Sublimation: Songs and dances from 18th-century Scandinavia

Featuring

Alix Boivert
Colin Heller
Jean-Christophe Morel
Sarah van Oudenhove
Ilektra Platiopoulou
The Curious Bards

Anonymous
Anders Larsson
Erik Gustaf Geijer
Carl Michael Bellman

Did you know?

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Historical Context

The 'Polonaise' dance, originating from Poland, spread to Scandinavia in the late 16th century due to geopolitical changes, such as Sweden's Sigismund Vasa becoming king of both Poland and Sweden.

Recording & Production

The Curious Bards spent four years studying the bibliography and organology of the Scandinavian Baroque repertoire to prepare for this album.

Instruments

The kontrabasharpa, an ancestor of the modern nyckelharpa, has two melody strings played by a single row of keys and typically ten sympathetic strings.

Instruments

The album features a custom-built Norwegian hardingfele (a type of violin with sympathetic strings) and a Swedish kontrabasharpa (an ancestor of the nyckelharpa), copied from 18th-century museum models.

Historical Context

In 18th-century Scandinavia, the distinction between 'high' and 'low' secular music was largely absent, with aristocracy, burghers, and peasants often sharing the same melodies.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Carl Michael Bellman, a popular 18th-century Swedish poet and composer, depicted Stockholm life and societal underbelly, and is considered an inheritor of the ballad form.

Cultural Impact

The melody of the Swedish song 'Necken' (The Merman) was later used by French composer Ambroise Thomas in Ophelia's mad scene in his 1868 opera Hamlet.