This is a tune I found on the Hurdy-gurdy after studying Scandinavian folk music with a number of teachers during my Arts Council funded DYCP (Develop Your Creative Practice) year. It was written in D harmonic minor and has an ABAB structure it is written to be played for dancing and in folk sessions. When I was studying the Scandinavian music, I found it to be quite melancholy and reflective in character so I wrote this tune as an up-tempo response to that.
It’s a Slängpolska a type of walking freeform dance in 3 time very popular in Sweden. It’s definitely a party tune, a smile in a sea of sadness. In a way it’s my two fingered salute to a year that is still trying to get its act together. I have a feeling that this tune will be popular with younger players, dancers and festival audiences when the time comes for playing it out.
The tune is inspired by the playing of leading Scandinavian Hurdy-Gurdy players Nicholas Koch Simms, Johannes Geworkian Hellman and Anders Norudde from the legendary Swedish Band Hedningarna.
I premiered the piece to an audience of 5000+ Hurdy-Gurdy players on the Hurdy-gurdy Community Facebook page. What larks!