a society dedicated to the education and preservation of
TRANSCRIPT
Nordic-AmericanPsalmodikonforbundet
A Society dedicated to the educationand preservation of the Psalmodikonand Sifferskrift Music.
Hello to All —
I trust you have all made the most of thewinter season and are anxiously waitingfor the warm days of spring to arrive.
Many years ago when I first started play-ing the psalmodikon, we had a smallgroup of psalmodikon enthusiasts on thisside of town that got together for practiceregularly. But due to health and other cir-cumstances over the years, we no longerget together. I miss it very much.
And so I am always happy to hear thepsalmodikon is alive and well in otherareas of the country. I have written ofseveral in this Newsletter.
I enjoy all the contacts with so many folks.Many have questions regarding music,etc., some are renewing their membershipand others are joining for the first time.Thank you all for your support of thepsalmodikon history!
Goran Carlström of Sweden informed methere is a possibility that their psalmodikongroup will visit the USA next year.
Unfortunately we did not have our annualpsalmodikon meeting in 2014. I trust thatthis year we will get started earlier with theplanning. I ask for input and ideas from ourreaders and would love to see everyone.
May you always have a song in your heartand music at your fingertips!
Note$ from
MUSIC-ON-A-STRING
Nordic-American Psalmodikonforbundet | Tel: +1 952-934-4535 | E-mail: [email protected] | Web: www.psalmodikon.com
Vol.
18, I
ssue
1 –
Spr
ing
2015
Beatrice Hole
N ext month I’ll lead a psalmodikonworkshop at the Jenny Lind Chapel
in Andover, Illinois. It’s titled “Pastor Es-bjorn’s Singing School,” and it’s part of the155th anniversary celebration of the oldAugustana Lutheran Synod. Lars Paul Es-bjorn was the pastor at Andover and a foun-der of the Augustana Synod.
In my workshop on April 25, I’ll explainthe Swedish system of sifferskrift and teacha couple of hymns from the 1819 SvenskaPsalmbok that I found, in Esbjorn’s hand-writing, in the manuscript collection at Aug-ustana College in Rock Island. I’ve had areplica of his psalmodikon made, and I planto use it to teach the hymns as he might havein Andover.
Swedish psalmodikons were similar to theNorwegian instruments, but there are dis-tinct differences. Instead of numbers ontransposition sticks, the Swedes used a pat-tern of light- and dark-colored frets — simi-lar to the white and black keys on a piano —to mark off the intervals of a diatonic scale.It sounds complicated, but it’s as intuitive asthe fretboard on a mountain dulcimer. Tochange keys, they retuned the melody string.
For example, compare the Christmas chor-ale “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star”
(No. 55 in the Swedish hymn book of 1819) to“Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn,” (No. 77in the Nordic-American Sifferskrift book).The line F+2+3+6+7 at the top means it wasin F-major.
It’s just different enough that I haven’tbeen playing the Nordic-American Psalmo-dikonforbundet’s sifferskriftSongbook (exceptin the key of C). Instead, I found JohannesDillner’s Melodierna till Swenska KyrkansPsalmer, Noterade med Ziffor (1830) in Goo-gle Books.
I’ve been learning about the psalmodikonever since I saw one 10 years ago in a museum
Peter Ellertsen – Springfield, Illinois ([email protected])
This song, “How Brightly Shines the Morning Star” iswritten in Swedish Sifferskrift. The line F+2+3+6+7 at thetop means it is played in F-major.
cont’d – How Brightly, P.�
I���� ��� S���
PSALMODIKON SONGBOOK (revised edition) written inSifferskrift and 4-part harmony for psalmodikons
$19.00 pp
PSALMODIKON QUARTET CD $15.00 ppSend orders to: Singsaas Lutheran Church Attn: Music CD’s P. O. Box 87,
Hendricks, MN 56136http://www.countrychurchmusic.com/
PSALMODIKON COMPONENTSPsalmodikon Pattern $10.00Tuning Peg 3.75String 1.25Fine tuner w/tailpiece 17.75
Maple fret board w/frets 30.00Sitka spruce top material:
small psalmodikon 17.00tapered psalmodikon 22.00
Cherrywood violin bow 28.00Rosin 5.00
Send orders to:Floyd Foslien567 High Ridge DriveHudson, WI [email protected]
Hello,I was wondering, please, if you’re able to sell a psalmodikon
which is already built, and if so, will it also come with accessories,and at what price? I live in the UK.I am blind, so would prefer to buy an instrument which is alreadybuilt and ready for playing.
