Carl Michael Bellman, Fredman's Epistel N:o 2 -- "Nå skruva fiolen" / "So Screw Up The Fiddle"

I'd better explain -- yes, "Nå skruva fiolen" translates into English as "screw up the fiddle," but what it means is tune up the fiddle, i.e. tighten up the tuning pegs.

FREDMANS EPISTEL N:o 2. Til Fader Berg, rörande Fiolen. "Nå skrufva Fiolen …"

Martin Best - So Screw Up The Fiddle Epistle No 2 Bellman In English. Martin Best sings the "Epistle of Fredman No 2"(Original title:"Fredmans Epistel No 2 "Nå Skruva Fiolen" written by the Swedish poet and composer Carl Michael Bellman(1740-1795)

Carl Michael Bellman Nå skruva fiolen FE no 2. Den Högskoleförberedande linjen på RML har gjort egna arrangemang på svenska visor och framför här sina tolkningar inför publik.

Lars Hedberg sjunger Bellman. With nyckelharpa backup. www.larshedberg.se.

Fredmans Epistel Nr.2 (Live @ RML).

"The Marais Project's take on Swedish songwriter, Carl Michael Bellman's "Fredman's Epistel No 2". The song is about Bellman's love of wine, woman and the fiddle! With Pascal Herington ‐ tenor; Melissa Farrow ‐ baroque flute; Fiona Ziegler ‐ baroque violin Tommie Andersson ‐ theorbo and original 1820s classical guitar; Jennifer Eriksson ‐ viola da gamba. Arranged by Tommie Andersson." The Marais Project is an Australian early music group.

Per Malmborg - Nå skruva fiolen - Epistel n:o 2 - Carl Michael Bellman.

Companion to Svenska Psalmbok of 1819

Studier i psalmboksfrågan med särskild hänsigt till 1889 års kommittéförslag till reviderad svensk psalmbok. Ed. Fridolf Nathanaël Ekdahl. Lund: Collin & Zickerman, 1893 (Google eBook).

https://books.google.com/books?id=tlMVAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s https://books.google.com/books?id=tlMVAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Bach -- Cantata 140, Wachet auf ... / Sleepers Awake

D R A F T

Bach - Cantata 140: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140 (1731)

http://youtu.be/3sj-NKqR0tw

Boy Soprano: Alan Bergius Tenor: Kurt Equiluz Bass: Thomas Hampson Chorus master: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden Tölzer Knabenchor Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt Concentus musicus Wien Music "Cantata No.140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV140 : IV Chorale - "Zion hört die Wächter singen" [Tenor]" by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Google Play • iTunes • AmazonMP3) Category Music License Standard YouTube License

"Sandy Boys" -- an A Mixolydian fiddle tune ... with thoughts on capos and breaking out of the "D for dulcimer" lockstep

D R A F T

Highlight (for me) of Mike Anderson's Winter Weekend mountain dulcimer festival in Chillicothe, Ill., came while I was in the car heading back to Springfield and two previously unrelated thoughts bumped up against each other in my mind -- driving the interstates will do that for you -- and, CLICK!, there was a brand-new thought.

At Mike's suggestion, I took Dave Haas' intermediate class. I don't particularly like the standard DAD mountain dulcimer tuning, but Mike thought I might get something out of the class. And of course he was right. Here are a couple of the somethings:

• One of the tunes we played Friday night was "Sandy Boys." We played it in D Mixolydian, but I remember it from East Tennessee as one of those fine old "A modal," or Mixolydian, fiddle tunes that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. We went over it so many times, it got to be an earworm. And then back in the motel I liked it so much, I got out the tablature and went over it again to keep the earworm going.
• So the next morning I asked Dave if I could get A Mixolydian by retuning from DAA to EAA, and he said yes -- but

Dulcimer - Hangman's Reel and Sandy Boys - Will Manahan and Dave Haas - OVG 2013 (2/3). Dave, who played backup guitar and posted this video to YouTube on his channel davehaasmusic, says, "Will Manahan (dulcimer) and Dave Haas (guitar) play a medley of "Hangman's Reel" and "Sandy Boys" at the Ohio Valley Gathering, held March 15-17, 2013, in Lexington, KY. Will received a standing ovation for his performance and was asked to play another tune. Thanks to the Louisville Dulcimer Society for hosting this wonderful festival."

"Sandy Boys" begins at 1:00. "Hangman's Reel" is another fine old A-modal fiddle tune.

Sandy Boys - Alan Jabbour and Ken Perlman. brucefromga's channel "Alan Jabbour and Ken Perlman playing a house concert for Charlotte Folk Society, Nov. 2011. Edden Hammons tune."

"Sandy Boys" on the "Country" Dulcimer by Ben Seymour. Ben, a luthier from western North Carolina, shows off a new dulcimer and plays the tune in D mixolydian, with a variation in the B part that I remember hearing -- and really, really liking -- back home. "Sandy Boys" begins at 1:00.

Sheet music. Lead sheet with guitar chords in abc notation -- with MIDI file (click on "live broadcast" to hear).

http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/mirror/library.yale.edu/SandyBoysReel/0000

To print, click on "download … png." On my Mac, I enlarge it to 125% before printing.

Andrew Kunz' Fiddlers' Companion website has the background -- plus all the lyrics you could want, and even more! Go to http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/SAM_SAO.htm and scroll down the directory:

SANDY BOYS. Old‑Time, Breakdown and Song. USA; Kentucky, West Virginia. A Mixolydian. AEae tuning. AB (Silberberg): ABAB'A'BAB (Krassen). A tune from the repertoire of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, fiddler Edden Hammons. The original, however, appears to be in the American minstrel show repertoire, for a similar version (though different in the ‘B’ part from Hammons’ tune) can be found in Phil Rice’s Correct Method for the Banjo (1857), a period tutor, and also appears an 1844 minstrel songbook (reproduced by Harvard Theatre College Collection, Cambridge, Mass.). Gerry Milnes has found ribald words accompanying the tune in West Virginia. The modern “revival” or “festival” version may have stemmed from a ‘mislearning’ of Hammon’s tune by Bob Herring. See also Missouri fiddler Gene Goforth’s related “The Quail is a Pretty Bird.” Carl Baron supplies the following lyrics, sung, in whole or part, to the melody (although it will be recognized there are quite a few ‘floating’ verses):
***
Sandy Boys
***
Raccoon's got a long bushy tail.
Possum's tail is bare.
Rabbit's got no tail at all
Just a little bit a bunch of hair.
***
Squirrely he's a pretty thing
He carries a bushy tail
Eats up all the mossy's corn
And hearts it on the rail
***
Cho:
Do come along, sandy boys
Do come along, oh do
Do come along, sandy boys
Waiting for the booger-boo

There are several other verses.

Norelius on psalmodikon in St. Paul and Vasa, Minn.

Blundered into on the Internet -- when I was looking for something else -- and posted to the blog so I can find it later …

Eric Norelius, turn-of-the-century president of the Augustana Synod and historian of its early days, displayed a wry, understated sense of humor. Below are: (1) my translation of his account of worship services at First Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. Paul in 1860 and 1861; and (2) quotes from Norelius' published accounts of the early days.

In the 1860s Norelius was a circuit rider based in Vasa, just west of Red Wing, Minn., and for a while in St. Paul. His recollection of his first Christmas in Minnesota appears in several of his reminiscences. This, notably, in the 50th anniversary album of First Swedish Lutheran Church in St. Paul:

… We had our services in a little room in the German Humeberg's house directly behind the church. Julotta 1860 was extraordinarily pleasant and edifying. The little teacher's desk was tastefully covered, and the little room was radiant with light. John Johansson, nephew to Dr. Hasselquist, was our parish clerk and organist, and a psalmodikon made out as [utgjorde] our organ. When we subsequently moved to another place, one man took the pulpit on his back and another the psalmodikon under his arm, and the chore was over. (Jubel-Album 44)

[My translation.]

