ANDERS SVENSSON - There is a category of fiddlers who
are not keen to use great words to describe their music, and
would be unlikely to produce a solo album if it were left up
to them to bring about such a project. Musical shyness and actual
ability often go hand in hand. This is certainly true of Småland
fiddler Anders Svensson (b.1966)
He started to play the violin at the age of six, obviously
inspired and influenced by his father Max Svensson - Riksspelman
for Småland tunes since the mid 60s, and the family tradition
rested heavily on Anders' shoulders. Besides, both his grandfather
and uncle played the violin and his grandmother sang. It soon
became clear that the young novice learned easily. Further improvement
took place with violin teacher Lars Joneteg in Växjö.
There were many miles of driving to and fro between their home
in Diö and the violin lessons in Växjö during
Anders' youth. This meant that from an early age he had one foot
in the classical repertoire and the other in folk music. One
day he would be rehearsing with the Växjö Youth Symphony
Orchestra, and the next he would be playing with his dad and
the blokes in the Hinneryd spelmanslag.
The catch with an early musical
maturrity was the label of "child prodigy" that Anders
had to live up to, not least of all in various official contexts.
At the tender age of nine he played for the Zorn jury for the
first time, making him one of the youngest performers ever in
the history of the Zorn award. He became Riksspelman (master
fiddler) at Ransäter in 1989.
So a not unfounded reputation
surrounded the young lad who played difficult tunes at the spelmansstämmor
in southern Sweden in the 70s. Often technically advanced tunes
in keys with lots of flats! The inspiration for this type of
repertoire derives almost certainly from his contact with Stig
Andersson, who had recently moved from Halsingland to Grimsloy,
Småland. As time passed he also developed an interest in
lesser-known aspects of Småland folk music and in this
context discovered the more unusual amongst August Stromberg's
and Johan Dahl's tunes. Through Stig he also came into contact
with the newly founded Skatelöv Spelmanslag, while at the
same time, from the late 70s onwards he played for several dance
teams in south Småland. During the 80s he also started
a folk group at the music school in Almhult and he started to
play with the Växjö music school folk group. Since
the mid 90s he has been a permanent member of the Småland
folk group Sågskära
In pure musical terms Anders has came a long way from
the superficially complicated and technically advanced to finding
depth and his own anchorage in supposedly simple tunes. In his
case this means that playfulness and variation take first place
when it comes to interpreting a tune. For Anders. it is almost
unthinkable to merely play a tune from music, giving it a predefined
and universally comprehensive interpretation.
Instead he has developed a style where he turns, twists
and examines every nook in every quaver. People often talk about
variation, but there are few fiddlers who can lend as much meaning
to that expression as Anders Svensson. Here, concepts such as
flow, and space also have strong connotations. Flow in the form
of a feeling that the tune is always sweeping forward. Space,
which in contrast to what you would expect, heightens the intensity
- you don't always need to paint with the broad brush.
Magnus Gustafsson
MAGNUS GUSTAFSSON - is versatile
musician and the folkmusic archivist at Smålands music
archive. in Växjö, Sweden. For many years, he has studied,
documented and carried forward Småland's tunes & songs.
His knowledge and experience are communicated to a broader public
by way of the many books and articles he has authored, lectures
and radio interviews he has given and recordings and live performances
he has participated in. Magnus is one of the founding members
of the groups Sågskära and Höök, where he
plays violin, bagpipe, hurdy gurdy, shawm and more. Magnus has
made several trips to the USA as a performer and teacher of Swedish
folkmusic and dance and is a major influence in the revival of
the slängpolska in Sweden.
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