually extinct), the popularity of concertina for Morris dancing (beginning in the 1970's, but still far outnumbered by melodeons), and its even more recent popularity in playing Irish music.

 

I'm only aware of one musical dealership in Sweden's past that was known for dealing in concertinas, and I suspect that was mainly for Frälsningsarmén. (I don't have that dealer's name handy, but I suspect Göran Rahm would, if you want to know.)

 

I do still dream of finding a few accounts of historical individual players in Sweden, but I don't expect them to be easy to find, if they exist at all. On the other hand, there is a small but growing interest in Sweden, and I'm trying to do my part to encourage it.

Edited by JimLucas
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I do still dream of finding a few accounts of historical individual players in Sweden, but I don't expect them to be easy to find, if they exist at all. On the other hand, there is a small but growing interest in Sweden, and I'm trying to do my part to encourage it.

 

I recall seeing years ago a picture in a book of a woman in Swedish folk costume holding an English concertina - I believe she was perhaps from Härjedalen or Hälsingland, and was taken in latter quarter of 19th century. Come to think of it I may have a copy of the picture some place - but where? - must be 30 years ago.

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i dunno....reading this, i flashed on a CD cover i've seen for a traditional-music series of some sort that featured swedish folk music by traditional instruments including (purportedly) concertina. i think i've seen it at my friendly massive Amoeba records and keep passing it up waiting for a cheaper used one, though there's an outside chance i purchase one, never got around to playing it, and stashed it somewhere weird in the collection...

 

in any case, i just went online hunting for it, and this is indeed the record i've seen---it's a field recording from 1996, "Vol. 7" of a series. there's an EC with other Swedish folk instruments on the cover art, but the CD subtitle references "Harmonica & Accordian." Apparently the ethnomusicologist or whoever, considers it part of the "accordian" category. Perhaps that's why not much is turning up in keyword searches? But the blurb even states, "there's an extraordinary range of sound because Swedish village musicians used every sort of accordion from concertina to massive." There are some playable tracks here, but i haven't gone through all of them. Plus, it might have been, German concertinas, which might be hard to tell apart from accordians....blurb & link below:

 

 

[sweden has a phenomenal accordion tradition. In particular, there's an extraordinary range of sound because Swedish village musicians used every sort of accordion from concertina to massive. These wonderful field recordings, mostly made during the 1960s, contain not only wonderful music but a revelation of the accordion family's extraordinary variety. Genuine rural recordings from Western Europe are outrageously rare, but this one's a gem of the purest water. Excellent technical quality, fine notes -- an all-round must-have. (52:49) ~ John Storm Roberts]

 

 

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1445807&style=classical&fulldesc=T

Edited by ceemonster
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ya know...i just clicked on some of the sample tracks at the cduniverse link i just posted here for that cd, and i do believe track 3, titled "Lansmansvals," sounds like concertina.... :rolleyes:

I can't tell whether you're joking, but that's totally a harmonica.
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