Humeberg was a German landlord. Dr. Tufve Hasselquist, then of Galesburg, later became one of the founders of Augustana Synod.

Eric Norelius. The Pioneer Swedish Settlements and Swedish Lutheran Churches in America, 1845-1860. Trans. Conrad Bergendoff. Rock Island: Augustana Historical Society, 1984.

On October 25, 1860 the congregation met to elect a pastor and issued a call to Pastor E. Norelius. There was no prose of a salary but the congregation agreed to pay $5 a month for the pastor's rent, as well as arranging for the place. It was understood that the pastor was to have his headquarters in St. Paul and serve the congregation when he was home, otherwise he was to serve as a traveling missionary in the parts of Minnesota he was able to reach. A committee was appointed to hire an appropriate place for services, and it succeeded in renting a small room, almost a closet, from a German, Henneberg, a little north of the present location of the church.

… The congregation was small, consisting of only 13 communicants in the summer of 1860, but grew slowly. Peace and unity prevailed, and the devotional hours in the small chamber were delightful and refreshing. Mr. John Johnsson led the singing, often with the help of a psalmodikon. The Christmas morning service 1860 was especially uplifting. The small pulpit was tastefully decorated, the small room was radiant with light, but the greatest joy was in the happiness with which the Word of God was received. The two most important achievements of the year were the acquiring of a lot for a church and the adoption of the normal congregational constitution. (311)

In his autobiographical Early Life of Eric Norelius, 1833-1862: A Lutheran Pioneer, trans. Emeroy Johnson (Rock Island: Augustana Book Concern, 1934), Norelius quotes from De Svensk Lutherska Församlingarnas Historia -- essentially the same account 13 members, "Peace and harmony prevailed …" -- services "pleasant and refreshing" -- "Mr. John Johnson (a nephew of Dr. Hasselquist) was our song leader, and sometimes he accompanied on a 'psalmodikon.'" -- julotta in 1860 -- "The services were being held in a building rented from a German by the name of Henneberg. It was located on the street directly back of the present First Lutheran Church of St. Paul" (287).

Cf. Emeroy Johnson, Eric Norelius: Pioneer Midwest Pastor and Churchman (Rock Island: Augustana Book Concern., 1954), p. 92: "In a rented room located in the area where the railroad yards are now, Norelius held a joyful Julotta service on Christmas Day, 1860. Lights and decorations helped to make it a festive occasion for all. John Johnson, a nephew of Pastor Hasselquist, led the singing, playing the hymns on his psalmodikon."

Augustana seminary Chicago 1860-63

C.W. Foss, "The First Days of Augustana College," The Alumnus, Alumni Association of Augustana College, Rock Island. Volume 1 (1892-93), pp. 2-4 (Google eBook)

What's a psalmodikon?

Talking with another historian in Springfield today, I realized I don't have anything on the blog explaining what a psalmodikon is and how it was played. Wikipedia has a page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalmodicon, with some of the basics.* And I have several pages on Hogfiddle with the specs for specific instruments and other arcane knowledge, including details on my presentation "The Psalmodikon -- Pastor Esbjorn's Singing School" April 25 in Andover. But nothing I could point my friend to.

So … better late, I guess, than never:

A psalmodikon (pron. sahl-MOWD-i-kon) was a monochord, or one-string box fiddle, used by Scandinavian church musicians to help keep singers on pitch when they were learning new hymns. They were used primarily for choir practice and home services (husandakter) in the early to mid-1800s, falling out of use as more congregations were able to afford pump organs for worship. In Sweden, they were influenced by the hummel -- a box zither similar to a mountain dulcimer -- and they are fretted diatonically like a northern European hummel or an American dulcimer. They were brought to the U.S. by Swedish and Norwegian immigrants.

Here's what one looks -- and sounds -- like. The still picture below illustrates a YouTube audio clip of a psalmodikon ensemble in Stockholm playing an old Swedish hymn called "Din klara sol går åter pop" [the glorious sun doth arise]:

Explains YouTube user Martin Magnusson (in Swedish, followed by English translation): "Din klara sol går åter opp ... ett smakprov från Nordiska psalmodikonförbundets CD-skiva Psalmer och visor på psalmodikon inspelad i Stjärnhov i juli 2010. Kan beställas från NPsF hemsida www.npsalmodikonforbundet.se." [The Glorious Sun Doth Arise … a sample from the Nordiska psalmodikonförbundet's CD Hymns and songs on the psalmodikon played in Stjärnhov, July 2010.]

In recent years, the instrument has been revived by primarily Norwegian-American groups in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area, who are members of the Nordic-American Psalmodikonforbundet, and in Sweden by the Nordiska Psalmodikonförbundet. Their websites are linked below.

Notation. One of the psalmodikon's selling points was a system of tablature called "siffernoter" [numerical notation] that substituted the numbers for different degrees of the scale -- the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth and so on -- in place of the notes on the lines of a musical staff like in standard notation. "Din klara sol …" looks like this.

And here, for the sake of comparison, is "Din klara sol …" in standard notation, as seen in the Augustana Synod's 1892 edition of the 1819 Svenska Psalmbok:

They've transposed it, from E-flat in Dillner's siffernoter to D in the 1892 hymnal. But the tablature doesn't change -- to change keys on a psalmodikon, you would just retune the melody string from Eb to D. I am betting that would have been very useful for pastors in little churches out on the prairie who might have to accommodate the singers in a small choir from time to time.

__________

* I should add: I would definitely change one of Wikipedia's "basics." They spell "psalmodikon" with a "c," but the word is spelled with a "k" in English, Norwegian and Swedish alike. The "p" at the beginning of the word is optional in Norwegian, for reasons too complicated to go into here, but nobody since the 1850s has spelled the name of the instrument with a "c." Nobody.

Korsbaneret -- misc. clips, obits about Augie, Chicago, Andersonville

Directory for Korsbaneret, Kristlig Kalendar, 1881-1950, in the Hathi Trust Digital Library http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012100356

[HathiTrust is a partnership of more than 100 academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Pron. HAH-TEE.]

History of Immanuel Sv. Luth Kyrka i Chicago in 1881 and 1882

Augie mentioned in 1882, pp. 157-59.

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Edgewater Historical Society has excellent neighborhood histories:

• West Andersonville http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/tours/070916 (north of Foster and west of Ashland)
• East Andersonville http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/tours/030921 (north of Foster, east of Ashland a block past Clark).

Transportation was crucial to this development. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad originally had stops at Summerdale (Berwyn), Rosehill Drive and just south of Granville. Prior to 1908, the trains ran on the ground level. Beginning in 1892, as traffic increased, the train embankments were built to make travel safer on the roads intersecting with the tracks. By 1900, the Clark Street trolley ran north to Devon and south to 111th street, thus creating an important link across the city. This Clark Street trolley line was one of the last to be withdrawn from service.

In the late 1950s, Grant Johnson, a businessman on Clark Street, suggested that the district reestablish the name “Andersonville” for the area. In the early 1960s the Clark Street Businessmen’s Association changed its name to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce. In 1972, the East Andersonville Residents Council was formed to include the area.

In the past 40 years, many ethnic groups have settled in Andersonville area including Mexican, Korean, Greeks, Persians, Japanese, South Americans, Vietnamese and Thai. Each of them contributes to the strong, unique identity that the Andersonville name retains today.

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"Group Brings Atmosphere of Scandinavia to Area." Chicago Tribune 20 Sept. 1964 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1964/09/20/page/290/article/group-brings-atmosphere-oef-scandinavia-to-area.

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"Kurt Mathiasson, Restaurant Owner" Chicago Tribune 10 March 2000 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-03-10/news/0003100237_1_restaurant-owner-punch-line-day-care-center">http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-03-10/news/0003100237_1_restaurant-owner-punch-line-day-care-center

A resident of the Andersonville neighborhood since he moved from Goteborg, Sweden, in 1963, Mr. Mathiasson could make quite an impression, said his son, Kurt S.: "He was kind of like a 70-year-old Viking." A burly, smiling man with curly blond hair down to his collar, Mr. Mathiasson liked to break the ice with strangers by telling a few jokes, though he often as not started laughing before reaching the punch line.

He came to America for the promise of greater opportunities and held a number of jobs when he first arrived, including working as a painter and owning a day care center.

But he really began gaining notoriety when he opened Svea restaurant (named for the tribe that gave its name to Sweden) in 1972, and the Swedish-American Museum Center four years later. Among the art displays, historical information and old Viking garb, Mr. Mathiasson's museum also featured exhibits on the creations of Swedish inventors, which included, among other things, the log cabin, dynamite, ball bearings and the zipper. "He wanted Swedes to know and understand their heritage, and he wanted to share that heritage as well," his son said.

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Andersonville Mourns Community Leader Edgewater Historical Society 11.3 (Summer-Fall 2000) http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/articles/v11-3-05

Kurt Mathiasson immigrated from Goteborg in 1963, purch. Svea in 1970s

Kurt’s involvement with Andersonville began in the early 1970’s when he purchased Svea Restaurant at 5236 N. Clark. The neighborhood, which was settled by Swedes near the turn of the century. Kurt, however, got some idea he was going to reclaim Andersonville for the Swedes. Kurt began by dedicating a wall in his restaurant to the history of Swedes in Chicago.

With the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 came a planned visit by Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf to the United States. It was time for a museum. A storefront was available at 5248 N. Clark and Kurt recruited the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, of which he was a member to help raise funds. Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf dedicated the Museum on Easter Sunday, 1976. By 1988, the Museum needed to expand and moved to the former Lind Hardware building, at 5211 N. Clark.

* * *

Along with achievements as a community builder and diplomat, Kurt was famous for his congeniality and sense of humor. Along with the jokes Kurt often had a guitar slung over his shoulder. He could play any instrument by ear with tunes from Swedish folk to gospel. Kurt made you feel like family when you came into the restaurant. He helped restore a needed sense of direction to the community. He helped make the neighborhood a better place for everyone as well as for the Swedes. Mathiasson is survived by wife Solveig, sons Lars (Anicka) in Sweden and Kurt S (Esparanza) daughter Kristina (Dell) Oenning and seven grandchildren. Kurt’s ashes were returned to Sweden and scattered there at a family memorial on March 31, 2000.

Reprinted with permission: Andersonville Together May, 2000

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"`Mayor Of Andersonville` Dominick Lalumia, 97" Chicago Tribune 8 Dec. 1991 http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-12-08/news/9104200486_1_park-ridge-mayor-booster

Mr. Lalumia was a force in the revival and development of the Andersonville area at Clark Street and Foster Avenue, said his daughter Dorothy Olson. The Inn, which closed in 1977 after 44 years in business, was at 5240 N. Clark St.

Known unofficially as ``The Mayor of Andersonville,`` Mr. Lalumia is remembered as the man who walked Clark Street every morning at 10, ringing a bell to alert shopkeepers to come out and sweep their sidewalks, his daughter said.

``He really believed in the neighborhood and was its greatest booster,`` Olson said. ``He organized the banners on the poles and marched in every parade.``

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Nordstjernan -- undated but probably 2008 -- http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/midwest/684/

The Swedish American Museum in Chicago.

In 1976 Kurt Mathiasson founded a small museum in a storefront log cabin, in which family histories were collected. A decade later the Swedish American Museum Center opened

A decade later the Swedish American Museum Center opened at its current location. With a mission to preserve and present the Swedish American heritage in the U.S, the Swedish American Museum Center offers a multitude of programs as well as the interactive Children’s Museum of Immigration. The first smaller museum had some 2,500 visitors. Today the museum has 43,000 visitors a year (2008) and is an important component in the Swedish Anderssonville community, on the north-side of Chicago. “We have 1500 memberships and 2000 members,” says Karin Moen Abercrombie, Executive Director. “Most of our visitors are 2nd and 3rd generation Swedes. Most people come to our permanent exhibition to learn about the Swedish immigration to the U.S. or they come to our arts exhibitions, which change four times a year. Then of course, families come to our Children’s Museum. I think the museum’s holiday celebrations are important to many and help keep the Swedish traditions alive – Midsummer, Lucia, and Christmas. We are also the ‘anchor’ for Swedes and Swedish-Americans here in Andersonville.”

Meeting place with traditions

Solveig Mathiasson, widow of Curt Mathiasson, says the museum has changed for the better lately. “Although many people keep coming back,” she says, “there’s a lot of new visitors, too, especially families. The museum is an important meeting place for Swedes, a meeting place with traditions.”

Read about the start in the words of the first and founding Executive Director: Kerstin Lane, creator, founder, visionary

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Sun-Times obit of last owner of Verdandi Club, in the 5000 block of North Clark https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.obituaries/tSCeIcubDH8/hB1BhmesT64J

Dead link to http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/12216848-418/ingrid-bergstrom-91-brought-chicago-swedes-together.html -- takes you to the Sun-Times' homepage

Ingrid Bergstrom, 91, brought Chicago Swedes together
BY KATIE DREWS
Last Modified: Apr 29, 2012 11:00PM

Ingrid E. Bergstrom's Verdandi Club was the epicenter of Swedish-American life in Chicago during the 1960s.

With a huge painting of Stockholm behind the bar and a jukebox that played "Halsa dem da rhemma" and other Swedish songs, the Andersonville restaurant reminded immigrants of their homeland.

Nearly every weekend there was a wedding reception or other event, and once a month there was Scandinavian dancing that packed the house.

"That was the main place where everybody would meet, and those were the days when a lot of Swedes were coming here," said Annette Seaberg, former honorary consul for Sweden.

Along with running the restaurant with her husband, Mrs. Bergstrom, a Swedish immigrant herself, did whatever she could to help newcomers adjust to life in Chicago. She founded Svenska Gillet, the Swedish Friendship Society, and built a strong network of Swedes in the city.

"She'd help everybody," said Nels Nelson, a close friend. "They had people living with them all the time, total strangers that they'd run into. [The guests] would always be so amazed at her kindness and generosity."

Mrs. Bergstrom, a pillar in Chicago's Swedish-American community and also former owner of the Sweden Shop in North Park, died April 10 of natural causes at Swedish Covenant Hospital. She was 91 and a longtime North Side resident.

* * *

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Michael Gebert. "Swedish Restaurant Owner, Leader of Vanished Community Dies" Grub Street, nymag.com 2 May 2012. http://www.grubstreet.com/2012/05/swedish_restaurant_owner-ingrid-bergstrom.html

Occasionally an obituary seems like a dispatch from a long-lost world. That's how we reacted to the Sun-Times' obituary for Ingrid E. Bergstrom, 91, a prominent leader in Chicago's Swedish-American community in the 1960s and the owner of the Verdandi Club: With a huge painting of Stockholm behind the bar and a jukebox that played “Halsa dem da rhemma” and other Swedish songs, the Andersonville restaurant reminded immigrants of their homeland. Nearly every weekend there was a wedding reception or other event, and once a month there was Scandinavian dancing that packed the house.

[The Sun-Times misspelled the name. I'm going to skip over the Grub Street obit to the end, which has an embedded YouTube video with the correct spelling. Grub Street is the food section of New York magazine's nymag.com website.]

In any case, at some point in the 1950s or 1960s she opened her restaurant, the Verdandi Club, apparently (there's very little trace of it online) at 5015 N. Clark in Andersonville. She also founded Svenska Gillet, a Swedish friendship society, and seems to have been an important leader in the Scandinavian community. But times were changing in Andersonville; by the early 1970s the Verdandi Club was gone and, in a note of rather too obvious symbolism, the address has been a gay bathhouse since the mid-1970s. Her last business venture was The Sweden Shop at 3304 W. Foster, which she owned from 1971 to 1989 (it's now owned by the owners of the Swedish restaurant Tre Kronor).

Valsigne dig fröken, Mrs. Bergstrom. Let us say goodbye to your world with a chorus of "Halsa dem dar hemma":

Hälsa dem där hemma - played by Walter Eriksson

Augustana Founders' Day Reunion, Andover (where I'll present my April 25 "Pastor Esbjorn's Singing School" psalmodikon workshop)

This release, over the signature of Ron Peterson, acting dean of Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, went out to churches in northern Illinois. Jenny Lind is the original Lutheran church erected by Swedish immigrants during the 1850s. Its pastor, the Rev. Lars Paul Esbjorn, was a founder of the Augustana Lutheran Synod, and his church in Andover was considered the synod's mother church. Link below for more information on the founders' day reunion, April 25-26, on the Jenny Lind Chapel website at http://helios.augustana.edu/jlc/.

The Jenny Lind Chapel is so named because in 1850 the famous Swedish opera singer, who was on a concert tour of the United States at the time, donated $1,500 to the Andover congregation's building fund -- after the walnut beams set aside for the sanctuary were sawn up for coffins during a cholera epidemic. (Click here for more information, along with dulcimer tab for the cherished Swedish hymn "Children of the Heavenly Father.") The 155th anniversary of the Augustana Synod and the 165th anniversary of the Andover congregation is in April.

More information is available on the Jenny Lind website at http://helios.augustana.edu/jlc/ and a detailed schedule at http://helios.augustana.edu/jlc/reunion_2015/index.html. Here's the blurb on my breakout session:

DR. PETER ELLERSTEN
"The Psalmodikon - Pastor Esbjörn's Singng School"

What in the world is that strange looking instrument in the Jenny Lind Chapel Immigrant Museum? That is Pastor Lars Paul Esbjörn's Psalmodikon, the first musical instrument used at the Chapel. Dr. Peter Ellersten, who is probably the most noted modern-day Psalmodikon researcher, has even had a replica made of Pastor Esbjörn's instrument, and will use it during his presentation.

In all fairness, I probably should point out that as far as I know, I am the only modern-day researcher of the Swedish-American psalmodikon.

Prairieland-Clayville jams: Some notes on HOLY MANNA, and some more notes on shape notes

We made such a good start Thursday night on HOLY MANNA, also known by its first line "Brethren, we have met to worship," I went home and found a couple of performances on YouTube.

Chords in D are available on line at http://guitarhymnbook.com/2011/10/brethren-we-have-met-to-worship-2/. A great big Stetson-sized hat tip to Fred and Judy for finding the chords and lyrics -- and in the right key!

The song comes from the shape-note tradition, and it is commonly sung as the opening song at shape-note singing events.(See information from Wikipedia below.) But it is also a favorite bluegrass gospel number. A couple of clips:

The Gospel Plowboys - Brethren We Have Met to Worship. Video (c) Carol McDuffie, Lovin' Bluegrass YouTube Ministry. Gospel Plowboys are a bluegrass gospel group based in Safe Harbor Baptist Church, in Salisbury, N.C.

Two other gospel arrangements we can pick up ideas from:

• One that combines old-time string band and progressive "new-grass" licks by the Rochester family, a gospel group of Blacksburg, S.C.
• A very fine up-tempo bluegrass version by Seminole String Band, a family group of Seminole, Ala.

All of these bluegrass arrangements are pretty close to the spirit of the original. It's an old, old song, and the modern groups that come closest to it are Primitive Baptist gospel quartets (with extra instruments) down South like the Gospel Plowboys.

Wikipedia, per usual, has the most authoritative brief overview. It's one of the oldest published American folk hymns. The lyrics were written by George Atkins and first published in 1819. HOLY MANNA, the tune, is "a pentatonic melody in Ionian mode originally published by William Moore in Columbian Harmony, a four-note shape-note tunebook, in 1829. Like most shape-note songs from that century, it is usually written in three parts." Our arrangement, which we have licensed from Steve Eulberg, is in three parts. It's in a collection of Steve's that features shape-note tunes from Southern Harmony (1835).

Wayne Seymour, a folk musician, storyteller and composer of North Carolina -- wrote an article for Mel Bay's Dulcimer Sessions at http://archive.dulcimersessions.com/feb08/seymour.pdf with a different arrangement of HOLY MANNA, also from the version in Southern Harmony.

Seymour has some good advice on how to play it authentically. He's writing for mountain dulcimer, but music is music and what he says will work for other instruments, too:

There are a couple of things that make shape note music interesting to me on the mountain dulcimer. First , the harmonies are usually based on an interval of a 5th (Five notes distance in pitch between one note and another.) This is the same interval that we use in most common dulcimer tunings. (From D to A, for example.)

Second, in traditional shape note singing, the tenors carried the melody. There was a bass line, and women sang a part that was simply called "treble" since it was neither a conventional alto nor soprano part. This is quite a different arrangement from the usual soprano, alto, tenor, bass harmonies that dominate not only hymns, but a lot of secular music as well. As a result, the harmonies tended to be "droney.” What better fit could there be for a mountain dulcimer!

The tunes go slowly, but with a definite VERY strong rhythm. There should be strong emphasis or "punch" on the first beat of each measure and a detectable emphasis on the third beat. Stum across all three strings for the melody, and don’t let the melody get lost in the drone.

Why is it called shape-note music? Here's the original from Southern Harmony at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/hymn/Holy_Manna.html. The melody (called the "lead") is in the middle line. The top line is a high harmony part called the "treble," and the bottom is the bass. Some people think (and I'm one of them) bluegrass harmony comes from the three-part harmony of the old shape note tradition. See how different notes of the scale have different shapes? That's why we call the shape notes.

Nashville sound? Nashville songwriter's viral mashup shows why country music all starts to sound alike after a couple of minutes

Ever wonder why the songs on your favorite country music station all sound the same after a while? Nashville songwriter-producer Gregory Todd says his mashup "was made 'all in good fun,' not as a way to bash the music or the artists who are dominating the radio," according to an article in yesterday's Nashville Tennessean. Well, OK, sure. But it certainly does show what happens when songwriters and record producers have to hew to a formula in order to get airplay.

The songs are:

• Blake Shelton's "Sure Be Cool If You Did"
• Luke Bryan's "Drunk on You,"
• Chase Rice's "Ready, Set, Roll,"
• Parmalee's "Close Your Eyes,"
• Cole Swindell's "Chillin' It"
• And "This Is How We Roll," recorded by Florida Georgia Line.

Todd, whose YouTube user name is "Sir Mashalot," says his next project is "a new musical experiment: a song specifically written to fit his mashup formula." OK, sure. I don't know how new that is -- seems like that's what they all do -- but I'll bet it gets some airplay.

Swedish dissertation on J C F Haeffner's 1821 koralbok

Anders Dillmar, Publicly Defends his Academic Dissertation "Dödshugget mot vår nationella tonkonst": Haeffnertidens koralreform i historisk, etnohymnologisk och musikteologisk belysning in Lund, Skåne, Sweden, Saturday May 12 [?? year ??]. http://www.haeffner.se/JCFH/JCFH_Main.htm

English-language summary of Dillmar's dissertation at http://www.haeffner.se/JCFH/DillmarAvh2.pdf.

Discussion of Dillner, psalmodikon:

To improve the singing of the congregations the dean Johan Dillner did some pioneer work that later had several imitators who together secured the future of the chorale book. The problem was the general public whose insufficient ability to read music was solved by a musical notation using numerals in combination with a easily played instrument for the practise of the melodies. Dillner’s method was presented by Wallin in the Riksdag with support of several acknowledged [11] musicians, among others Hæffner. The KMA desired that all parishes in the Kingdom should be requested to use this method, since all were in need of improvement in chorale singing.

