Himlens Polska [play hifi lofi] [license] [buy]

Erik Ask-Upmark is one of very few harpists playing Scandinavian music on the Celtic harp. October 2007 saw the release of his first, critically acclaimed solo album - incidentally the first album ever featuring exclusively Swedish folk music on solo harp! Erik has earned the official title of "Riksspelman" (Master musician of the Realm) and is also a master player of another little-known instrument, the unique Swedish bagpipes. He also plays the Baroque double harp (Arpa doppia) with ensembles such as Concerto Copenhagen and Ensemble Mare Balticum. He performs early music and Nordic roots music both as a soloist and with his groups Svanevit, Dråm and Falsobordone and tours all over the world.

LINER NOTES

It was a total disaster. Bits of what used to be a harp laid scattered across the compartment floor of the German ICE train that was taking me to Basle and to a concert with a medieval music ensemble I was going to perform with. During the minute it took me to fetch a cup of coffee, the train had suddenly jolted and the harp that previously had rested on the luggage rack decided to hit the floor and smash into, if not a thousand pieces, then at least four or five.

After finally arriving In Basle, the concert organizer and I embarked upon a frantic search for a replacement instrument. After many twists and turns, we managed to make contact with an elderly music teacher who had an Irish harp at her home. This turned out to be the last of ten harps that a wealthy American patron of the arts had left as donations to promising young musicians. To my great joy and surprise, I was allowed not only to borrow it for the concert, but to bring it back home to Sweden with me as well!

Here, the story could have ended, but instead a new chapter saw its beginning. Swedish folk music had been on my repertoire for many years, but now I had a new exciting instrument for these well-known melodies. The sound of harps has certainly been heard in the Nordic countries before, but somewhere along the line that tradition was lost. Time to bring it back! In other countries like Ireland and Scotland where the instrument has maintained its importance, dance music is often played on the harp, another specific tradition that I wish for to be revived in Nordic music. Thus, I have chosen the polska as the theme - the almost magical dance with its suggestive heartbeat rhythm that I find fits the harp so well.

And so, more than ten years and a couple of harps since the train incident in central Europe, I'm proud to present here my first solo album of Swedish folk music on the harp. And to think everything started with an inattentive musician and a sharp lurch of a train...

1 Öppningspolskor

This is how I like to start off a concert or a dance evening! Thus the name: Simply "The opening polska set". Two almost quirkily joyful and positive polskas that go so well together are hard to come by. The first tune stems from the music collection of 18th century fiddler Anders Larsson (who came from the quaintly named town of Sexdrega in Västergötland) and the second one I learned via the nyckelharpa player Edward Anderzon from Sörmland.

2 Ornunga

This polska from Ornunga in Västergötland is maybe not directly typical of tunes from that region, but is nevertheless a long standing favourite of mine!

3 Himlens polska

Originally known as "Taivaallinen polska" ("Heaven's polska"), I learnt this wonderful Finnish tune from an arrangment by my good friends in the folk band Bordunverkstan (The Drone Workshop) that has inspired me on this recording. Thanks!

4 Slip polska

Here, an Irish slip jig metamorphoses into a Swedish polska and back again. I got the tune and the idea from German harpist Tim Rohrmann during the great harp festival "Harfentreffen" in Lauterbach 2006.

5 Andakten

When I mention that I play folk music on the harp, most people in Sweden assume it's a Nyckelharpa - a form of keyed fiddle which definitely outnumbers the "harp proper" in Sweden. For this reason I thought it would be fun to include one of the classic Nyckelharpa tunes by the master musician Eric Sahlström who wrote it for a church service ("andakt") in the 1970s.

6 Fingersträckarn

As the name ("The Finger Stretcher") implies, this tune after the Västergötland fiddler Anton Lund involves some extra fingering workout, especially in the second part reaching out across ten strings. It's a tune well worth the effort though...

7 Flageoletten

For this classic Skåne tune after Per Munkberg from Barsebäck, I experimented with adding some overtones (also known as flageolet notes), and that's where I got the name.

8 Blekingarna

This is where it gets complicated. Slängpolska is a type of polska danced all over Sweden, but more often in the south, for example in the region Blekinge where it most of the time is called simply "slängpolska". In the region of Halland in the west however, there is a specific form of slängpolska known as - "Bleking". Do you follow? Anyway, one tune from each region forms this slängpolska set.

9 Florellen

The first polska originates from Nås finnmark (a region in the county of Dalarna) where it, according to Per Gustav Florell, was danced as slängpolska back in the 19th century. From there, I make a jump to Dalsland a bit south and the so-called "Ebba Brahe polska" that can be found in the famous folk music collection of Einar Övergaard. I have known this tune since my days in the folk music band Faust.

10 Allôr e'rô å allôr bir'o

Here you go - a proven stress anti-dote! A calmer, more relaxed tune would be hard to imagine. This polska comes from Rättvik in Dalarna and clearly demonstrates the difference between the two dances polska and polka; how important the simple letter "s" can be! The rather cryptic title is in the Rättvik dialect - a separate language from Swedish, really - and means "It never is, and never will be so wonderful" (as when we go herding).

11 Koral från seglora

A popular chorale after the Västgöta fiddler Johan Helgo Andersson, based on the 17th century hymn "We Christians should have faith and reflect".

12 Blomgren

Another classic tune from Skåne, this time after the 18th century organist and fiddler Johan Christian Blomgren from Hässlunda in western Skåne. It is a good example of the genre sometimes known as "folk baroque" because of its similarities to the baroque style!

13 Norsk brudmarsch

Finally, an ethereal bridal march from Norway that I first heard long ago with the folk music group Svart Kaffe.

All tracks arranged and performed by Erik Ask-Upmark
Recorded: augusti 2007.
Mixing and mastering: Anders Larsson
Photo: Anna Rynefors, Erik Ask-Upmark
English translation: Anna Rynefors
Graphic design: Erik Ask-Upmark
Harp built by: Johan Hedvall
Issued with grants from the Swedish Council for Cultural Affairs

www.nordictradition.com
http://www.myspace.com/erikaskupmark
www.draam.com

Thanks to:
Aryeh Frankfurter, Johan Hedvall, Göran Hallmarken, Beth Kolle, Andy Lowings, Hampus Morberg, Tim Rohrmann, Maria Röjås, Jennifer Sturdy, Statens Kulturråd.

Erik Ask-Upmark also performs in the groups Dråm and Svanevit, both on Magnatune.