STYRBJÖRN BERGELT – Tagelharpa och videflöjt (MNW, 1979)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals, English vocals, other languages
International relevance: **

Styrbjörn Bergelt was a comparatively under-recorded folk musician that went through several stages before specializing in reviving old and just about forgotten Nordic folk instruments. He started playing jazz trombone before entering the world of classical music as a French horn player. It was during his time at The Royal Academy of Music he gravitated towards traditional music and took up the recorder along with the so called spilå pipe (a traditional variant of the recorder). He rediscovered and reintroduced the willow pipe and the Finnish bowed lyre called tagelharpa (literally: horsehair harp).

His first recording was ”Å än är det glädje å än är det gråt”, a joint venture with Marie Selander and Susanne Broms in 1976. He returned three years later with his first true solo album, ”Tagelharpa och videflöjt” on which he introduced some of his rediscovered instruments to a larger audience.

A few tracks have vocals by Fred Lane, Ingrid Mickelin and Estonian Igor Tönurist, but the album is mainly instrumental. Many of the tunes will sound familiar if you're at all acquainted with Swedish and Scandinavian folk harmonics and melodics, but the tones and timbres are different from what you usually hear. Especially the tunes performed on the bowed lyre sounds quite a lot raspier and grainier than they would on the regular fiddle. Simply put, the archaic resonance makes those tunes and songs sound every bit as ancient as the instrument itself. It also makes the entire album particularly captivating. Bergelt is a fine musician as is, but the sheer ring of especially the bowed lyre draws you in and keeps you fascinated that a standard fiddle album won't necessarily do. So even if you think you've heard enough of Swedish folk music, this might very well be that extra album you need to hear.

Bergelt was also a recognized painter -- the watercolour painting on the cover is his.

Full album playlist (but the running order is jumbled up)

MARIE SELANDER, STYRBJÖRN BERGELT & SUSANNE BROMS – Å än är det glädje å än är det gråt (Ett Minne För Livet, 1976)

Swedish vocals, other languages, a capella, instrumental

International relevance: **

Marie Selander has one of the finest voices heard in the entire progg canon, every bit as authentic as Shirley Collins but with the sombre power of Sandy Denny. Every time she opens her mouth to sing, it makes you listen a bit closer.

”Å än är det glädje å än är det gråt” is her second proper solo album, following ”Från den svenska vildmarken” from 1973. It is however co-credited to flautist Susanne Broms and multi-instrumentalist Styrbjörn Bergelt who create a rough-hewn backdrop of ancient sounding folk music. Listening to the sparsely framed, rugged traditional songs is like listening to a tree growing its bark, full of life but without any unnecessary, distracting material. If you're looking for flashy fanciness, go elsewhere because you won't find it here. This frugality is very alluring, and best of all, it leaves a generous space to Selander's voice which is as enticing as ever, and creates a deep sense of dark fir forest mystery. Perhaps an acquired taste to some, but utterly rewarding to anyone who accept the challenge and persist.

Full album playlist