Old Swedish harmonica music (and a harmonica with bells!)
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:32 pm
I found an album with traditional Swedish tunes for harmonica and accordion on Deezer today, called "Munspel & Handklaver" (or Harmonica & Accordion where it's available with English cover) It might be available on Spotify as well, and it seems the individual tracks can be found on Youtube.
The label has a page for it here:
https://musikverket.se/capricerecords/a ... n/?lang=en (English)
https://musikverket.se/capricerecords/a ... n/?lang=sv (Swedish)
The information on the Swedish page tells us that around 1900 harmonicas and accordions were already very popular, and the harmonica especially so in the northern province of Jämtland where a player called Lapp-Nils was influential.
The most curious track I think is track 8, "Polka (munspel med kockor)", which features a harmonica with bells! Link to the track on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB4DooEwrec
It starts with the history of the particular instrument, which I have transcribed in Swedish and translated into English:
"Det här spelet köptes av en ung pojk på Ryds marknad 1890 för 4 kronor 50 öre, och det har två klockor, och detta spelade han på tills han var 85 år gammal, eller 86. Då Dog han, och han hade sagt ifrån att jag skulle ha hans spel när han var död. Jag ska försöka spela ett stycke på det spelet, men det är ju ganska gammalt och slitet. Men det har sånahär klockor."
"This harmonica was bought by a young boy at the Ryd fair in 1890 for 4 kornor 5 öre, and it has two bells, and this he played until he was 85 years old, or 86. Then he died, and he had said that I should have his harmonica when he was dead. I will try to play a piece on this harmonica, but of course it's rather old and worn. But it has bells like this."
One could argue whether the recording does the bells justice or not, but I still think it's very interesting to hear! It's recorded sometime in the 70's in the home of the player, who is from the province of Blekinge in the very south of Sweden.
The label has a page for it here:
https://musikverket.se/capricerecords/a ... n/?lang=en (English)
https://musikverket.se/capricerecords/a ... n/?lang=sv (Swedish)
The information on the Swedish page tells us that around 1900 harmonicas and accordions were already very popular, and the harmonica especially so in the northern province of Jämtland where a player called Lapp-Nils was influential.
The most curious track I think is track 8, "Polka (munspel med kockor)", which features a harmonica with bells! Link to the track on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB4DooEwrec
It starts with the history of the particular instrument, which I have transcribed in Swedish and translated into English:
"Det här spelet köptes av en ung pojk på Ryds marknad 1890 för 4 kronor 50 öre, och det har två klockor, och detta spelade han på tills han var 85 år gammal, eller 86. Då Dog han, och han hade sagt ifrån att jag skulle ha hans spel när han var död. Jag ska försöka spela ett stycke på det spelet, men det är ju ganska gammalt och slitet. Men det har sånahär klockor."
"This harmonica was bought by a young boy at the Ryd fair in 1890 for 4 kornor 5 öre, and it has two bells, and this he played until he was 85 years old, or 86. Then he died, and he had said that I should have his harmonica when he was dead. I will try to play a piece on this harmonica, but of course it's rather old and worn. But it has bells like this."
One could argue whether the recording does the bells justice or not, but I still think it's very interesting to hear! It's recorded sometime in the 70's in the home of the player, who is from the province of Blekinge in the very south of Sweden.