We're on a snow theme this week and I awoke to more inches on the ground. It's winter wonderland outside!
Cover: Bilder frå en virklighet by Trondheim Toradergruppe
The Trondheim Toradergruppe, a group specializing in playing traditional Norwegian music on two-row diatonic accordions, has a charming masurka on their album, Bilder fra en virkelighet (Pictures From A Reality), called "Snøfresarn (The Snow Freezer)".
The group has been together since around 1990 and this was their first album, full of "new" tunes written by members of the group. In fact, it was the deaths of two members, Oddvar Fagerli and Erling Amdal, that inspired them to collect the tunes that Fagerli, Amdal and other TT members had written and make the recording.
A 2004 story about the album written by Vegard Enlid on TrondheimPuls.no included quotes by some members of the group:
Andre grupper har enkeltpersoner som komponerer, men det er uvanlig at så mange bidrar med komposisjoner som hos oss. At 100 prosent av plata er komponert av våre medlemmer, er unikt. Litt av grunnen er nok åpenheten i gruppa; at det er lett å komme med nye ting.
Other groups have a single person who composes [tunes], but it is unusual that so many work with compositions as in our group. That 100% of the album is composed by our members is unique. Part of the reason is the openness in the group — that it is easy to come [to the group] with new things [tunes].
I was delighted to meet some of the Trondheim Toradergruppe members and composers at the Trondelag Centennial celebration in Fergus Falls, MN last fall. But that's a story for another time.
Now I'm going to enjoy another round of a crisp, freezing cold masurka!
