Apelgrå

When Christianity spread to Sweden about 1000 years ago the pagan midwinter feast was incorporated into the church calendar. However the decreed appellation of "Feast of the Birth of God" was never adopted, and the church was forced to retain the pagan title "Yule". Moreover it was not only the name of the older feast that lived on. Beneath the Christmas traditions of modern day Sweden you can glimpse Catholic rituals, fertility rites, the worship of ancestors and belief in spirits. Christmas is especially associated with music and song. At the midwinter solstice, one week before Christmas, lussebrudarna - young girls with candles in their hair - went round the farms begging. Nowadays this ancient pagan custom is incorporated into the celebration of Lucia, originally a Catholic legend of martyrdom from Italy, and a typical example of how heathen and Christian traditions have combined. Early in the morning on Boxing Day the next begging procession set off. This time country lads and farm hands would go out singing "Stephens songs" to collect food and liquor for their great jullekstugor - Christmas parties with dances and games, which lasted up to two weeks. Similar processions could be seen on Epiphany, when the young people in the villages put on plays called stjärnspel, a sort of miracle play with set songs and roles. On this album there are Christmas songs, song games, mythical ballads, Stephen's Songs, Christmas carols and Christmas polskas side by side. Perhaps it will help to capture some of the rich and remarkable musical heritage of the Swedish Christmas. Magnus Gustafsson