In his numerical chorale book Psalmodikon Dillner in 1830 presented not only the melodies in an easily comprehensible way, but also informed the readers of his theomusicological ideas. Here was a strong Moravian influence, even though Dillner in some respects also showed criticism towards this singing tradition. Considering the wide distribution of his edition the significance of this theomusicology should not be underestimated. Emphasized was the strong communicative ability of chorale music, founded on symbolism and style of music, thus both cognitive and psychological. However, for its effectiveness a carefully prepared pedagogy was needed. Though Dillner placed the old modal melodies in a unique position, he did not hesitate to recognize instrumental music and major/minor tonality as also being of value. The four-part singing of chorales was described as a musical religious exercise. However, his purpose was not to replace the unison singing of the congregation with a four-part choir, but to improve its purity and euphony. As a choirmaster Dillner encouraged singing in his parishes and the audible results surprised not only his neighbourhood but also the KMA.

Swedish fruit soup (fruktsoppa) recipe in Nordstjernan

"Mormor's [grandma's] fruktsoppa or something like it" Nordstjernan http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/food/3225/.

Ingredients ¾ cup dried apricots ¾ cup dried prunes 6 cups cold water 1 cinnamon stick 2 slices lemon 3 Tablespoons tapioca (quick-cooking) 1 cup sugar 2 Tablespoons seedless raisins 1 Tablespoon currants 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into half inch slices

To make it, you either: (1) dump it in a saucepan and boil it; or (2) follow the recipe in the paper. Serve hot (which isn't mentioned in Nordstjernan) or cold (which is). Either way is delicious. You can also make it with fruit juice (e.g. white grape juice) as a stock.

Norwegian word is fruktsuppe. NRK has a recipe at http://www.nrk.no/mat/fruktsuppe-1.6786627 with pineapple, kiwi, passionfruit and pink grapefruit instead of prunes and raisins:

Del ananasen i biter. Skrell appelsinene i båter og skjær dem ut av hinnene, slik at det blir kun fruktkjøtt. Gjør det samme med grapefrukt. Skrell kiwi og del i biter.

Kok opp vann og sukker i en kasserolle. Smak forsiktig til med juice (du trenger ikke hele pakken!) Rør maissena ut i noen spiseskjeer vann og visp jevningen i det kokende vannet. Rør om til du har en passe tykk suppe. Legg all frukten i suppen og klem all saften fra restene av appelsinene og grapefrukten i kasserollen. La suppen småkoke til den tykner litt (blir den for tynn, kan du røre ut litt mer maissena i 3 ss vann).

[trans. by Google: Share pineapple into chunks. Peel the oranges into wedges and cut them out of your ear, so it will only fruit pulp. Do the same with grapefruit. Peel kiwi and cut into chunks.

Boil water and sugar in a saucepan. Taste carefully with juice (you do not need the whole package!) Stir corn sena out in a few tablespoons of water and whisk smooth nobody in the boiling water. Stir until you have a thick soup fit. Place all the fruit in the soup and squeeze all the juice from the remnants of the oranges and grapefruit in saucepan. Simmer until it thickens slightly (it is too thin, you can stir out some more corn senators in 3 tablespoons water).

Google doesn't have it, but maissena is cornstarch, and jevningen means thickening.

"Guds Søn har gjort mig fri" -- in Grieg, Fire Salmer and Danske Salmebog Online

Guds Søn har gjort mig fri / (God's son has made me free) -- words by 18th-century hymn writer Hans Adolf Brorson, melody by 19th- and early 20th-century Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg ...

Koncert med Kammerkoret Al Dente 14.6.2011
Del 1 - i Vor Frue Kirke i Aalborg.
Edvard Grieg: Guds søn har gjort mig fri

• Choral arrangement by Edvard Grieg, in Fire Salmer (four psalms, or hymns) http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/f2/Grieg_2_for_upload.pdf

• MIDI file in Danske Salmebog Online http://www.dendanskesalmebogonline.dk/salme/514/182

• Very polished performance in Paulus Kirke, Oslo, in 2011 by Akademisk Korforening (AKF) conducted by Gjermund Bjørklund at http://youtu.be/KrvX-YXc73Y

Christmas in Bethlehem 2014

O little town of Bethlehem, / How still we see thee lie …

Although we like to imagine the "deep and dreamless sleep" of a little village while "silent stars go by," Bethlehem today is a crowded tourist destination of 28,000 in the West Bank territories administered by the Palestinian Authority. While its tourism has been adversely affected by the troubled political situation in the Middle East, it has been a Christian shrine since 327 AD when its Church of the Nativity was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine.

So it should come as no surprise that a recent flash mob video commissioned by the Bank of Palestine and the Bethlehem Development Foundation would be a lively, upbeat, professionally edited marketing piece. Its production values compare well with American ad agency work, and it pictures Bethlehem as people in Bethlehem might wish to be pictured.

The music is pretty darn good, too, on a par with the best gospel and Christian contemporary in Europe and the United States.

How silently, how silently / The wondrous gift is given!

Instead of the pastoral quiet of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," the video shows a polished performance by Fouad Moubassaleh and other Palestinian pop singers of "Oh Happy Day" and the Christmas carol we know as "Angels We Have Heard on High," both in Arabic, in Manger Square. Located between the Church of the Nativity and the Mosque of Omar, with the Bethlehem Peace Center on a third side of the square, it is a focal point of Christian ceremonies -- and therefore of the tourist industry.

Here's the video:

Bethlehem Christmas Hymns © تراتيل ميلادية في بيت لحم | Flash Mob. A flash mob that took place in the Manger Square in Bethlehem, Palestine, after the Sunday Mass Dec. 21 in the Church of the Nativity & Saint Catherine Church. [St. Catherine's is the Catholic church included in the Church of the Nativity complex.] Produced by H2 Media Studio of Bethlehem. Organized & Sponsored by:

Bank Of Palestine | http://tinyurl.com/bankofpalestine
Bethlehem Development Foundation | http://tinyurl.com/bdfoundation

Performers:
Amjad Khair | أمجد خير
George Thaljieh | جورج ثلجية
Steve Hana | ستيف حنا
Fouad Moubassaleh | فؤاد مبصلة
Jacob Shaheen | يعقوب شاهين

Music Production:
RJ Music Productions / John Handal | جون حنضل
Live Sound/PA:
Scottish Center/ Richard Hanania

Production: H2 Media Studios © All Rights Reserved 2014 | H2 Media Studios

H2 Media Studios (Philip Hihi and Francis Hihi) is a photographic equipment and services business located in Bethlehem. Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/h2mediastudio. On Palm Sunday in April they did a similar flash mob performance in Manger Square. The song was in Arabic, and the melody wasn't familiar to me.

Promoting international tourism on the West Bank remains an uphill battle.

For a variety of reasons, tourism is way down this year. In an Associated Press color story filed Wednesday, Daniel Estrin of the AP's Jerusalem bureau said police and local officials estimated that 4,500 international tourists, "less than half last year's number," visited the Christmas eve celebration in Bethlehem this year:

The central Manger Square was decked out in white and yellow lights and a towering Christmas tree. On a cool, clear night, there was a carnival atmosphere: Vendors hawked corn, candied apples, watches, and balloons in the shape of cartoon characters.

Scout troops played bagpipes, horns and drums, and bands from around the world performed on a stage, singing Christmas carols and original Christmas rock ballads, mostly in English. A recording of "Feliz Navidad" blasted through the speakers, too. A Palestinian host welcomed members of Gaza's tiny Christian community, who were permitted to cross through Israel to the West Bank, eliciting whistles and applause.

Other reminders were not absent of: (1) Bethlehem's precarious political situation; and (2) the commercialization of Christmas.

Estrin of the AP added, "The Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto that Christians believe is the site of Jesus' birth, was flanked by the towering Christmas tree and a large poster in Arabic and English that read 'All I want for Christmas is justice'."

