Nordic Sounds
This edition of Folkit! Nordic Sounds features a genuine premiere: the newly released album Polonaise Voyage, a collaboration between two duos from different countries.
We already know the Swedish duo Väsen, which has featured in an earlier edition of Nordic Sounds. Once a trio and later a quartet, the group has for several years consisted of Olov Johansson (nyckelharpa) and Mikael Marin (viola and bass viola). The change in line-up has done nothing to diminish their musical strength, creativity or virtuosity.
German musicians Gudrun Walther and Jürgen Treyz have also been active for many years, performing in groups such as Cara and Deitsch, as well as in various duos and collaborative projects. With the support of the Goethe-Institut, the two duos set out to explore the musical connections between Sweden and Germany – and discovered more than they had expected.
These connections are particularly strong in instrumental music, especially the polka, with fewer links found in the minuet and waltz. Polka melodies travelled across Europe with musicians, appearing in local collections and being passed on from one region to another. A melody originating in Bohemia, for example, might find its way to Estonia, then Sweden, and eventually into the repertoire of German folk revival groups.
One of Germany’s most extensive collections of dance melodies, the Dahlhoff Collection, bears witness to this musical exchange. For Polonaise Voyage, Väsen and Walther and Treyz selected material from the collection alongside Swedish polkas, adding new compositions of their own and several traditional songs.
The result is a musical meeting between Sweden and Germany, filled with rich Nordic sounds.
Playlist
Väsen – Vågor – Olav Johansson Music OJM016
01. Kungshatt (Marin) 3:46
02. Kvarnbo kvarn (Johansson) 3:17
Gudrun Walther & Jürgen Treyz – Duo – Artes Records ARCD4060
03. Als ich dich kaum gesehn (Theodor Storm, Treyz, Walther) 4:40
Väsen & Walther & Treyz – Polonaise voyage – Artes ARCD6060
04. Pollonesse in A major (trad) 3:10
05. An interesting old polska (trad) 3:02
06. Ach bittrer Winter-Winterwalzer (trad, Treyz) 5:47
07. Svenonius-Dahlgren (trad) 4:49
08. Schwäbisch set (trad) 3:10
09. Ich bin ein freier bauersknecht-Lasse i lyby (trad) 4:19
10. Byttebyttpolskan (Mikael Marin) 3:01
11. Next generation polonaise-Füllgraf no.44 (Walther, trad) 3:35
12. Dahlhoff Menuet 1.23 (trad) 3:57
13. Wenn alle brünnlein fliessen-Steklät efter Menlösen (trad) 3:10
14. Voyage (Johansson) 3:24
15. Dufva-Dahlhoff (trad) 4:23
