Hurv KRCD-15: Hurv!

  'I first met Olmorts Erik Olsson, Olmorts Erik or "Spak Erik" as people most often called him, in 1970. He was then the main representative for the playing of music from Särna, a village near Norway, in the province of Dalarna in central Sweden. Also, he was the fourth generation, in direct father-to-son descent, in what is perhaps the most important family for the playing of folk music in Säma - the family from the farm known as "Olmorts." Olmorts Erik's tunes came principally from his father, the master fiddler or "spelman" Olmorts Olof Svensson, known as "Spak Olof' or "Spaken."

'I made many visits to Olmorts Erik in the autumn of his life; he had reached his 81st year when I first visited him at his retirement home. 1975 was the last time I saw him. As the years rush by, as that time becomes more distant, and as "the good old days" get more and more of a fairy tale's glow, it all feels almost like a dream - that I had the privilege to actually experience all this.

'With this release, I wish to pay homage to Olmorts Erik, for his musicality, for his knowledge of tunes, and for the generosity that he showed me when I was a green, fledging "spelman." I also want it to be my contribution to the rebirth of the music of Särna, one of the truly great folk-music dialects in Sweden.'

Anders Rosén: violin

list of tunes