National Folk / Traditional music

This is a (mildly) interesting thread, i'll see if i can track down a midi of the song ''mellom bakkar og berg'', very nice actually.

Great! What does it mean by the way?

Enjoy! :) This version will make you laugh, the piano version is much better.

http://www.its-learning.com/data/rkk/9551/...iles/Page2.html

I don't know how to translate it directly, but it means something like ''Life in the fjords''. Here are the lyrics. (also found in the link above) See if you can sing along!

(Text: Ivar Aasen)

Millom bakkar og berg ut med havet

heve nordmannen fenget sin heim,

der han sjølv heve tufterna gravet

og sett sjølv sine hus uppå deim.

Han såg ut på dei steinutte strender

det var ingen, som der hadde bygt.

"Lat oss rydja og bygja oss grender,

og so eiga me rudningen trygt".

Han såg ut på det bårutte havet;

der var ruskutt å leggja ut på;

men der leikade fisk ned i kavet,

og den leiken den vilde han sjå.

Fram på vetteren stundom han tenkte:

Giv eg var i eit varmare land!

Men når vårsol i bakkarne blenkte,

fekk han hug til si heimlege strand.

Og når liderna grønka som hagar,

når det laver av blomar på strå,

og når næter er ljosa som dagar,

kann han ingenstad vænare sjå.

Millom - Mellom

fenget - fenge

tufterna gravet - tuftene grave

uppå - oppå

næter - netter , ljosa - ljose

kann - kan , vænare - venare (Tekst: Arne Kildal)

Mellom bakkar og berg ut med havet

heve nordmannen fenge sin heim,

der han sjølv heve tuftene grave

og sett sjølv sine hus oppå deim.

Han såg ut på dei steinute strender;

det var ingen som der hadde bygt.

"Lat oss rydja og byggja oss grender,

og så eiga me rydningen trygt"

Han såg ut på det bårute havet;

der var ruskut å leggja ut på,

men der leikade fisk ned i kavet,

og den leiken, den ville han sjå.

Mellom bakkar og berg ut med havet

heve nordmannen fenge sin heim,

der han sjølv heve tuftene grave

og sett sjølv sine hus oppå deim.

Og når liene grønkar som hagar,

når det laver av blomar på strå,

og når netter er ljose som dagar,

kan han ingen stad venare sjå.

i dont see an mp3 or a link to it........ there is only a like to the lyrics

If you click the link, the page should start playing a midi file.

it doesn't................................................. :) :(

you're norweigan right?

The score- well I've seen one at the school, but I don't owe one so to get it I have to find the book and copy it- and I havn't been able to find it so...

hm, harmonica and accordian- yeah if i can translate it correctly it is definetly, but I'm not certain if I am comparing the right instruments lol, I dunno the english names for all of 'em :( :)

What's happend people? we got poeple on this forum from all over the world... no one waht to share their national music anymore? :blush: :lol:

I'd lvoe to, but I can't get the attachtment up :blush:

Harmonica and accordion? I'm not sure how one could get them mixed up...unless they are called by other names in other languages.

A harmonica is a little rectangular box with holes in it. In the holes are little reeds. When one blows into the holes, they make musical sound.

An accordion is a larger insrument consisting of two boxes, one with a keyboard, the other with little round keys. Between them is a bellows. In the boxes are reeds, actuated by the keys. The regular keyboard for the right hand plays a full chromatic scale. The little round keys for the left hand play bass notes and chords. When the player squeezes the bellows between the two boxes with his hands, the air pressure created provides airflow to make the actuated reeds vibrate.

Here, this is a much better description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordion

you can mix them up, cause in swedish they're named totaly mega diffrent, there's not a single similarity between the words. Harmonica is called "munspel" and accordion "dragspel". That litteraly means something like, " mouth play" and "drag play"

A fellow Swede? Cool! :blush:

Actually, I'm only 1/8 Swedish, but my immediate family has always identified closely with our Swedish heritage, for some reason. I'm an Anglo-American mutt...1/4 Anglo-mix (365 years in North America), 1/4 French, 1/4 Irish, 1/8 Swedish and 1/8 Danish. My Swedish great-grandfather came to America in 1887.

I'd better shut up...this isn't a genealogy thread!