Also, as I will be using it for teaching purposes, as well as fortherapy practice, was wondering if you offer any special discount?Thank you very much.Angela Puril www.purila.com
To hear samples of my music, visit:www.audioboo.com/angelapuril
(I forwarded this request to Floyd Foslien, Hudson, Wisconsin. Herecently shipped a psalmodikon to her, and we are anxiouslywaiting to hear how she is doing with her new psalmodikon.)
Letters from Readers
These are usually the most difficult components for builders to obtain. Ican, however, provide all of the other component parts required tomake psalmodikons, if the builder is unable to make them or find themlocally. You may contact me for prices.
I also sell a complete kit of parts to make a psalmodikon for $130.00.This kit instrument is modelled after an antique Norwegian salmodikon(Norwegian spelling) similar to one used by Lars Roverud. He was the“Father” of the Norwegian salmodikon and is credited with usingtransposition sticks to allow playing in various keys without re-tuning sothis kit includes a transposition stick. The parts are cut to size and needonly to be glued together, sanded, and finished with varnish or lacquer.
Notes from Floyd:
Nordic-American P\almodikonforbundet &Newsletter
PresidentBeatrice Hole
Eden Prairie, Minnesota +1 952-934-4535
Vice-PresidentFloyd Foslien
Hudson, [email protected]
TreasurerJoan Saathoff
Hudson, [email protected]
EditorKristen Åkre
Mount Vernon, Washington +1 253-341-8430
[email protected] Newsletter is published using PagePlus X7 (www.serif.com) and is printed in EdenPrairie, Minnesota.
The Nordic-American Psalmodikonforbundet Newsletter is published in theSpring, Summer, and Autumn. We are always looking for newsworthy itemsand photos that you want to share with other readers.
The $8.00 membership fee helps to cover the cost of printing and postagefor the Newsletter, annual fee for the Psalmodikon Web Site, and annualmeeting expenses.
Check the date on your mailing label which indicates if your dues are current.
Send membership dues to: Beatrice Hole6560 Leesborough AveEden Prairie, MN 55346…more Letters, P. 4
I remember very well those evenings my fathersat at his psalmodikon, took up the violin bowand played some hymns. Sometimes he sang tothe music. Which songs or hymns it was, I haveforgotten. I remember only the following:
Sometimes with my simple box,do I know myself.And it happens that we bothmeet each evening.
Dad told me that it was Värmlandskolportören,“Lundgren med Lådan” who had this song on hisrepertoire when he, in the end of the century,walked around in Klarälvdalen and Fryksdalenand preached a religious message.
“Lådan” was what he called his instrument (apsalmodikon) and from the song collection, “Nödoch nåd”, he sang so that old men and womenquickly moved from the earth’s sorrow to heav-en’s glory.
Dad’s psalmodikon is an heirloom, as one of theforefathers of Kårbols in Värmlands Klarälvdalalso owned it. Dad found his in an outbuilding,and it was in bad condition.
But he was a good repair man, and he glued to-gether the different parts. Carefully was the workdone and one would not know the disastrous con-dition of the instrument before.
Not many of such instruments exist in our days ordo they recall the practical significance of “TheBox” (Lådan). If somebody cares to preserve theinstrument themselves, it depends if it has a curio-sity value. With access we have to musical re-sources, it is difficult to think that a psalmodikon,that was so very popular, has become unfamiliar.
