FAIRYTALE FOLK GETS RECORD VOTE
Congratulations to Alexander Rybak the young songwriter and fiddler who won the 2009 Eurovision song contest with his song, I’m in Love with a Fairytale. It gained the most votes in the completion’s 54-year history.
The Russian born but Norwegian raised multi-instrumentalist recorded an upbeat
song that centered around the ancient fiddle music of the Halling dance.
The performance included a halling display from the dance ensemble Friskar. This is
an ancient music and dance form with written records going back to
the 1500’s. Not for the fainthearted, the dance is for men only and
was banned for a time as being too violent, with the fiddle music
condemned as the sound of the Devil.
Rybak is planning an album for September release. To get a feel for the halling tradition
we suggest readers search YouTube for clips from the G4 shows where Mairéad Ní
Mhaonaigh visited Norway, to collect a Hardanger fiddle.