I mixed then up because in my language both of them are called haromnica.

don't, it's intresting, your great-grandfather, was he possibly a farmer? Cause a lot of farmers moved to america during that time. That's where most of the swedes in america come from, or part swedes rather, they're great something moved to america. There is even a very famous book series (in swedish) about that

Yes! My great grandfather Nels Magnusson was a farmer back in Sweden, and he did some farming when he came to America. He grew up Lutheran, but when he came to America, he converted to Free Methodism and became a minister in that sect. He settled in Mankato, Minnesota (Laura Engalls Wilder probably knew him...it was a small town), married an American girl of Danish descent in 1888, and their first 6 children were born there (the first died in infancy in 1889...we still call him Uncle Charlie to this day as if he were still a member of the family, though he died while still a tiny baby and has been gone for over 100 years...the story goes that he was born in the bitter Minnesota winter, and his parents accidentally smothered him in the bed with them, trying to keep him warm...sad story).

About 1905 the Magnussons moved to northern Colorado, where Nels became what was called a "circuit-preacher," meaning that while his family stayed at home and took care of the farm, he rode horseback from town to town between Denver, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming, preaching at different churches for whatever money people would give him in a free-will offering (this was before churches were big enough or affluent enough to hire their own preacher full time on the frontier). He didn't do well enough at it to support his family, though - especially when his last two children were born (the last being my grandmother, in 1908). By 1920 he had given it up, and either farmed or did manual labour of one kind or another.

The family moved to Whittier, California (near Los Angeles) in 1922, and Nels continued to work in a rock quarry for many years, doing hard manual labour. He moved back to Colorado after his wife died in 1933, and he died there himself in 1937.

:D

Can you tell I'm the family genealogist?

What the hell...I'm on a roll now...here's a picture of my great-grandparents on their wedding day in 1888. Notice the creases at the cuff of Nels' trousers...he'd apparently had them for years, because they'd been hemmed up shorter before he grew into them! He was 21, and she was 16.

Heehee, no, that's interesting :D

I'm not really sure that Australia has a national folk music. In terms of Aboriginal music, I could tell you about the didjeridu and clan songs, since one of my lecturers does nothing except go on about them :D . There are also the old folk songs by the settlers/convicts, but they're often very Irish/English based.

Intresting story, well I'm swedish, or rather. I'm acctually part german. My grandfather was german who moved to sweden. But I have no contacts with my german relatives really.

It sounds almost like the story in the book (they did also move to minnesota :D ). Well it's intresting to hear about, even thought it might not be related to folk music :D

I belive there is a place in America though that holds the same midsummer traditions as the people living in the middle of sweden , that's becuse of them moving to the US. It's kinda cool really

this was a falklore music discussion, but hey! when we talk about our native lands we should mention all. This disscusion could make us all a very big family. :D :D

I'm part german too. and part hungarian. and part macedonian... I got loads distant of reltives in US, mostly chicago. They all escaped during WWII. And an amazing thing is that my parents and grandparents still keep in touch with them!

I belive there is a place in America though that holds the same midsummer traditions as the people living in the middle of sweden

I think there are. In almost all countrys of the world the minorities gather, and try to keep the traditions from their native lands. I don't know if you ever came across this, but i was more then supprised to find out!

I was kinda suprised to see ppl dance in the traditional swedish way. To learn that they're american! (I saw it on the news once), but noe I'm getting used to it:P My grandparents live in france part year, they invited their neighbours to a traditional swedish easter dinner- that was fun (I was with them). To see their looks when they tasted some of hte fish :D that was funny, but they liked it though :D (or they were being polite )

When I was a little boy, we used to go to Swedish Midsummer celebrations...and this was in Los Angeles! I think those celebrations happen anywhere there are concentrations of Swedish (or other Scandinavian) people.

I tried to learn the traditional dances, but I was too young...it was mostly for the adults. But a lot of people knew them, and all the customs, and most were as American as I am. In fact, Glad Midsommar is the only thing I know how to say in Swedish. :D

i have some prehispanic (Aztec culture mostly) music :excl:

i have some prehispanic (Aztec culture mostly) music :excl:

WOW! you got an mp3, or some links maybe? we'd love to hear some!!

i have mp3 but i don't know where/how to upload them. if you want, PM your msn to me and i'll send the files via msn.

Nice to know that I'm not the only brown-cheese-eating, ski-walking, freezing cold norwegian in here.

As for norwegian folk music, there is a lot of music for hardanger fiddles. I played the piano with a fiddle once, but it's a rather impractical instrument. Not all key signatures were playable and so on.

Y'know, there is a little thing called generalizing. I don't like brown cheese, neither do I ski. :)

My favorite folk songs are Irish (I am about half Irish :cool: ), Eastern European, and Israeli. I like a lot of world music. I will see if I can find and share some recommended sites.