Influences in Music

The most significant influence came from the major English art-rock groups Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and ELP, especially for groups formed in 1974 or later. This is most noticeable in instrumentation, resulting in timbre, as well as in texture, harmony, melody, rhythm, and lyrics. However, harmony and melody often bear an unintentional Swedish folk music character. “There’s a kind of Nordic tone in it…” quote from an interview with Ö. Strandberg in the group Dice. “In Kaipa, there’s a certain folk quality in their songs… a folk spirit,” from an interview with J. Isacsson in Horizont.

An important influence outside the art-rock genre in rock is Frank Zappa, mentioned by Samla Mammas Manna, Solar Plexus, Dice, and Overture. Zappa, one of the most innovative and groundbreaking of rock music’s avant-garde, influenced most rock musicians from 1966 (debut LP Freak Out). The most important influence on Swedish art-rock was giving musicians the freedom and courage to break musical norms. Such as making sudden musical shifts between styles, abrupt rhythmic changes, using uncommon harmony for rock, or combining time signatures in unconventional ways. These attributes were also found in art music from the turn of the century, which Zappa, as a composer of art music, was influenced by.

Early 20th-century art music also influenced art-rock groups. The composers mentioned most are Stravinsky and Mussorgsky, which is unsurprising given that Yes used Stravinsky as a concert opener and ELP recorded Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. The art music influence can be heard in the orchestral-sounding instruments, and musical ideas from art music, such as composing in programmatic form and complex large forms. However, the direct influence from this was minimal in Swedish art-rock; the composers are mentioned in interviews as something the musicians occasionally listened to.

A relatively significant influence comes from jazz-rock/fusion with musicians/groups like John McLaughlin, Return to Forever, and Weather Report. This influence is evident in harmony and rhythmic emphasis, but there are also groups with entire compositions or larger sections typical of jazz/fusion (Horizont’s “Delirium Fetisch,” Overture’s “Familjespel”). The group Ragnarök had entire compositions in a calm jazz-rock style, such as “Fabriksfunky.”

Swedish folk music was a clear influence, as mentioned earlier, for groups formed in the early 1970s. Some groups even performed traditional folk songs (e.g., Polska från Kalmar by Ragnarök). These groups show a clear and conscious influence from Swedish and international folk music, evident in harmony, melody, and instrumentation. The Nordic folk tonality is often an unconscious influence for art-rock groups formed after 1973, found in harmony and melody. Due to the direct musical borrowing from English art-rock groups, the folk music influence is nearly imperceptible, but a distinct Nordic tone is present. Groups with a clear folk music inspiration, not exclusively Swedish, include Kebnekajse, Samla Mammas Manna, Solar Plexus, Ragnarök, Älgarnas Trädgård, and Bo Hansson.

The group Solar Plexus also aimed to create “all music” and, according to an interview with C-A Dominique, drew influences from Blood, Sweat & Tears to Handel. There was a desire within the group to be boundary-crossing and not tied to any one style.

Some of the groups that predominantly played instrumental art-rock were influenced by music from Philip Glass, Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield, Third Ear Band, and Gong. This influence is evident in how some of these groups worked with sonic textures and musical structures without abrupt shifts and turns. These groups (Anna Själv Tredje, Ragnarök, Älgarnas Trädgård) created music that flowed or slowly floated forward.

Hard rock, which was the big new thing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was also a deliberate ingredient in the musical mix. This is especially clear in Trettioåriga Kriget’s sound and attitude, with a harder playing style and higher volume.

The mentioned influences are those that several of the groups reported, and the following is a detailed account of these influences from interviews and literature studies. (The presentation of Swedish art-rock groups at the end lists influences for each group separately.)

Rock/pop/jazz-rock/art-rock

  • Beatles; Dimmornas Bro, Overture
  • Blood, Sweat & Tears; Solar Plexus
  • Deep Purple; Dice
  • Cream: Trettioåriga Kriget
  • Chicago; Solar Plexus
  • ELP: Dice, Miklagård, Samla Mammas Manna (SMM), Solar Plexus
  • Exception; Miklagård
  • Focus; Dice, Horizont
  • Genesis; Alter Ego, Delirium, Dice, Dimmornas Bro, Enars Camel, Fantasia, Horizont, Kaipa, Kebnekajse, Moder Svea, Overture, Trotsålderns Barn, Tr. Kriget
  • Gentle Giant; Alter Ego, Dice, Horizont, Moder Svea, Overture, SMM
  • Greenslade; Alter Ego
  • Kansas; Horizont
  • King Crimson; Delirium, Dice, Horizont, Moder Svea, SMM, Trettioåriga Kriget
  • Led Zeppelin; Overture, Trettioåriga Kriget
  • Mike Oldfield; Bo Hansson
  • Tangerine Dream; Anna Själv Tredje
  • Third Ear Band; Anna Själv Tredje
  • Tempest; Dice
  • Patto; Trotsålderns Barn
  • Pink Floyd; Dimmornas Bro
  • Procol Harum; Dice
  • Uriah Heep; Dice
  • Wishbone Ash; Trotsålderns Barn
  • Yes; Alter Ego, Delirium, Enars Camel, Fantasia, Horizont, Kaipa, Kebnekajse, Moder Svea, Overture, Solar Plexus, Trettioåriga Kriget
  • Frank Zappa; Dice, Overture, SMM, Solar Plexus

Jazz/fusion

  • Dave Brubeck; