Saturday, May 30, 2015

Night Steed: Gjallarhorn and "Rimfaxe"



The random tune for today is from Gjallarhorn. Gjallarhorn was formed in 1994 in a Swedish-speaking portion of Finland and performs world music based in the folk music and traditions of that region. As such, their music tends to be Swedish in nature, but based in acoustic folk music unique to Ostrobothnian area. Gjallorhorn is also known for their use of the hardanger fiddle, an 8 or nine string violin (as compared to four strings on a standard violin), and lead singer Jenny Wilhelm's singing technique called kulning, a technique based on Scandinavian cattle herding calls consisting of high pitched wordless tones designed to be heard over long distances. The band's name derives from the name of the horn of the Norse god Heimdallr, who blows the horn signaling the last battle of the Norse gods. This song, Rimfaxe, is the title song of their 2006 CD, and is about the Norse god of night's horse and the coming of night.

No comments:

Post a Comment