Music And Rituals: Midsommar
For this post, I'll be talking about the Swedish tradition: Midsommar, or Midsummer. I first heard of the ceremony through my Swedish friend online, after asking about holidays and such unique to their area. This ceremony is a celebration of the longest day of summer, or as you may know it, the summer solstice. It takes place on a Friday between the 19th and the 25th of June, that way the holiday always takes place during a certain day instead of changing to fit the solstice itself.
There are a few very common traditional songs and dances used in Midsummer, such as små grodona.
It's a song for kids and their parents about funny frogs and funhouses*, talking about the traditional funhouses that are brought up during the celebrations. It's usually played extremely simply with only a string instrument and light percussion. The chrous in it also has a sound that can only be described as, "Swedish frogs." It goes, "Ko-ack-ack-ack, Ko-ack-ack-ack, Ko-ack-ack-ack-ack-a."
There's also små grisarna, a song that is extremely similar to små grodona, but talking about pigs instead and having slightly different lyrics. It also has different dances for the families that go with the song itself.
Here is an adorable live performance of små grodona!
.There is another song that could be about pigs sung at Midsommar, named Mors Grisar.
Now, mors grisar actually has 2 meanings! It doesn't HAVE to be referring to pigs, as mors grisar means both mom's pigs, or a mama's boy. The song talks about how we are all mama's boys and daddy's boys. It's another kids song about how we all appreciate and love our families! However, the second half the song is about making fun of each other, calling one another pigs and sweet tooths for fun.
Other traditions of the holiday include the following:
- Going to the countryside and leaving the cities and urban areas in favor of rural simplicity in order to connect with nature.
- "Maypoles," where a ring of people forms to do dances (as pictured in the live performance of små grodona).
- A feast, typically including boiled potatoes, pickled herring, and a grilled dish, usually either spare ribs or salmon.
- The amusing tradition of getting absolutely tanked with someone you love, and letting the effects of alcohol cause you to either start a new relationship or ruin an existing one.
- Source on Midsommar songs (She has a ton of helpful videos about Sweden!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnrELicyfnc
- Sources on average Midsommar traditions: https://sweden.se/culture/celebrations/midsummer, https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/culture-history-and-art/swedish-traditions/midsummer-tradition/midsummer/
Hey Sean, it is so lovely to hear these songs u have shared.It is good to know this culture.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you wanna do on Swedish traditional music?
I think according to their language, it is very suitable to make the lyrics of the song related to animals, but just as you said, "it is about how we all appreciate and love our families" . That is very good to know, and very suitable for education of children.
In china, we also have similar children musics which related to animals。
This song is a practice of chinese numbers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3SStncrDTw
and we have some DJ versions of kid's song, haha.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hysgL6MI_xA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4En3kLcHqc
The last one is great, strongly recommended.
Your blog was incredibly interesting to read! As someone who is going into elementary music education, I can definitely see a purpose for these childrens' songs in the classroom. Thank you for enlightening me about Sweden, I'll definitely have to look more into their music! You worded everything well enough that I can understand what I'm reading about.
ReplyDeleteFamily seems to be important to you. I respect that. I enjoyed reading about Swedish culture. This music was fun and informative.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was about to hear about the movie 'Midsommar' and I was going to have flashbacks. But, I do love hearing more about the tradition. I do like how you added translations to certain phrases for the practices of midsommar. I also liked how not only is there music but also includes dances for this Swedish holiday.
ReplyDeleteHey Sean! Thank you for sharing this information with us, I found it very interesting. I agree with Alyssa, even though I don't plan teaching Elementary music, these songs could be very useful in the classroom setting. They are fun, interactive and simple enough for a child to sing. I believe that it is highly important to incorporate many cultures in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMidsommar is something I know very little about. I know it's a movie title. I didn't expect that kind of music - but it is interesting to hear because we hear a lot of heavy, crazy music for different rituals around the world, but this is very lighthearted and not too complicated.
ReplyDelete