Turns out I've been posting Christmas clips to the blog ever since I visited Bethlehem in November 2012:

• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-in-bethlehem-scout-parades.html -- last year's TV coverage of the religious ceremonies and scout parades, inspired by the British during the Palestine mandate but now a Palestinian tradition.
• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2012/12/bethlehem-christmas.html -- still more coverage of the parades and ceremonies, in 2012.
• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2012/11/christmas-lutheran-bethlehem.html -- worshiping in Arabic and English at Bethlehem Christmas Lutheran Church.
• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2012/12/holy-land-1-of-church-of-nativity-with.html -- my thoughts on visiting the Church of the Nativity, which totally blew my mind.

"Din Klara Sol Går Åter Upp" on the prairie --

Carl Wilhelm Andeer. Augustana-folk: Några Bilder och Karaktärer ur vårt Kyrkliga Arbete. Rock Island: Augustana Book Concern, 1911. Google eBooks.

Title translates to something like this: Augustana people: Some pictures and character [sketches?] of our churchly work. So far I can't find anything on line about Andeer.

But, this on page 5, in the opening scene of the book …

Looks promising!

LATER: According to Arnold Barton, A Folk Divided, Andeer was an Augustana Synod minister who wrote short stories for Ungdomsvännen, returned to Sweden by 1915 (233, 375n53). 2nd ed. was reviewed in The Lutheran Companion, Nov. 21, 1914 [p. 12 Google eBooks]. "Augustana-Folk, Andriga Samlingen. Flere bilder och karaktärer ur vårt kyrkliga arbete. 10 stories, 137 pp. Board covers. Price, 35 cents. These sketches from our Swedish-American church life are both pleasant and profitable, always interesting, well told, with a style that makes its own appeal." Lutheran Companion in issue of June 12, 1920 [p. 379 Google eBooks] says he was at the time residing in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Luther League Review Vol 17 1904 {24 Google eBooks] lists Rev. Carl W. Andeer, E. Boston, Mass., among contributors to a building project in New York. He is in a picture of the graduating class of 1901 at Augustana Seminary. Ordained June 16, 1901, in Jamestown, N.Y.

The Swedish Element In Illinois [p. ___? Google eBooks -- ] lists among Augustana Book Concern authors: "The list of more than 500 different books and pamphlets published u]) to the end of the year 1916 comprises quite a number of original works by Swedish-American writers. In the field of j^oetry we find A. A. Sward. Ludvig Holmes, Jakob Bonggren, C. A. I^onnquist and John A. Enander. The collected works by Dr. Enander and by Dr. Olof Olsson have been published, besides books of stories, essays, remi- niscences and travels, by Birger Sandzen, C. W. Foss, Johan Person, Ernst A. Zetterstrand, C. A. Hemborg, Vilhelm Berger, K. N. Rabenius, Carl W. Andeer, Anna Olsson, S. J. Kronberg and others."

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Some background on the hymn/psalm I scrabbled together tonight:

Again Thy Glorious Sun Doth Rise / Din Klara Sol Går Åter Upp http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/HOoS1901/170. Hymnal and Order of Service: for churches and Sunday-schools‎ #170 -- this is Augustana's 1901 hymnal

By Johan Olof Wallin [trans. 1901 J.E. Anderson]

appeared in American hymnals from 1899 [?] to early 1950s -- 11 instances cited, all Lutheran or Swedish, e.g. Mission Covenant church

Tune: NUN DANKET ALL UND BRINGET EHR http://www.hymnary.org/tune/nun_danket_all_und_bringet_ehr_storl

Attributed to Johann Georg Christian Störl (1710), traditionally and in the 1901 hymnal. But Wikipedia says it is now identified in more general terms as "German, 1710" (tyskt ursprung 1710).

Text per Hymnary.org:

Again Thy glorious sun doth rise,
I praise Thee, O my Lord;
With courage, strength, and hope renewed,
I touch the joyful chord.

2 On good and evil, Lord, Thy sun
Is rising as on me;
Let me in patience and in love,
Seek thus to be like Thee.

3 May I in virtue and in faith,
And with Thy gifts content,
Rejoice beneath Thy covering wings,
Each day in mercy sent.

4 Safe with Thy counsel in my work
Thee, Lord, I’ll keep in view,
And feel that still Thy saving grace
Is every morning new.

Jens Fredborg (piano): Din klara sol går åter opp - Nun danket all und bringet Ehr

But cf. Med tacksam röst och tacksam själ - Nun danket all und bringat Ehr at http://youtu.be/_nwBfF7ty7M. I wish I could hear the resemblances in these tune families!

More on Hogfiddle at:

• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2012/12/din-klara-sol-gar-ater-opp-swedish-hymn.html
• http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2010/09/psalmodikon-clips-from-sweden-new-cd.html

Misc. Chicago links and quotes: Psalmodikon in Chicago's Swedish American Museum; notes on first Swedish congregation in Chicago; "Swede town" on Near North Side

Excerpt from self-guided tour booklet at Swedish American Museum:

The foldable organ and music (Mönster Kyrkan, "The Model Church") were both donated by J.L. Hultgren. …

On the wall hangs a psalmodikon, like the foldable organ, a portable instrument. Many religious congregations did not have a dedicated building in their early years, so they would use the parlors of their members for services and transport these instruments from house to house.

The psalmodikon has been called "the poor man's Organ" (fattigsmans orgel). The string is played with a bow; the notes are made by pressing on the frets.

The Dream of America: Swedish Immigration to Chicago. Self-guided Tour of our Permanent Exhibit. Chicago: Swedish-American Museum, n.d.

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Eric Norelius quoting history of Immanuel congregation in Korsbaneret, 1881, which in turn quoted a letter from T.N. Hasselquist dated Monday, Jan. 17, 1853, narrating the formation of the congregation:

Yesterday morning I preached for the Norwegian congregation, and in the afternoon for the Swedes. At the latter I preached on 'Christian caution with regard to unfamiliar religious bodies.' After I had spoken a few words based on Jeremiah 6:16, Pastor Paul Andersen with a view to the important matters before us, offered a gripping prayer which brought tears to the eyes of most. Then both of us went within the altar rail and submitted to the Swedes three resolutions concerning organization, the basis of acceptance into membership, and the Lutheran character of the congregation. Members subscribed their names, a resolution was made to call a pastor, whereupon the service was closed with prayer, benediction, and the singing of Psalm (Hymn) 412:6 in the Swedish Psalmbok. (149)

Sung to tune of N:o 55

Vår tid är ganska flyktig här -- a new year's psalm http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hur_snabbt,_o_Gud,_vår_tid_förgår

N:o 412, 6th verse:

O Gud! ditt ord och sakrament
Låt aldrig bliva från oss vändt.
Sjelf din församling skydda.
Vår kri steliga öfvhet
Gif helsa, lycka salighet;
Bevara slott och hydda.

Låt sist, O Krist!
Oss i friden, Rätta tiden
Til dig fara:
Evigt nyår shall der vara!

1892 psalmbook assigns to: (? -- [tysk], J. Svedberg, J.O. Wallin) -- parentheses and brackets in original, p. 289

Google trans.:

O God! your word and sacrament
Let never be turned back from us .
Herself protect your congregation .
Our crystal steliga öfvhet
Gifs healthfulness , happiness bliss ;
Preserve Castle and hut.
Let Finally , O Christ !
Us in peace, the right time
Til you go :
Eternally New Year der Shall be!

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Title Chicago's 'Swede Town': Gone but Not Forgotten
Author Beijbom, Ulf

Publisher Swedish Pioneer Historical Society Date of Issue October 1964 Issue v.15, no.4 Extent p. 144-158

http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/npu_sahq&CISOPTR=3072&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

No really Swedish center has existed in Chicago since the disappearance of Swede Town. Neither the throng of Swedes who at one time concentrated at Belmont and Clark, nor the large colony around today's "Swedish Cor- ner" at Foster and Clark, has succeeded in creating the same genuinely Swedish milieu as that which, in the third quarter of the last century welcomed the tens of thousands of Scandinavian immigrants who came to Chicago, some to stay for good but some merely to find a short wayside rest during their historic trek to the colonization of a new land. (158)

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Cite on Illinois State University Springfield: "For a description of Illinois State University, see Harry Evjen, "Illinois State University, 1852- 1868," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, XXXI (March, 1938): 54-71; Paul M. Angle, "Here I Have Lived" : A History of Lincoln's Springfield, 1821-1865 (Springfield, 111., 1935), 202-3.

