You will create a blog via Blogger to record world music listening that you have selected to share with our class (not contained in our textbooks). Blogger Getting Started Guide explains how to set up a blog. Once you have created your blog, submit your blog address on this Google Form. Your instructor will collect blog addresses and post a complete list on the announcements page of the Sakai site. Embed a video example or audio recording of the musical example and write an entry that states the following:
- Title of piece
- Performer(s)
- Culture or Origin
- Orchestration
- a one paragraph reaction to the piece that makes connections to course readings/discussion (see a specific weekly focus for this paragraph in the Assignments section)
Your blog entry must be posted on the Friday of each week. In addition to maintaining your own blog, respond to a classmates' blog entry by Sunday of each week. A list of classmate blog posts is listed under Announcements. Click on the assignments tab on the menu to the left to submit your blog assignment. Refer to Due Dates.
Title: Alla Gossar
Performers: Triakel (Swedish Folk Band)
Culture or Origin: Sweden
Orchestration: Triakel performs using only a vocalist, a fiddle, and a harmonium for their music.
Reaction: Alla Gossar is a traditional Swedish Folk Song. It was performed in this recording by a Swedish Folk Band called Triakel who use only a fiddle, harmonium, and a vocalist in their music. This piece is evidence of what Bonnie C. Wade would call "glocalization" (also known as global localization). Wade stated that "globally shared music is constantly recontextualized by those who listen to it, given new meanings, and made to perform new as well as the same old functions" (Wade pp. 19). The piece itself is sung by a woman who does not understand why other girls want to get married so badly because all men turn out to be rubbish. You can read the translation here: Translation of Alla Gossar When I first listened to the piece, I did not get that meaning. To me, this is a beautiful song with an upbeat feel. It is light and can easily be danced to. However, learning the words has turned it into a different song entirely. Those who sing it in traditional Swedish culture probably have a different connection with the song entirely! Wade is correct when she says "we can no longer assume that ethnic musical materials will serve as markers of particular ethnic identities" (Wade pp. 19). This song was recorded by a traditional Swedish Folk Band and sent to places all over the world. We do not get the same ethnic meaning that a person from Sweden might get from the piece.
References:
Translation - Swedish-English - Alla gossar äro klara som en dag huru skall man.... (2009, June 16). . Retrieved , from http://www.cucumis.org/translation_1_t/view-the-translation_v_225537.html
Wade, B. C. (2013). Thinking About Music. Thinking Musically (). New York: Oxford University Press.
