Review of the 1995 Nyckelharpa Stämma
On Saturday 26 August 1995, twenty-one (!) nyckelharpa players gathered at the Island Center Hall on Bainbridge Island (just across the sound from Seattle) for the first-ever-outside-of-Sweden Spelmansstämma specifically for nyckelharpa players. We had players come from Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois, and Michigan. We broke the old record for the largest number of nyckelharpas gathered in one room (13) set back in 1993 when Leif Alpsjö visited Seattle.
Visiting us from Uppsala, Sweden, was Sture Hogmark. He is a Riksspelman (nationally acclaimed folk musician) who grew up in Österbybruk, in the heart of the Uppland nyckelharpa area. He has been playing and building nyckelharpas since the early 70's, and has recently put out a CD together with his twin brother Esbjörn and Esbjörn's son Göran, called "Hogmarkarna". Sture is perhaps the only spelman who has learned from both Eric Sahlström and Ceylon Wallin, two of the most important tradition bearers in Uppland.
The weather cooperated, and we were able to sit outside for the teaching sessions, learning tunes and lore from Sture Hogmark. It was a pleasure to hear him play, and to hear about the older fiddlers he has played with. He truly shared himself with us.
Bart Brashers and Elizabeth Foster took turns teaching the less advanced group, which included several who had not played much at all yet. They'll be playing for you for dancing before too long, just you wait and see.
In the late afternoon, local dance teachers Judy Patterson and Jerry Walsh taught Bond Polska från Viksta to over 30 enthusiastic dancers. Bart provided live music. Many of the dancers got the hang of the polska, due to a new teaching method Jerry and Judy tried.
After that, it was time for the pot-luck dinner. Tables were set up in the hall from end to end, and about 80 people shared food and conversation. Thanks to Grace Andrews and Lani Eames for helping with the food/kitchen part of the stämma!
Then the dance started. Sture played two longer sets, and the rest of the stämma musicians filled in the rest of the three-hour dance. We had a fiddle-group in reserve, in case we needed to fill some more time, but they weren't needed. About 100 dancers enjoyed dancing to the traditional Swedish music.
The highlight of the dance for me was the allspel, a tradition from Sweden that can be translated as "everyone play". We had 17 nyckelharpas and 7 fiddles playing traditional tunes from Uppland, surrounded by a throng of dancers.
After three hours of dancing, it was time to catch the ferry back to Seattle. Of course, we couldn't stop playing yet, and took out our instruments for some more jamming, playing for the curious ferry passengers and for the dancers who danced in the walkways. It was a great day, and I for one slept soundly that night.
The next day we gathered at the home of Bill and Gina Boyd for a pot-luck brunch and more informal jamming. We played our nyckelharpas all day, learning new tunes and enjoying old ones, until it was time to get ready for Sture's concert at the Nordic Heritage Museum.
Sture played in concert for almost an hour and a half, switching back and forth between tunes he learned from Eric Sahlström and Ceylon Wallin. He told us about the tunes as well, and offered a lot of stories associated with the tunes.
It was a very successful and enjoyable stämma, and will be repeated next year, here in the Seattle area. We're currently working with Väsen's agent to get them for 1996. Imagine, you too can learn tunes from Olov Johansson!