On The Road Again: Gjallarhorn "Ranarop"

viernes, 22 de mayo de 2020

Gjallarhorn "Ranarop"

Gjallarhorn (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjâlːarˌhuːɳ], Finland Swedish: [ˈjɑlːɑrˌhuːrn]) is a Finnish band that performs world music with roots in the folk music of Finland and Sweden. The group was formed in 1994. The band's music echoes the ancient folk music tradition of Scandinavia with medieval ballads, minuets, prayers in runo-metric chanting and ancient Icelandic rímur epics in a modern way.

The group is named after the Gjallarhorn of Norse mythology.

The band is Finnish and hails from Ostrobothnia, a Swedish-speaking region on the west coast of Finland, one of the four regions of the historical province of Ostrobothnia and the only region in Finland outside the Åland Islands where more people speak Swedish rather than Finnish.

The music of the band remains Swedish in character. Most of their repertoire is the acoustic folk music of these Swedish-speaking Finns, from the unique minuets and ballads that have only survived in Ostrobothnia, to the old traditional waltzes. The didgeridoo and sub-contrabass recorder offer an underlying drone, a technique shared by some other Nordic bands such as Garmarna. Also notable is their use of the hardanger fiddle and Jenny Wilhelms' kulning, a high-pitched, wordless vocal technique based on traditional Scandinavian cattle-herding calls.

Gjallarhorn was formed in 1994 on the west coast of Finland, in the Swedish speaking area, by Jenny Wilhelms, Christopher Öhman (viola, mandola) and Jacob Frankenhaeuser (didgeridoo). The band started as a trio but became a quartet with percussion in 1996. The band has been a quartet ever since.

Ranarop: Call of the Sea Witch was the first album by Gjallarhorn, released 1997 by Warner Music Finland.

The reworked, remixed and remastered version including an unreleased bonus track was released in November 2002. The CD was chosen "The folk music record of the year 1997" in Finland.

The Allmusic review by Heather Phares awards the album 4 stars and states " Singer/fiddler Jenny Wilhelms leads the quartet in traditional dances and ballads from the Swedish-speaking people of Finland, along with evocative instrumentals penned by the band."

Track listing