Intåg i Sommarhagen – The Home Guard Band
Clarinet ensembles from the Home Guard Band visit RAVINEN with a wonderfully varied program consisting mainly of Swedish music. Soprano Sandra Wettergren sings beautifully in parts of the program.
The concert is presented by Christina Ekström.
Participating: The clarinet ensembles from The Home Guard Band Borås & The Home Guard Band Ängelholm
Soloist: Sandra Wettergren, soprano i.a. active at the Gothenburg Opera
Conductor: Carl-Gustaf Ekström, conductor, choir director and organist in Borås
Free entry, but booking a seat is mandatory.
An important part of Swedish musical life has traditionally been the defense’s various musical functions. Originally (in ancient times) it was probably created to strike fear into the enemy, but later also to maintain the morale of one’s own, and eventually an important part in ceremonial parts of the defense.
The Home Guard is a very important part of the Armed Forces and consists of civilians who repeatedly leave their regular jobs to become part of Sweden’s defense. Already in 1940, the same year that the Home Guard was formed, the first music choir was also formed and today has 25 music choirs all over Sweden. The participants can be deployed in the corps or participate anyway. Everything from military ceremonies to the guard parade is played.
It can be said that Home Guard music is a modern and voluntary continuation of the professional musicians who played in e.g. Göta livgardes musikkår, which was formed in Gustav Vasa’s bodyguard force.
“Kronans klanger”
“Kronans klanger” is a concert series that playfully explores Sweden’s musical history from medieval ballads to today’s popular music. Each concert reflects an era that can be symbolized by the women who wore the crown. Today’s concert is therefore connected to Sweden’s first real queen, Catherine of Saxony-Lauenburg, who was Gustav Vasa’s first wife in the 1530s. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about her today other than that she brought some court ladies with her from Germany, and that she is described in older literature as capricious.
“Kronans klanger” is also about highlighting how Swedish music has been influenced by or influenced music from other countries, and explores throughout the year how composers, musicians and artists have been influenced by or influenced music in or from other countries.
The Home Guard Music (HvMus) is a unit within the Swedish Home Guard consisting of 25 active Home Guard bands. It performs 600–700 engagements annually—of which about 20 are royal guard duties—and includes just over 1,000 active musicians.