Ack Värmeland, du sköna (Dear Old Stockholm) – Polyphonic Overtone Singing a cappella

“Ack Värmeland, du sköna” – Polyphonic overtone singing a cappella (bass + soprano at the same time!)

This beautiful Swedish folk song, whose melody is probably better known in jazz circles under the title “Dear Old Stockholm”, is one of my favorite songs and one of my very first experiences with Swedish choral music. Even back then, a choral arrangement (unfortunately I no longer know the composer) touched me so deeply that it awakened a longing for Sweden in me. At the beginning of the 1980s, I had the privilege of making a radio recording of Swedish folk song compositions with Fritz ter Wey and the Aachen Young Choir in the world’s first radio broadcasting hall in Berlin. All in all, it was an intense experience because I also crossed the GDR border for the first time, which was very exciting and grueling.

I wrote the overtone arrangement in 2014 during a workshop tour in Sweden. The video was recorded shortly afterwards in Aachen by Günther Beckers, the Aachen painter who also painted the winged altar in the background.