We had our first Minn. Heritage in Song concert on the tour in Windom last night, at a beautiful place called Shalom Hill Farm. The audience was great, and afterwards one lady came up to say we should include a Swedish song! What a great suggestion!
Does anyone else have any suggestions about things they'd like to see in this concert?
Were you in Windom last night? As we packed up the Milky Way was beautiful, and there was an orange crescent moon in the southwest sky.
1 comment:
For those seeking Minnesota Swedish (or other non-English) songs, there are sadly few collections from tradition. Joyce E. Hakala published The Rowan Tree, containing Marjorie Edgar's Finnish collections. This is (as far as I know) the only published archive of non-English Minnesota material. Theodore Blegen, the historian, worked with Martin B. Ruud to publish Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads, but this is mostly a book of composed songs, and not Minnesota-specific.
I know of nothing in Swedish; Mike and Else Sevig published Swedish Songs, which contains songs popular in the local Swedish community, but these are not collected in the field.
Two very popular Swedish songs, "Vem kan segla förutan vind?" and "Hälsa dem därhemma," are in the Minnesota Heritage Songbook. Gene Bluestein's Minnesota Centennial recording also included the immigration song "Skada att Amerika." And, of course, there are a lot of Swedish performers in Minnesota.
Post a Comment