Spelmanslag

The spelmanslag (Swedish:

Norwegian folk music. Spelmanslag meetings tend to serve social function as much as they do musical ones; and money from paid performances generally goes to the group, rather than its constituent individuals.^[1]

History

The first Swedish spelmanslag was Dalaföreningens spelmanslag, formed in 1940 by folk musicians from Dalarna who at the time were living in Stockholm. Over the course of the 1940s, the phenomenon spread throughout the province of Dalarna, and in the 1950s it became a national trend.^[2]

The spelmanslag movement saw new life beginning in 2003, with the establishment of the annual student spelmanslag world championships (studentspelmanslag-VM) at the

tunes from one particular region within Sweden

.

Sound

The spelmanslag has a characteristic "wall of sound," produced by a large number of musicians playing a

bass, and/or guitar

.

Notes

^ Kaminsky 2005:371-372.
^ "Men under 1940-talet slår spelmanslagen igenom. Den tändande gnistan var Dalaföreningens spelmanslag, en sammanslutning av dalkarlar i exil i Stockholm.... Initiativet sprids till hemlandskapet och 1940 bildas Leksands spelmanslag, följt av Rättvik 1944 och Transtrand 1945. Men den stora lagverksamheten kommer först i början av nästa decennium och då har också övriga landet börjat ta efter [But during the 1940s the spelmanslag breaks through. The spark was Dalaföreningens spelmanslag, a coming together of men from Dalarna in exile in Stockholm.... The initiative spreads to the home province, and in 1940 Leksand’s spelmanslag is formed, followed by Rättvik in 1944 and Transtrand in 1945. But the large-scale spelmanslag project doesn't come until the beginning of the next decade, and at that point the rest of the country has also begun to follow suit]" (Roempke 1980:280-281).
^ Studentspelmanslags-VM homepage

References

Kaminsky, David (2005). "Hidden Traditions: Conceptualizing Swedish Folk Music in the Twenty-First Century." Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University.
Roempke, Ville (1980). "'Ett nyår för svensk folkmusik:' Om spelmansrörelsen." In Folkmusikboken, edited by Jan Ling, et al., 263-296. Stockholm: Prisma.

[1] Kaminsky 2005:371-372.

[2] "Men under 1940-talet slår spelmanslagen igenom. Den tändande gnistan var Dalaföreningens spelmanslag, en sammanslutning av dalkarlar i exil i Stockholm.... Initiativet sprids till hemlandskapet och 1940 bildas Leksands spelmanslag, följt av Rättvik 1944 och Transtrand 1945. Men den stora lagverksamheten kommer först i början av nästa decennium och då har också övriga landet börjat ta efter [But during the 1940s the spelmanslag breaks through. The spark was Dalaföreningens spelmanslag, a coming together of men from Dalarna in exile in Stockholm.... The initiative spreads to the home province, and in 1940 Leksand’s spelmanslag is formed, followed by Rättvik in 1944 and Transtrand in 1945. But the large-scale spelmanslag project doesn't come until the beginning of the next decade, and at that point the rest of the country has also begun to follow suit]" (Roempke 1980:280-281).

[3] Studentspelmanslags-VM homepage

[1]

[2]

v t e Swedish folk music
General	Gammaldans Music of Sweden Nordic folk music Spelmanslag Traditional Nordic dance music
Tune Types	2/4 Dances Engelska Polka and Polkett Schottis 3/4 Dances Hambo Mazurka Polska Slängpolska Vals 4/4 Dance Gånglåt Snoa Miscellaneous Wedding march
Instruments	Accordion Cittra Drejelire Härjedalspipa Hummel Kohorn Låtfiol Näverlur Nyckelharpa Moraharpa Psalmodicon Sälgflöjt Spilåpipa Svensk säckpipa Violin
Scales	Aeolian mode Dorian mode Harmonic minor Ionian mode Lydian mode Mixolydian mode
Relations	Danish folk music Finnish folk music Icelandic folk music Norwegian folk music
Miscellaneous	List of Swedish folk musicians Spelman Riksspelman

History

Sound

See also

Notes

References