Traditional Nordic dance music

Traditional Nordic dance music

Traditional Nordic dance music is a type of traditional music or folk music that once was common in the mainland part of the Nordic countriesScandinavia plus Finland. The person who plays this kind of music might be called speleman (Swedish/Norwegian), spelman (Swedish), spel(l)emann (Norwegian), pelimanni (Finnish) or spillemand (Danish). Finnish traditional dance music is often called pelimanni music in English, while there does not seem to exist a similar, widespread term for the corresponding music from the other countries. It is often more meaningful to distinguish between the traditional dance music from different regions than between music from the countries as such. Some concepts in the field can be defined as Norwegian or Finnish, but most are either common to all four countries or local. Besides the dance music tradition, all countries also have other traditions of folk music that are not shared to a similar extent.

Nordic folk dance music consists of various dance rhythms that do not originate in the Nordic countries but once were the fashion dances among the European nobility. With time these dances spread to common people, and in some cases they remained there long after the nobility had exchanged them for new fashionable dances. Many of these rhythms can also be found in other parts of Europe, and some of them have also been used in classical music.

The majority of the tunes are in minor keys. Traditionally, there were many tunes in keys that can not be classified as either minor or major (Modes). Traces of this still exist, but most of that disappeared when the accordion became popular. The majority of the dances that go with this music are partner dances, though exceptions do exist. Such exceptions include the minuets that are common in some parts of Finland and that can also be found in parts of Sweden, the solo-dance halling, generally considered typically Norwegian but also found in parts of Sweden, and the Finnish quadrille danced by several couples in formation. The most common dance rhythm is the polska. It is in 3/4 (three beats to the bar). In the most common polskas, the third beat is accentuated as well as the first. There are many local versions of the polska rhythm, and generally local variations of the accompanying dance correspond to these differences, though many of these local dances have disappeared. The schottische, also known as reinlender, polka and waltz are other common dance rhythms. In addition there are many other more uncommon dance rhythms (e.g. the anglais), despite a small number of surviving tunes.

The most typical instrument is the fiddle. In most cases normal violins are used, but there are exceptions such as the hardingfele, used in parts of Norway, which has a set of sympathetic strings in addition to the normal four strings. Another unique instrument, the nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), probably once existed in a large part of Europe, but survived until modern times only in Sweden. Other instruments that were used traditionally were simple clarinets, and later accordions. Contemporary Nordic traditional dance musicians might also use other less traditional instruments, as well as writing new tunes in the old style.

See also

References

  • Goertzen, Chris. 1997. Fiddling for Norway: Revival and identity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Hopkins, Pandora. 1986. Aural thinking in Norway: Performance and communication with the hardingfele. NY: Human Sciences Press.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nordic folk music — includes a number of traditions in Northern European, especially Scandinavian, countries. The Nordic countries are generally taken to include Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The Nordic Council, an international organization, also… …   Wikipedia

  • Dance music — This article is about dance music in general. For a similar genre, see electronic dance music. For its subgenre, see dance pop. Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece… …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Norway — Part of a series on Norwegians Culture Arch …   Wikipedia

  • Folk music — Folk song redirects here. For other uses, see Folk song (disambiguation). Folk music Béla Bartók recording Slovak peasant singers in 1908 Traditions List of folk music traditions …   Wikipedia

  • Polska (dance) — The polska is a family of music and dance forms shared by the Nordic countries: called polsk in Denmark, polska in Sweden and Finland and by several names in Norway in different regions and/or for different variants including pols , rundom ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Finland — Karelia Sami music Humppa Kantele Genres Folk Pop Opera Rock (Suomirock) Hip hop Trance …   Wikipedia

  • Music therapy — Intervention ICD 9 CM 93.84 MeSH …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Namibia — Music of Southern Africa Botswana Comoros …   Wikipedia

  • Music of Iowa — Music of the United States AK AL AR AS AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA GU HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA …   Wikipedia

  • Swedish folk music — is a genre of music based largely on folkloric collection work that began in the early nineteenth century in Sweden. [Kaminsky 2005:33 41.] The primary instrument of Swedish folk music is the fiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”