Nyckelharpa: EMS 2 March

[doversoul1]

The multi-instrumentalist Clare Salaman presents a programme all about a once popular early instrument with Swedish origins that has all but dropped off the musical landscape in this country. However, the nyckelharpa (or 'keyed fiddle') makes a sound that delights audiences. Clare has delved into the best and most rare recordings of the instrument to cast some light on the nyckelharpa's beautiful and mysterious sound-world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03wpg1f

Intriguing. Does anyone know more about the instrument? Here are a couple of CDs.

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/advsearch.php?composer=&work=nyckelharpa&performer=&medium=all&label=&cat=

A string equivalent to the glass harp?

[ardcarp]

No but keen to find out.
Are we about to go into 'guest presenter' territory with EMS?

[ardcarp]

I was quite intrigued by the instrument and was glad of the technical descriptions.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=nyckelharpa&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=V6wTU7LlOezA7AbEj4GwCw&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=683&bih=317

It became clear that Clare is a pretty neat player on the nyckelharpa:

http://www.claresalaman.com/page1/page1.html

We were also introduced to The Society of Stange and Ancient Instruments, which sounds a bit, well, masonic; but it was only founded in 2010....

http://www.strangeandancientinstruments.com/

I enjoyed the programme and thought Clare made a good job of presenting it. The proportion of music to speech was in the best tradition of EMS. So this departure from 'the regular presenter' seemed to work well....but I do hope Lucie is still going to be with us on a regular basis.

[doversoul1]

I had been rather apprehensive about this programme, wondering if it would be all a bit folksy. Thankfully, it wasn’t, and there was a lot of information about the instrument and the music was mostly in the context of early music. Although I cannot fault Clare Salaman’s presentation, I missed Lucie who would have asked questions on our behalf and made the programme less like, well, a presentation.

[ardcarp]

Is this....

CPE Bach 300th Anniversary
Piers Adams and Christopher Hogwood mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of CPE Bach.

......going to be next week's EMS?

Do we need to start worrying about drift or shift away from the format that has been so successful? I'm sure Messrs Hogwood and Adams will will give us our money's worth, but..............