Scania
is the southernmost part of Sweden, it has been
Swedish since the 1658 occupation; before that
it was East Denmark. The southern part of the
Baltic Sea area has traditionally served as the
centre for the cultures in the north of Europe.
Prior to the 20th Century, water was the means
of communication. Since Scania is surrounded on
three sides by water, clearly the Baltic Sea has
effected Scania in one way or another. Nature
is unrivaled in Scania. There are no extremes.
There is a little of everything, and that "little"
is just enough.
The
music
A single
answer to that is not possible, but being in the
heart of a large geographical area, the surrounding
cultures necessarily experience profound influences
and exiting exchanges - with a typcal Scanian
accent.
Several
of today's musicians have discovered many old
tunes, beautiful polska and hot polkas. Some of
the tunes have been around since the 17th Century,
and were made popular because they were played
by famous musicians in the region.
Clearly
the music contains influences from all the surrounding
countries as is reflected in many of the dance
titles; polska, from Poland; Schottis, from Scotland;
Engelska or Anglais, from England; Reinländer,
from Germany. In the music there is also waltz,
qadrilj and polka.
The
instruments that is most frequently used nowadays
is violin, but in the past, all kinds of instruments
was used like clarinet, dulcimer, flutes and pipes.
Because
of its crucial location in the center of the South
Baltic Sea area, Scania has witnessed many scenes
of war. Naturally, all that military activity
affected not only the music but also the instruments.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, many private citizens
were employed by the army as musicians. Besides
thoose musicians there were "Stadsinstrumentalister";
musicians employed by the town councils to serve
the citizens with music in their everyday life.
Those categories of musicians formed and developed
the repertoire that we call folk music today.
Later
in the 19th century the folk music was played
by semi professionals, who combined music with
hand craft or farming. Nowadays this music is
played by enthusiasts that try to keep the tradition
alive. If you click here
you will come to a tunebook with some examples
of Scanian folk tunes.
The
biggest organization for Scanian folk music is
Skånes
Spelmansförbund, here you can get information
about festivals and workshops.
If
you understand Swedish, there is a link to a discription
of the music in a Scanian region called Linderödsåsen
with some note examples. |