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Celebrating a Scandinavian composer's birthday

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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What if Bach played the polska?

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 "banjo hopsa" from Denmark

While originally an African-American folk instrument, the banjo has made its way into use in the traditional (and not-so-traditional) music of Nordic countries as well.

Here is "Hopsa efter Niels "Svenske Niels" Wilhelm". It's also known as the "Banjohopsa (Banjo Hopsa)" because Erling played it on banjo with Svenske Niels (Swedish Niels/Nils) in the 1970s.The hopsa [...]

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There's no doubt…this is fearless guitar playing

This past weekend, I featured the Norwegian band, Hellbillies, on Multe Music. You can listen to it here.
The tune I used to open the show was "Tvil på travbanen (Doubt on the Racetrack)", a tour de force instrumental guitar piece by Lars Håvard Haugen, lead guitarist of the group. Haugen is one of Norway's elite [...]

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A tragic Icelandic song

As the frost comes, winter cannot be far behind and it seems appropriate to be in a melancholy mood.
Today's selection is a version of the haunting Icelandic folk song, Móðir mín í kví kví, done by Seth Sharp and the Black Clock.
One person explained the song this way:
In the old days in Iceland, unwanted newborns [...]

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Grieg finds his thrill on Blueberry Hill

I have loved the song cycle, Haugtussa, since I sang some of the songs at my senior vocal recital in college.
Haugtussa (edited 1895) is an epic cycle of poems, written by the Norwegian author Arne Garborg (1851-1924) in nynorsk — the dialectical form of Norwegian. The poems are a classic example of Norwegian Neo-romanticism and [...]

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A thousand thoughts about Triakel…

When the Multe Music crew was in Norway, we received an invitation to go to a concert by the Swedish group, Triakel, at the wonderful cultural heritage farm in Sør-Fron, Rudi Gard. Alas, it wasn't to be…
Triakel is a group well worth experiencing live. The name has a couple of meanings. There are three members [...]

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Setesdal Roots Band: Sommer i Setesdal

It's summer and one of my friends just got back from exploring his roots in Setesdal, so it seems appropriate to feature a video from the Setesdal Roots Band.
The group is from Setesdal province in Norway. They play mostly their own compositions that are rooted in traditions such as pop, bluegrass, country, rock, blues [...]

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Bermuda is in Iceland

I recently found a band from Iceland — and I'm really enjoying their sound.
The band is Bermuda and they describe themselves on their MySpace page as "pop, R&B, funk". I've also seen the term " power pop" used.

Bermuda is:

Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir / Iris Holm – vocals
Gunnar Reynir Þorsteinsson – drums
Ingvar Alfreðsson – [...]

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Hellbillies: På Ål Stasjon

I can never say enough great things about the Norwegian band, Hellbillies. They are, in many ways, the Norwegian equivalent of The Eagles or the Allman Brothers Band — the latter of which was and remains a great inspiration for them.
They are called "country rock" but their music goes far beyond that and they [...]

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Magnus Martensson — music and comedy

Maestro Magnus Martensson is a Swedish comedian and musician. In a sense, he is in combining classical music and humor in the tradition of the great Danish comedian and pianist, Victor Borge.
In this video, he is performing in a webcast from the United Nations in New York.
Martensson will be on tour in the United States [...]

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A MOVITS! swing dance for the tenant's union

Well, the Swedish swing/hip-hop/jazz group, MOVITS!, has certainly experienced the Colbert Bump this week.
After appearing last Monday on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, the group received plenty of attention. And it was pretty obvious here at Multe Music. We've received hundreds of hits on our postings about the tune "Fel del av gården [...]

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A new Spindel on a tune…

Spindel is a band fronted by two wonderful female Hardanger fiddle players from Nordfjord: Liv Merete Kroken and Sigrid Moldestad. Here they are with a tune called — in Swedish — "Du och jag Alfred (You and I, Alfred)".
This non-professional video was recorded at Halkaer Festival in Denmark in June 2009 . [...]

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Knut Reiersrud & Iver Kleive: Ingen vinner frem til den evige ro, salmetone

Norwegian musicians Iver Kleive (organ) and Knut Reiersrud (guitar) have formed an interesting partnership through which they combine instruments and genres to produce some outstanding interpretations of traditional Norwegian hymns and religious folk tunes.
Here Klieve and Reiersrud demonstrate their absolute mastery of their instruments and the music in performing the religious folk tune "Ingen vinner [...]

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Rimpparemmi: Finnish folk dance

Rimpparemmi is a Finnish / Så¡mi folk dance and music ensemble from Lapland province that has a unique claim — "The Official Folk Ensemble of Santa Claus". In addition, they claim the title of the northernmost folk dance theatre in the world.
I'm not going to dwell on the competing claims to Santa Claus of the [...]

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