Rekonstruktion och revitalisering av äldre svenska spelmanslåtar

The present text describes a combined artistic research and recording project of fiddle tunes from the second half of the 18th century in the county of Hälsingland in Sweden. Through studies of older interpretative practices within art and folk music traditions, the project Brudlåtar (2018) was initiated to revitalize and reconstruct the performances of a selection of fiddle tunes. The tunes that were chosen have some common features with the violin sonatas from the baroque and classical periods and were put together into suites where a general bass part was added to strengthen the sound of the 18th century. The study draws on Paul Ricœur’s (1984) mimesis theory and his ideas on transmission of tradition, revitalization and reconstruction. It discusses the various difficulties and opportunities that the interpreter encounters in relation to conventions and source material, and it shows how the cognitive achievements concerning interpretation from traditional music as well as early music, may enrich each other.