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Turning pop into polska

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I've always said that a hallmark of a truly great melody is that it can cross genres.
I recently came across this fun example of turning a Swedish pop song into a Swedish polska.

The tune is "Ring Ring", an ABBA tune off of their album of the same name (when the group was known as "Björn [...]

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Iceland's Frostroses Holiday Concert

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The Frostroses Concert is one of Iceland's most cherished Christmas traditions. "Frost roses" is the Icelandic term for the flower-like patterns that form on windows when frost is present.

Begun in 2002, the event brings together well-known performers — many  of them from Northern Europe. Here Eivør Pálsdóttir and Ragnheidur Ragga Gisladottir Grondal perform "One Little [...]

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The 7+ hour video that more than 1/4 of Norway watched

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On Friday, 27 November, more than 1.2 million Norwegians watched parts of “Bergensbanen” on the Norwegian television channel,  NRK2. This is an astonishing fact because this means that more than 25% of the country watched this one television show on that one day.
What was it?  A production of NRKBeta made to celebrate the 100th birthday of Bergensbanen [...]

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A new take on an old carol

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Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK) has just released a video of the traditional Norwegian Christmas carol, "Det lyser i stille grender (The Lights In The Peaceful Villages)".

It's done by a group called "Julemorgen" as part of the NRK children's series, Super, and their "Jul i Svingen (Christmas in Full Swing)". I think the video  – and the [...]

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Celebrating a Scandinavian composer's birthday

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Today is the birthday of one of Scandinavia's most celebrated and well-known composers. His works have been heard in almost every country in the world. Do you know who it is?
I don't want to spoil the surprise, so enjoy this two-and-a-half minute clip of a selection of the composer's works played on piano [...]

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A train in the night…

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In one of the very first postings on Multe Music, I wrote about a tune written by Norwegian fiddler Sturla Eide, "Tog i natta (A Train In The Night)", that was inspired by a visit to our fair town of Northfield, Minnesota.
Recently Eide put a video (in HD, no less) of one of his performances [...]

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EVENT: Finnskogpols Workshops, April 16-19, 2010

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Skandia Folkdance Society has announed that this year's Springdans Northwest dance and music workshops (April 16-19, 2010) will feature the Finnskogpols (Polsdans from Finnskoga) taught by Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen and Veslemøy Nordset from Norway. Originating in the border area between Sweden and Norway, this dance is embraced by Swedes and Norwegians alike — as [...]

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A 10-minute chronology of ABBA

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Sometimes folks produce some really impressive work on YouTube. One user spent eight months putting together a chronology of sound clips from more than 100 songs released by ABBA during their career.
If you think you "know" ABBA, you may want to think again — and give this video a listen. I was really surprised at [...]

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It's time for Gla' Gløgg!

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As the holiday season approaches, it's time to share my gløgg recipe! Some people think that gløgg recipes should be kept secret. Not me! The more, the merrier — literally and figuratively!
What is gløgg? Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary says:
glogg gloog (noun):
a hot spiced wine and liquor punch
Example sentence:
Lisbeth made glogg for the Christmas party using her [...]

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Vélkomne med æra

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Here is an excellent example of traditional folk music being used in modern symphonic music.
This is a 1969 archive recording of "Vélkomne med æra"("Welcome with Honour"), taken from "Hundrad Hardingtonar", a collection of Norwegian folk songs adapted and arranged by the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt (1908-81).
The music starts at 1:14 after an introduction by Tveitt [...]

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Calling 'til the cows come home

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I love cow calls.
I have recordings of more than 50 different Nordic calls in my archives, most of them from Norway and Sweden. Even Edvard Grieg wrote a piece based on a cow call. I sometimes get questions about them, but I've never seen a video that had one.
Until now.

The creative team at the ad [...]

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Astri Mi Astri…from folk song to Amazon.com

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Over the years, I've met lots of people involved in preserving the heritage of the Nordic cultures in interesting ways.
One of those is Deb Nelson Gourley, who runs Astri My Astri Publishing. If you've ever met and talked to Deb — attired in her beautiful Hallingdal festbunad at a festival, such as Norsk Høstfest, or [...]

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What if Bach played the polska?

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In 2007, two Swedish musicians developed a concert program and issued a CD called "Bach på svenska (Bach in Swedish)". Lisa Rydberg (violin) and Gunnar Idenstam (small reed organ) asked the questions:
What might have happened if Johan Sebastian Bach had come to Sweden and met Swedish musicians? How might Bach's music and traditional Swedish music [...]

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A modern way to do Viking burials

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I have always been a bit enamored with some of the old Viking funeral customs, especially the one where the body was sent out to sea on a burning ship in a blaze of glory. Call me a romantic… But now I've found that modern cremations can be handled in fine Nordic style due [...]

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Tradio: New Finnish folk music internet radio station!

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Well this news has been making the rounds by email recently.
A new radio station has started in Finland — all folk music, all the time — and it's being streamed live!
Kansanmusiikki's Tradio is at 102.4 mhz (if you're within Finnish broadcasting distance) or on the Internet through their web site.
Tradio joins other Scandinavian radio stations [...]

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