Johan Hedin


I grew up in a thriving Småland folk music environment and received my first schooling from the masters of the art, Bengt Löfberg, Pelle Björnlert and Håkan Andersson. This education was based partly on broadened rhetoric and variation in the music, and partly on the requirement that it should be danceable. The interaction with dance, which made the structure of the music naturally clear, continues to be an important medium for me.

The newly composed music is inspired by the traditional tunes, but its form has been disassembled to facilitate longer musical excursions. The tunes often have several themes each with a number of variations. Out of pure curiosity I have taken the tunes further just to see where they go. I also use several new types of nyckelharpa in this music. Much of the repertoire is on my latest solo album, Innersta polskan (the innermost polska), which is a declaration of love for the dance that has followed me since childhood – the polska: a concept where the three beats of a bar can accommodate a rich rhythmic and tonal diversity.
 
 
 
 
 

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