In the 1800’s it was widely used in schools andhomes. It was the pastor in Funbo, Uppland, J.Dillner, who constructed the instrument, whiletrying to improve the spiritual song culture in thecountryside.
Dillner was a Northerner born in 1785. While hestudied in Uppsala, he was a friend with Erik Gus-taf Geijer.
They were both members of the Götiska Society.The level of education among the peasantry wasreasonably scant when Dillner came out to serveas pastor in the parish.
In the countryside, seldom was the organ playedduring hymn singing. The parish sang under lead-ership of a single untrained leader, that is the pre-centor (klockaren), and the melodies often becamea bit of whatever. It is with this background thatthe church songs became better if you consider thework performed by Johan Dillner.
To get people in support of songs, he constructed aprimitive instrument, which he later called psalm-odikon. He also worked out a certain numberingsystem to enable one to play a hymn directly“from the sheet”. The psalmodikon soon becamean outstanding accompaniment.
It not only became popular in churches andschools, it became also a home instrument of rank.Anyone with self-respect should have a psalmodi-kon to play.
The instrument was also quite simple and anyonewith carpentry skills could make it. The string wasalso homemade of sheep bowels. The hairs on thebow were retrieved from the horse with the finesttail in the stable.
As earlier mentioned, Dillner worked out a num-ber system, the help of which one could play “atfirst sight”. Dillner’s system was considered bymany as too difficult, and it continued to be im-proved.
Over 100 years ago Abraham Mankell pub-lished “The Simplified Psalmodikon”. Man-kell suggested a number series from 1-15.Intermediate halftones marked with stars.
The simplified number system popularizedhymns further, and it was lively playing andsinging in the district. But the name of whatDillner invented was considered by many tobe too fancy. “Play Box” (Spellåda) becamethe common name.
A vicar in the northern Ny parish inVärmland once made a visit to Kårbols inthe same parish. He asked if there existedany psalmodikons in the village. No suchthing was known of. Then the pastorshowed his own instrument he had withhim. Soon an old woman clapped her handstogether and exclaimed, “Oh my, we allplay the spellåda well!”
When the spiritual revival movement came overthe country, the psalmodikon came to good use.The one who made the instrument most well-known in the villages was the Värmlands tailorand kolportör, Carl Lundgren. After he was con-verted and baptized, he soon became known as“Lundgren with the Låda”. He went by this nameuntil his death.
The psalmodikons were played until the end of1800’s. The time had come for violins, guitars,accordion, and organs to play music of the newtimes. The simple tones of the spellåda could nolonger make it appealing. But for the old reader itwas a blessing to have sung to the humble string ofthe lådan.
The following two poems were found with the oldSwedish psalmodikon. Poetry loses some of itsmeaning and beauty when translated, and so Ihave included them in their original form. — B.H.
The poet Anders Österling had written a poementitled, “Psalmodikon”:
En torpare spelar psalmodikoni stugan vid spiselhällenoch toner om Salem och Libanonförljuva den fattiga kvällen.I rutans och glödens blandade ljus
For several years now, thePsalmodikon group on the WestCoast, led by Jean Akre, has beenperforming for the NorwegianJulesangfest which takes place inDecember. December 2014, wasthe 33rd year for the Julesangfest.
Jean says the past two yearsthey have changed the format ofthe Julesangfest to entice morepeople to come to the service.They have had more music andtwo to three people who were bornin Norway to speak regarding theirremembrances of the Christmastraditions while growing up in Nor-way. It has been said by theguests that the music was won-derful. The Scandinavian MixedChoir performed a few songs.Also, Dr. Joan Paddock playedher lure at the Julesangfest, whichshe has done for several years.For several years, she has alsoplayed her lure at the openings ofall of the special performances atHøstfest in Minot, North Dakota.Dr. Paddock also played the trum-pet while being accompanied bythe organist/pianist, Karl Jurisons.
Jackie Paegenhem Mullaney wasthe vocalist.
