Nyckelharpa

A nyckelharpa

The nyckelharpa (Swedish for hurdy-gurdy) is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when the key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.

History

The nyckelharpa is similar to both a fiddle and a hurdy gurdy, and is known played in medieval Sweden. The oldest indication of nyckelharpa playing is a relief near one of the gates to Källunge church on Gotland from about 1350 showing two nyckelharpor (Which is the plural of the word nyckelharpa). During the 15th and 16th centuries, the nyckelharpa was known throughout Germany, or at least the ideas comes from there. The Swedish province of Uppland has been a stronghold for nyckelharpa music since the late 16th century, including the 1960s revival which drew on musicians like Byss-Calle (1783-1847) from Älvkarleby.

Changes by August Bohlin (1877-1949) in 1929/1930 made the nyckelharpa chromatic and straight, making it a more violin-like instrument. The best-known modern nyckelharpa player is probably Eric Sahlström (1912-1986), who was a major player, teacher, and builder of the mid 20th century. He helped re-popularize the instrument by his playing. In spite of these innovations, the nyckelharpa's popularity declined until the 1960's roots revival.

The nyckelharpa has been a prominent part of several revival groups later in the century, especially the trio Väsen and the more contemporary group Hedningarna.

Variants

There are at least four major variants of the nyckelharpa still played today, varying by the number and arrangement of keys, number and arrangement of strings, and general body shape. Modern nyckelharpas have sympathetic strings which are not bowed directly but resonate with the other strings. Early variants favored drone strings.

See also: Music of Sweden

External link

• The American Nyckelharpa Association