lydia's musical adventures in Sweden, 2012–2013

Eva Karlsson and Jonas Bleckman played a super-amazingly-awesome dance evening at Stallet. If you are not already a fan of fiddle-and-cello duos (though isn’t everyone?), stay tuned for their hopefully-forthcoming CD.

(More movie snippets: see also this excerpt of a familiar Finnskogspols, which I’m sure one of you kind folks will identify for me since Jonas wasn’t sure, and the dramatic ending of the final final dance.)

Friendliest dance floor yet: one genuine Swedish experienced dancer actually asked me to dance, all by himself! Two if you count the one who looked like he was getting around to asking me right when I asked him. And of course I am perfectly capable of assuming responsibility for my own dance card as needed. So I had quite a few very nice dances, in a very energetic and enthusiastic crowd, on a fairly dense but usually not life-threateningly packed floor. Andrea and several other classmates came down from Tobo for the occasion as well.

I spent the week in Stockholm, and pretty much in Swedish. It was a fun week, and I was especially pleased about the “in Swedish” part. I stayed with Alice K, a friend from home who is in the country for about 3 months and was staying at the home of a cousin in the upscale suburb of Stocksund (while the cousin herself was in the US). So we had a nice quiet spacious place, and a nice visit, and Alice humored me by correcting my Swedish sometimes.

Sunday evening: Skeppis folk music club — my first time there but certainly not my last. Fiddler Eva Karlsson taught a couple of tunes from Närke, I played in a couple of nice sessions, I had some very enjoyable dances. The whole volunteer-run thing is free (except for the modestly priced fika), and people sign up on a list to play for dancing. This scene felt very welcoming and that was a tremendous relief after the previous evening in Uppsala. And finding a half-dozen familiar faces there made everything seem that much nicer.

Tuesday: met my cousin Peter in town for an evening excursion to the Moderna Museet, where we saw their current special exhibits on Picasso & Duchamp (premise: they detested each other but if you poke hard enough you can find shared philosophies, sort of — plus it’s fun to build a maze of a gallery with dark red and dark blue walls) and Wolfgang Tillmans (premise: evidently whatever falls out of his head is art — which is more OK with me when the 8-foot-tall photos are of a night sky or people inexplicably sitting in a tree than when they’re a guy peeing on a chair), and then we went out for a late dinner at a schmancy nearby place. We had a nice time together. Although I have apparently reached the stage where my brain is crossing signals between Swedish and Latvian, so periodically I seemed not to have any functional languages — argh.

Wednesday: Alice K and had a play-date with Anders Hällström, who happened to be staying in town (Bagarmossen) for a while after the Oktoberstämman. Five hours chock-filled with a huge variety of fiddle tunes, and hanging out with a riksspelman who can play near ’bout anything. Way fun!

Thursday: a foray into the world of second-hand shops (called, in Swedish, “second hand”), occasioned by the realization that staying in a tony neighborhood required me to investigate. Happy find: there’s an iPhone app for that! [Longer geeky discussion for later: I also finally figured out the incantation to install free apps that are only available in the Swedish app store.] Net: one black cashmere cardigan, two new children’s books, and a circuit of several promising places to go back to in Östermalm. Also, a deeper appreciation of how it is really fully nighttime by 5pm.

Friday: play-date with Alice F-J in Grillby, long train/bus ride out of the city and an overnight stay. In which I do not actually become more competent at discussing politics in Swedish.

Saturday: afternoon visit with Gustaf, the friend Mills and I met in summer 2010 when he was our couchsurfing host. Mostly we sat in his kitchen and talked and worked on a big jigsaw puzzle and listened to interesting music I hadn’t heard, and it was exactly like being on vacation. Extra-special bonus: he brought out the Medelpad volume of Svenska Låtar, which his brother had bought at an antikvariat years ago and he’d never used, and he gave it to me! The very same volume we’d just been discussing with Anders a couple days earlier. Very excited to have my very own copy.

What better way to celebrate the beginning of fall break than with a festival? Most of us spent Saturday in Uppsala at the Oktoberstämman with concerts, dances, workshops, and jamming. Headliners for this year included Björn Ståbi and Bengan Jansson, Pers-Hans Olsson and his son Alexander, Torbjörn and Pär Näsbom, and an arm-long list of others.

Highlights of my day, in roughly chronological order:

• Torbjörn and Pär, of course. Also they both tried out my new violina, which was fun to listen to.
• Accidental last-minute discovery that unfamiliar band name “Anderströms” on the program means our friends from NFF, Mats/Ulf/Nils Andersson + Anders Hällström!
• Super-fun hallway jam session with Anderströms after their set
• Dance set with Björn Ståbi and Bengan Jansson (though, sadly, almost no dancers actually dancing Orsapolska to Björn’s stunning Orsa tunes! and also sadly, they didn’t bring their CDs to sell)
• Late-night dance with Norwegian 5-fiddle band Majorstuen

I was somewhat disheartened to discover (belatedly) that the handful of friends I was hoping to play with were pretty much only around for the afternoon, which was when most of the concert program concentrated — so I ended up largely missing them in pursuit of hearing Pers Hans and dancing to Olov’s solo dance set and seeing both of the brief Näsbom sets,… and then later in the evening, when I was hoping to find people to play with, I consistently encountered the opposite of the friendly stämma welcome I expected. Seriously: edging closer to make sure I don’t become part of a small circle playing tunes I clearly already know, and then obviously making room for the friend who comes along some minutes later — was that Strictly necessary?

On the bright side, I did finally get to play a Sahlström harpa for a few minutes, and that was lovely.

Hadn’t seen this before: nyckelharpa players often transported their instruments for the day without cases, fiddlers more often with. (The venue is several floors tall with lots of escalators.) Hence, lots of free-range nyckelharpas in the audience at concerts.

It is official, and very exciting: I am definitely buying the beautiful amazing new 5-string violin that Per Klinga built for me. It has his distinctive baroque-styled fingerboard and tailpiece, and a one-piece maple back that looks like a sunburst. The body is 5mm longer than a standard violin; I think also the bouts are a smidge wider and the sides a smidge taller, though I am not currently possessed of fine measuring equipment. It sounds big and resonant and warm, enjoys playing with Andrea’s new violin from Douglas Cox, balances well across its full range. I believe it’s the best 5-string violin I’ve played, and I’m looking forward to working and growing with it for many years to come. Thanks to everyone who’s helped me decide to take the plunge!

After all our hard work on the concert, we feel like we’ve definitely earned our fall break. We’re off duty for a whole week as of lunchtime Friday. Andrea and I went for a nice afternoon walk with our friend Matthias, a fiddler who was in this course last year and whom we met in Linköping. It’s already getting pretty chilly around here, and the light starts getting late-afternoon-y way earlier than I expect. (It’s about 3:10p in these pics.)