"Hosianna Davids Son" -- a favorite Swedish hymn for Advent

One of the hymns we sang -- in Swedish! -- at the service for the Festival of Sankta Lucia at Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Chicago was "Hosianna Davids son." It wasn't in the 1819 psalmbook, but 19th-century Swedish immigrants knew it and it was commonly sung as a choir anthem [need to locate this reference] -- and Lars Paul Esbjorn has an elaborate four-part arrangement of it in siffernoter in the Esbjorn Family Papers at Augie.

Worth learning for Jenny Lind Chapel workshop. Some clips:

Uploaded by YouTube user benedicte5928 -- "swedish christmas song - chant de noël suédois" -- Berlaymont Dec. 15, 2010 -- in Brussels [?] -- apparently part of an international Christmas program

Hosianna Davids son performed by Gardeskapellet from The Swedish Army Band. From a Christmas concert on Swedish television (STV) 24 December 2009. Recorded live 16 December 2009.

There's also a clip on Hogfiddle at http://hogfiddle.blogspot.com/2013/09/misc-swedish-pioneer-reminiscences.html of its being sung at the summer meeting of the Swedish Lutheran charismatic movement Oasrörelsen in Borås in 2009.

From service folder at Ebenezer church.

The Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland has music on line in its Swedish psalmbook (No. 1) -- lyrics, in Swedish, and melody in G. You can print it out in Microsoft Word by clicking on logo captioned Psalm1.doc.

The best account of the song's background is the commentary in the Finnish hymnbook:

Georg Joseph Vogler (1749–1814) var född i Würzburg och son till en violinbyggare. Ibland kallas Vogler för "abbé Vogler", eftersom han var katolsk präst. Trots att Vogler var präst, blev han ändå mera känd bl.a. som organist och orgelbyggare, kompositör, lärare och kapellmästare. Vogler arbetade som kapellmästare vid Kungliga Teatern i Stockholm i tretton år, och under den tiden blev Hosianna till. Hans sätt att leda musik var mycket engagerande och någon har också påstått att hans orgelkonserter hade något av cirkus över sig. Den 20 mars 1796 gav Vogler en konsert i S:ta Clara kyrka i Stockholm med ett verk som skildrade Kristi lidandes historia, där Hosianna ingår i andra satsen av tio. Det skulle förmodligen bli en kulturkrock om man sjöng Hosianna i våra kyrkor på palmsöndagen, så pass mycket förknippas denna sång med advent och jul. Sången är inte alls känd i kompositörens hemland. Det är i Sverige och Finland som den används och har en mycket stark ställning bland allmänheten. [Google trans.: Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814) was born in Würzburg and the son of a violin maker . Sometimes called Vogler for " Abbe Vogler ," because he was a Catholic priest . Although Vogler was a priest , he became still more known among other things, organist and organ builder , composer , teacher and conductor . Vogler worked as a conductor at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm thirteen years, and during that time became Hosanna to . His way of leading music was very engaging and someone has also stated that his organ concerts had something of a circus over him . On March 20, 1796 Vogler gave a concert in St. Clara Church in Stockholm with a work depicting the Passion story, where Hosanna included in the second batch of ten. It would probably be a culture clash if you sang Hosanna in our churches on Palm Sunday , so much associated this song with Advent and Christmas. The song is not at all known in the composer's homeland. It is in Sweden and Finland are in use and has a very strong position among the public.]

Emory Lindquist. "A Swedish Immigrant Woman Views Her Home in Kansas, 1870-1881: The Letters and Diary of Ida Nibeius Lindgren." Swedish Pioneer Historical Society 16.1 (January 1965) 3-17. http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/npu_sahq&CISOPTR=3083&CISOBOX=1&REC=14/

However, there were times of joy for Ida Lindgren amidst the austerity of life. The first Christmas in Kansas was spent in the home of Ida's brother, Magnus Nibelius, and his wife, Johanna. They sang familiar Swedish psalms and the well known Christmas anthem, Hosianna. Ida was surprised and pleased to receive a rocking chair from her husband. Included among her other gifts were two vegetable dishes, three dozen clothes pins, a pair of gloves, a knitting bag, and some cloth to cover a small sofa belonging to the children. Ida gave her hosts a soft pillow and two pictures of Gustaf Vasa which had been brought from Sweden. The relatives also received two drinking glasses, some [8] clothes pins, and miscellaneous items. A group of Swedish people celebrated New Year's Day at the Lindgrens. Ida really wondered how they had been able to house and pro- vide meals for sixteen people with their limited facilities.

Christmas 1873 was a festive occasion for the Lindgrens when they were joined by Magnus and Johanna Nibelius. After drinking coffee during the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the Christmas tree, cut from nearby woods, and dec- orated with the Swedish flag at the top and twenty-four candles, was lit. The tree was also adorned with apples, nuts, candy, and raisins. Magnus furnished accompaniment for the Christmas songs on his harmonica. There were only a few gifts that Christmas but spirits were high.(7-8)

Misc. notes on Sankta Lucia celebration in Chicago

D R A F T

Sankta Lucia girls (right center) singing in Andersonville business district

Chicago free-lance writer Matt Beardmore had a Dec. 10 pre-story headlined "In Chicago, Lights for St. Lucia" on a New York Times blog linked to the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce's Facebook page:

“The crowning of the Lucia girl and the procession would usually take place the same day, but with Dec. 13 being on the weekend this year, it will take place over two days,” said Karin Moen Abercrombie, executive director of the Swedish American Museum in Andersonville and a native of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The celebration in Chicago begins Friday morning in Daley Plaza, where one of the “Lucia” hopefuls (all unmarried women between 16 and 24 years old and sponsored by a Swedish or Swedish-American organization or company) will be chosen to wear the crown of lights.

And this:

They, along with children dressed as Pepparkaksgubbar (gingerbread men), Tomtar (Santas) and Stjarngossar (star boys), will sing songs, including the traditional “Lucia Song,” as business owners along the route typically will stand outside with a candle, Ms. Abercrombie said.

* * *

When the procession returns to the museum, the participants will perform a 30- to 45-minute program, which will include, as the Swedish American Museum website says, “the telling of a Lucia legend, family entertainment by Dream Big Performing Arts, and Swedish holiday treats including traditional ‘pepparkakor’ ginger snaps.” The cost of admittance is $1 or a canned good. The group will then perform the same program at 7 p.m. at the Ebenezer Lutheran Church, which was organized by Andersonville’s Swedish immigrants in 1892.

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Sweden.se, an informational website maintained by the Swedish Institute\, Business Sweden, VisitSweden and the Swedish government, has this background: "The custom did not become universally popular in Swedish society until the 1900s, when schools and local associations in particular began promoting it. The old lussegubbar custom [sort of like English wassailing, but drunker -- cf. Hallowe'en pranks] virtually disappeared with urban migration, and white-clad Lucias with their singing processions were considered a more acceptable, controlled form of celebration than the youthful carousals of the past. Stockholm proclaimed its first Lucia in 1927."

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Ebenezer Lutheran Church 1650 W. Foster Ave., has an interesting history of the neighborhood and its transformation from an ethnic enclave to a multicultural neighborhood open to different ethnicities and lifestyles:

Ebenezer Lutheran Church was organized as a congregation of the Augustana Lutheran Synod on January 20, 1892 by the Swedish immigrants of Andersonville (Edgewater). At the height of the immigration period of the twentieth century, the congregation grew to nearly 2000 members. At that time the congregation was a center of religion, culture, and family activity for this new Swedish community. The present sanctuary was completed in 1908 and the additions were added in 1929. The congregation continued as a member of the Lutheran Church in America in the early 1960’s and subsequently as a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America when it was formed in 1988. During the pastorate of Theodore Matson, during the mid-1950’s, the mission and ministry of the congregation began to perceive that its mission and ministry extended beyond the Swedish community.

