Nordic folk music
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Nordic
The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain traditions, many of which have diverged significantly. It is possible to group together Finland,
The dulcimer and fiddle are the two most characteristic instruments found throughout Scandinavia. In Norway, the eight- or nine-stringed hardanger fiddle is also found. Gammaldans are a kind of dance song played by harmonica and accordion, popular in both Sweden and Norway in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Circle dancing while singing ballads is a historic part of the folk traditions of all of northern Europe. Only the Faroe Islands have maintained this tradition to the present day, though it has been revived in some other areas. Iceland is home to many ancient musical practices no longer found elsewhere in the Nordic area, such as the use of parallel fifths and organum.
Greenland's Inuit population has their own musical traditions, which have been melded with elements of Nordic music, such as the kalattuut style of Greenlandic polka.
Finland was long ruled by Sweden, so much of Finnish culture is influenced by Swedish. There are a number of Swedes living in Finland, and vice versa. These communities have produced traditional and
Sami music
The Sami are found in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the northwest corner of Russia. The only traditional Sami instruments are drums and the flute, though modern bands use a variety of instrumentation. Joiks, unrhymed works without definite structure, are the most characteristic kind of song.
Balto-Finnic music
Balto-Finnic music is a category of music of
Finland's musical ties are primarily to the Balto-Finnic peoples of Russia and Estonia (Cronshaw, 91). Runic singing was practiced throughout the area inhabited by these peoples. Estonia and Finland both have national epics based on interconnected forms of runo-song, Kalevipoeg and Kalevala, respectively. "Estonian runic song has the same basic form as the Finnish variety to which it is related: the line has eight beats, the melody rarely spans more than the first five notes of a diatonic scale and its short phrases tend to use descending patterns" (Cronshaw, 16).
Contemporary Applications
In recent times Nordic folk music is used in developing the background score for movies, TV shows and games. Popular TV shows like Game of Thrones and games like God of War have used Nordic folk music to give a mythic experience.[1]
See also
References
- ^ "'God of War': How Viking Folk Music Inspired "Audacious" New Game's Soundtrack". Revolver. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
- Nettl, Bruno. Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents. 1965. Prentice-Hall. Eaglewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
- Broughton, Simon and Mark Ellingham with James McConnachie and Orla Duane (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0, The Book of Music and Nature: An Anthology of Sounds, Words, Thoughts (Music Culture)
Further reading
- Smith, Frederick Key (2002). Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0275973999.
- Yoell, John H. (1974). The Nordic Sound: Explorations into the Music of Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Crescendo Pub. Co. ISBN 0-87597-090-7.