The polska (Swedish plural polskor) is a family of music and dance forms shared by the Nordic countries: called polsk in Denmark, polka or polska in Estonia, polska in Sweden and Finland, and by several different names in Norway. Norwegian variants include pols, rundom, springleik, and springar.[ citation needed ] The polska is almost always seen as a partner dance in 
3
4-beat (help·info), although variants in 2
4 time, as well as in compound meters also exist.
As suggested by the name, the roots of the polska are often traced back to the influence of the Polish court throughout the northern countries during the early 17th century. (Polska also happens to be homonymous with the Swedish word for the Polish language.) This view is sometimes challenged by those who see earlier evidence of the musical tradition in Nordic visor or songs, that may have become grafted onto the newer foreign influences when the court dances began to filter out into the middle class and rural communities. In addition, some earlier triple meter dances and melodies may have evolved into the polska. [ citation needed ]
The polska dances were likely inspired by court dances such as the polonaise or the 2
4 time minuet involving larger sets of people. Some[ who? ] see traces of the evolution from set dances to couples dances and from duple time to triple time in the minuets, still danced in some communities of Finland and Denmark.[ clarification needed ] In these, the dance starts with a large set of dancers dancing a slower formal section and ends with couples or foursomes dancing a faster, more energetic polska section. In the late 1600s it was common in northern Europe that only the slower Alla breve or 4
4 section of the music was written down on paper, as paper was expensive. The musicians were expected to be able to improvise a dance in 3
4 which was based on the same motivic material as the previous dance. The parts played in 3
4 were the ones evolving to the modern polska. [1]
In the prevalent 3
4 time form, polska dances were most common in Norway, Sweden and Swedish-speaking Finland, but with versions seen in Finnish-speaking Finland and in Denmark. It is best to discuss these dances by country as their regional histories, while contemporaneous, were quite varied and the dances known today differ significantly from one country to the next.
Norway's dances show the most consistent living tradition, with unique local dances still performed socially today within specific regions or communities. There are two predominant broad types, each characterized by its own music, instrumentation, and dance tradition.
In Sweden, the polska music tradition is continuous, with tunes and styles passed down through families, relatives, and neighbors. While styles have certainly evolved over time, the traditions and the roots can be traced back hundreds of years. In addition, through the 19th century a series of professional and semi-professional archivists travelled the land transcribing and annotating tunes. In contrast, however, polska dance traditions came under severe pressure during the industrialization of Sweden and, with few exceptions, succumbed entirely during the early 20th century. Most of what is known about Swedish polska dance comes from research conducted during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. While some early films were located, researchers for the most part collected descriptions from older dancers—in some cases quite elderly ones—who had learned the dances in tradition from close relatives or others in an older generation. [2] [3]
On the other hand, what is known about Swedish polska dancing indicates a rich tradition with perhaps several hundred unique variations of the triple time dances and, frequently, a parallel music tradition of uniquely styled tunes. Broadly, there are three styles of music for Swedish polska:
A typical tune in the Swedish polska tradition shows a common structure, with two related eight-measure phrases, each repeated (a total of 32 bars constituting a single complete rendition of the tune), and the whole structure repeated two or more times. However, there are longer tunes (a storpolska or big polska has three or occasionally even four phrases) and there exist many tunes with odd numbers of measures per phrase and phrases that vary in length between parts. The first beat is not stressed except in hambo a dance from the beginning of the 20th century.
It is important that sharp lines and distinctions not be drawn. For example, all three styles of polska music form the historical traditions of Jämtland; sixteenth note polskas can also be found in virtually all areas of Sweden; and the placement of the second beat can be controversial even among fiddlers from the same community. Moreover, interesting counter-examples may be found for virtually any statement made in this article.
The Donegal fiddle tradition is the way of playing the fiddle that is traditional in County Donegal, Ireland. It is one of the distinct fiddle traditions within Irish traditional music.
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a "brighter" tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught "by ear" rather than via written music.
The polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurka example written by the Strauss family was in the year 1854 by Johann Strauss II, entitled La Viennoise op. 144.The polka-mazurka was not credited to the Strauss family alone, as many Viennese composers in the 1850s era also wrote many examples. This variant of the polka was seen as cross-cultural, as many of its influences can be seen in the French-polka with its feminine and deliberate steps as well as the exciting schnell-polka, where Eduard Strauss composed many famous pieces of this type.
The mazurka is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the second or third beat". The mazurka, alongside the polka dance, became popular at the ballrooms and salons of Europe in the 19th century, particularly through the notable works by Frédéric Chopin. The mazurka and mazurek are often confused in Western literature as the same musical form.
Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The langeleik, also called langleik, is a Norwegian stringed folklore musical instrument, a droned zither.
Jenny Wilhelms is a Finnish musician. She studied classical and folk music in many Nordic countries. She has been the lead singer of the innovative folk band Gjallarhorn from 1994. More recently, according to her bio for her appearance at the 2011 Tampere vocal music festival, she "specialises in vocal physiology for non-classical singers and teaches privately, gives masterclasses and works with choirs and ensembles."
The pols and springar are Norwegian folk dances in 3/4. They are essentially fast versions of the Nordic polska.
The Slängpolska is a Swedish folk dance and sometimes also the description of certain folk music tunes. The dances bearing the name slängpolska can be divided into two major types.
Traditional Nordic dance music is a type of traditional music or folk music that once was common in the mainland part of the Nordic countries — Scandinavia plus Finland. The person who plays this kind of music might be called speleman (Swedish/Norwegian), spelman (Swedish), spel(l)emann (Norwegian), pelimanni (Finnish) or spillemand (Danish). Finnish traditional dance music is often called pelimanni music in English, while there does not seem to exist a similar, widespread term for the corresponding music from the other countries. It is often more meaningful to distinguish between the traditional dance music from different regions than between music from the countries as such. Some concepts in the field can be defined as Norwegian or Finnish, but most are either common to all four countries or local. Besides the dance music tradition, all countries also have other traditions of folk music that are not shared to a similar extent.
Bygdedans is the regional, traditional dance of Norway. Bygdedans are the oldest and most distinctive among Norwegian folk dances.
The hambo is a traditional dance that originated in Sweden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a couple dance in 3
4 time, danced to music played with a strong accent on the first beat and a tempo that varies from moderate to fast. The hambo is a dance with a fixed pattern and tunes almost always have a corresponding eight measure structure.
Joseph "Rameau" Poleon, also known as "Papa Kilte", is a folk fiddler born in Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia. He has won the Best Violinist Competition in Saint Lucia twice, and was recipient of the Saint Lucia Medal of Merit (Silver) from the Governor General of Saint Lucia in 2000.
Gammaldans (Swedish) or Gammeldans is a small set of Nordic dances that became broadly popular in the late 19th century. These were also the dances of the Nordic immigrant communities in the United States.
Swedish folk music is a genre of music based largely on folkloric collection work that began in the early 19th century in Sweden. The primary instrument of Swedish folk music is the fiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish traditions, is the nyckelharpa. Most Swedish instrumental folk music is dance music; the signature music and dance form within Swedish folk music is the polska. Vocal and instrumental traditions in Sweden have tended to share tunes historically, though they have been performed separately. Beginning with the folk music revival of the 1970s, vocalists and instrumentalists have also begun to perform together in folk music ensembles.
The spelmanslag is an amateur organization of Swedish folk musicians, usually dominated by fiddles, who play tunes together. Often these groups play tunes from the specific area of Sweden with which they are affiliated. The term has also the same meaning for Norwegian folk music. Spelmanslag meetings tend to serve social function as much as they do musical ones; and money from paid performances generally goes to the group, rather than its constituent individuals.
Sjofn is an album by Gjallarhorn, a band from Finland. It was the band's second studio album, and was released in 2000. It combines striking singing by vocalist Jenny Wilhelms with vigorous Swedish folk-style accompaniment, but with a didgeridoo as an updated drone, an unusual combination admired by critics.
Pehr Hörberg was a Swedish artist, painter and musician. In 1769 he married the maid Maria Eriksdotter and they had three sons.
Danish traditional music is the music genre that has its roots in pre-modern Denmark. In this period it was common for towns to have one or more town musicians who played at dances, processions and certain rituals. In the 17th and 18th centuries, professional music performances were monopolized by town musicians, who also traveled into the neighboring rural areas to perform. Urban music and dance styles, often from other parts of Europe, penetrated the countryside and almost eradicated earlier styles. This period also saw the introduction of the fiddle as the most important instrument and the abandonment of earlier chain dances in favor of pair dances. Until around 1900, traditional music was the common musical culture of Denmark, but with increasing urbanization and the spread of classical music it became marginalized to rural areas.
A 56-page booklet and accompanying audio tape with 40 tunes. Cooperative venture of four Nordic institutes. Provides separate descriptions of music and dance traditions in the four Nordic countries in the local language, followed by complete translation in English. Nyberg, B. (Swedish contributor); Aksdal, B. (Norwegian contributor); Koiranen, A. (Finnish contributor); Koudal, H.K. & Nielsen, S. (Danish contributors); Nyhus, S., Ramsten, M., & Häggman, A. (contributors, origin not specified).