She got the idea of a video fromlistening to a recording of the St.Olaf Choir performing in Trond-heim, Norway at the NidarosCathedral in 2013. They were per-forming in conjunction with theNidaros Cathedral Girls’ choir. Thetwo choirs performed “Lo How aRose E'er Blooming” and “TheRose”.
Karl Jurisons was excited aboutthis possibility and ordered thesheet music. Molly Beiningenwrote the music for the psalmodi-kons to play “Lo How a Rose E'erBlooming” and Jackie Paegen-hem Mullaney sang “The Rose”.The Psalmodikon Ensemble fromleft to right: Brandon Swett andJim Dalrymple on alto, Rick Sweeand Molly Beiningen on soprano,Jean Akre on alto, and Linda Dal-rymple on bass.
Please check out their YouTubevideo and hope you enjoy it. I amsure Jean would be happy to hearwhat you think.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0oG89r6WoQ&feature=youtu.be
PSALMODIKONS PERFORM AT JULESANGFEST
at Bishop Hill, Illinois, when I was visitingmy wife’s family there. (I’m in one of thosemixed marriages — I’m Norwegian, and she’sSwedish, which makes for a lot of cornyhumor at family gatherings and severallevels of irony as a Norskie gets heavilyinvolved with Swedish immigrant history.)This strange instrument was so much like adulcimer, which I play, that I got interested.In 2010 I joined the Nordic-American For-bundet and drove up to the Twin Cities forthe annual meeting. Last year things camefull circle when I demonstrated the psalmodi-kon in a workshop at Bishop Hill.
Since I retired in 2012, I’ve had more timeto devote to the psalmodikon. Since Illinoiswas a hotbed of Swedish immigration, thatmeans reading up on the Augustana Synod
and getting replicas made ofthe psalmodikons in muse-ums in Andover and BishopHill.
It’s an unusual hobby,and an acquired taste —like Swedish bondost, po-tato baloney and pickledherring. But it’s put me intouch with some very nicepeople in Illinois and theTwin Cities, and some love-ly chorale melodies. After the Jenny Lindworkshop, I want to figure out how to playSwedish sifferskrift on a Norwegian-style in-strument, and vice versa. I’m already experi-menting with making transposition sticksout of paint stirrers from the hardware store.
More details on Augustana Founders Day,April 25-26 in Andover, are available atjennylindchapel.org.
How Brightly, From P. �
Peter Ellertsen with a Swedish style psalmodi-kon showing the dark and light frets.
Letters… from P. 2
Dear Beatrice:I am sending a picture of my
Great-Great-Grandmother andalso of her psalmodika. Hername was Beata Bengtsdotter.Lysell was her maiden name.(1849-1932)
She was a teacher in Halland, Sweden. She would go to the homes offamilies and teach the children and would bring her psalmodikon and theywould sing together.
This instrument has been in my childhood home – in Sweden – as long as Ican remember, sitting in a corner of a room. My mother would always proudlyspeak of her maternal grandmother and tell the story about her.
Now my parents are both gone and we are starting to empty out the house.I really wanted the instrument to give to my son who is very musical and playsa lot of instruments but basically is a bass guitar player. So for his birthday I gaveit to him along with the membership to your organization. He was very happy.
I was just in Sweden in September and then brought it to our home here inMichigan. I came to this country in 1967.
I’m wondering if this one had 2 strings. The bottom part of the string up to theknot is actually the old original gut string. Hard to believe.
I am now trying to find a place where I can buy new gut strings but willdefinitely save the old one. It’s most likely over 100 years old.
My mother also had the articles and the song that I am sending you a copyof. They were tucked in with the instrument. I believe it came from the weeklymagazine she used to get called, “KvallsPosten”.
Any information you can give me would be very much appreciated.Christina Grennan, Waterford, Michigan
Letters from Readers
N�����-A�������P�������������������
MUSIC-ON-A-STRINGBeatrice Hole
6560 Leesborough Ave.Eden Prairie, MN 55346-2823
Psalmodikon website: h�p://www.psalmodikon.com/