This new direction was enhanced, as Andersonville became less Swedish and more multi-cultural. …

* * *

The Sunday worship is a lively expression of the Christian tradition utilizing original music and music from around the world, a variety of instrumentation, and intentional lay leadership alongside the pastor. Currently the Swedish heritage of the congregation is maintained primarily during December. On December 13th, the Swedish-American community meets in the evening to observe St. Lucia Day. A Julgudstjanst, or Christmas service in Swedish,is held in the afternoon the Sunday before Christmas in partnership with the office of the Consulate General of Sweden.

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Kevin Pang, "Christmas at Svea: Lutefisk and a song." Chicago Tribune December 22, 2011. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-12-22/features/ct-dining-1222-home-plate-svea-20111222_1_lutefisk-martin-marks-kurt-mathiasson. From interview w/ Tom Martin, then 79, proprietor in 2011:

A hundred years ago, Chicago was home to more Swedes than any city outside Stockholm, and many immigrants lived in Andersonville. These days, restaurants along the 5000 block of North Clark Street represent Japan, the Middle East, Carolina Lowcountry and whatever Swedish remnants of yore remain in a handful of delis, bakeries and diners. The Svea space had been a restaurant as far back as the 1930s.

Martin was retired when the opportunity to own a restaurant suddenly presented itself. Martin called it a career in 1994 after 36 years working for a railroad company. In retirement, he became so bored at home he was organizing his wife's Tupperware for fun. The same year, his son Scott bought Simon's Tavern, an Andersonville staple since 1934. At his wife's urging to get out of the house, Martin became a daytime bartender at Simon's.

Martin befriended Kurt Mathiasson, who opened Svea in 1972 and was the founder of the Swedish American Museum across the street. Their friendship was strong enough that when Mathiasson was dying of cancer, he offered to sell the restaurant to Martin for a good price because he didn't want Svea — it means Mother of Sweden — to close. It has been almost 12 years since Martin took over.

"It's a fluke," Martin said. "But do I regret it? No way."

A last Christmas tune for Clayville-Prairieland jam sessions: "Cherry Tree Carol" -- and some thoughts on improvising

After some of us started playing and singing "The Cherry Tree Carol" from memory last week at the Clayville Christmas party, I went looking for it on line. It was that song about Joseph, Mary, the Christ child and the cherry tree. And I found some tab by dulcimer historian Ralph Lee Smith and Maddie MacNeil, founding editor-publisher of Dulcimer Players News.

Ralph is a nice guy, an inspiring teacher and author of the standard history of the Appalachian dulcimer. And his version of "Cherry Tree Carol," collected in Kentucky in 1914, is a lovely piece of music. The song, one of the "Child ballads" (No. 54) collected in the 1800s by Francis James Childs, is much older than that -- it was being sung in England as early as 1400 AD on the feast of Corpus Christi. We know it in the US as one of the southern Appalachian ballads with origins in English folksong that Cecil Sharp collected a hundred years ago.

The dulcimer tab, with backup chords and the melody in standard notation, is in Folk Songs of Old Kentucky, published by Mel Bay. Click on Click here to open and click on link at top that says, "Print This Article (PDF)."

While the song has been covered by numerous artists since Joan Baez recorded it in 1961, I'll only link you to three YouTube clips -- two vocals and an instrumental by the Mark O'Connor bluegrass band that got me to thinking about improvising, which is sometimes just a fancy word for playing by ear.

Here's the Mark O'Connor band:

Jerry Rockwell, a dulcimer builder of southeastern Ohio who has written some good stuff on music theory for mountain dulcimer, has an essay on "Improvisation" that makes improv accessible to us all. He relates to the noodling around he did as a teenager:

So after many, many hours of spinning vinyl, and a few hints from friends; I began to get the hang of playing by ear -- I learned to copy note-for-note the guitar solo in the Kingsmen's Louie, Louie, as well as all of George Harrison's lead parts. Something else started happening at the same time, though: I began to "noodle" with my guitar. With a sense of childish curiosity, I began to run some melody notes right through a chord position -- just to see how it would sound. Or I would go on extended melodic excursions way up the fingerboard; back down and around: all the time having NO CLUE what I was doing! I did waste alot of time noodling like this, but I gained something very important: I got a direct connection to the guitar as a means of expression. After a while, it felt very natural to pick up the guitar and just start to make music: a blues line would emerge, giving rise to another one, and so on.

This experiential time with the guitar was absolutely critical to my early development as a musician(and remains in first place to this day, whether I'm playing dulcimer, 5th-tuned guitar, standard-tuned guitar, or whatever), and the best news of all is that it is GREAT FUN! I highly recommend this undisciplined, exploratory style of music-making: Its a sort of "communion" with the soul, where you can touch some deep and wonderful -- and occasionally tumultuous -- areas of yourself.

Listen to the Mark O'Connor band again. Notice how they swap out on melody, rhythm and harmony riffs and how they blend it all together. O'Connor writes classical symphonies and concertos in addition to bluegrass, and I would not call his arrangement here improvised. But it's grounded in the same noodling Jerry Rockwell did when he learned the chords to "Louie Louie." We can do it, too.

The first vocal is by Jean Ritchie, now of Berea, Ky. She's one of very few people who has contributed more to the Appalachian dulcimer revival than Ralph Lee Smith, and here she sings "Cherry Tree Carol" a cappella in the old Appalachian style. In the 1950s she got a Fulbright scholarship to collect British and Irish variants of songs she knew from her family heritage in Kentucky. Picture shows Paddy Clancy of the Clancy Brothers (with concertina), Jean Ritchie (standing in back), Tom Clancy (sitting in front of her) and Robin Roberts (with guitar) at Jean Ritchie's New York City apartment, in 1954.

Jean Ritchie is an accomplished musician, but her a cappella singing here is very traditional, the way she bends notes and freely adapts the melody to the cadence of her words -- she isn't counting strict time here, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 like a metronome. This is the way our music sounded when it came over from the British Isles.

Finally, here's a performance by the English rock musician Sting, live in Durham Cathedral in 2009. His accompaniment couldn't be any more minimalist, but listen for how much three little notes can add to a piece of music:

Ralph's and Maddie's version of "Cherry Tree Carol" was collected in 1914 by Josephine McGill. Ralph's discography is available at http://www.ralphleesmith.com/Books___CDs.html.

Douglas D. Anderson's website The Hymns and Carols of Christmas has detailed notes on the "Cherry Tree Carol" and its history from the 15th century on. Included is this reminiscence of the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, an English hymn writer and classical musician, in 1884 -- "while teaching carols to a party of mill-girls, [he] began to relate the carol by Dr. H. J. Gauntlett, 'Saint Joseph was a-walking,' ... when they interrupted him, saying 'Nay! we know one a deal better nor yond'; and, lifting up their voices, they sang, to a curious old strain …"

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In January, we'll meet Saturday, Jan. 3, in the Batterton Cabin at Clayville, and Tuesday, Jan. 6, at Atonement Lutheran CHurch in Springfield. In addition to being the feast of Epiphany, Jan. 6 was known as "Old Christmas" in the southern Appalachian mountains where the present calendar that was adopted in the 1700s was greeted with hostility and suspicion. Kids used to get their presents on Old Christmas, and it was considered the end of the holiday season. (More here in the Dictionary of American Regional English.) In the last verse of "Cherry Tree Carol," the Christ child says:

Then Joseph took Mary all on his left knee:
“O tell me, little baby, when Thy birthday will be?”

The sixth day of January my birthday will be,
When the stars in the elements shall tremble with glee.

So it all (kinda) fits together.