Höök!
Höök!
$16.00

A project started by Magnus Gustafsson to breathe life into old music collections from the 17th and 18th centuries. This has yielded an album which is very much alive with old music, and which brings to mind both baroque music and folk music. The players on this CD are seven musicians with musical experience from different areas. They have not tried to render an authentic reproduction of how the music sounded, but have created a living interpretation with a free approach to the music of the manuscripts, at the same time highlighting its diversity.

the band writes:
17th and 18th century swedish music

Many handwritten manuscript book from the 17th and 18th centuries are still preserved in Sweden. Most are written by unknown or anonymous musicians. The material is of great musical diversity while at the same time one can discern a remarkable homoginity. The music was distincly functional and could be played by contemporary local musicians or studenst belonging to college or church orchestras.

Because of the way people moved continously to and fro between rural and urban areas, many of the melodies reappear in the music left by village fiddlers and found in country churches.

It is difficult to label or categorise this music. Is it folk or baroque? Few groups or ensembles have sought their repetoire or musical inspiration in manuscripts such as these.

Our main object in producing this album is not primarly to render an authentic reproduction of how the music sounded but to illustrate the wealth of material these manuscripts contain, while drawing on our own musical experience and instinct to create a pleasing sound where one si aware of both past and present.

This is not to say that we are indifferent to playing technique and tradition. On the contrary, we have taken a lot of trouble to find out as much as possible about the aesthetics of the music of the period, without binding ourselves adhere to it. The result is an interesting example of what can happen when a form of music, of which some parts at least can be termed baroque, is performed relatively freely by seasoned folkmusicians. It may be that into the bargain we get something of the baroque musicians have tried in vain to achieve through academic means.

Our arrangements are usually based on the original harmonies in the manuscripts, which vary considerably from book to book, but from there on we have adopted a fairly free approach. A cornerstone in the project is the celebrated Cahman Organ in Smålands museum in Växjö, one of the oldest in Sweden which is still in original condition - built in the 17th century an still with the original tuning. The organ gives an added dimension to the aforementioned aesthetics an tonality, not least because of the 17th century tuning.

Credit card orders are placed on a secure server.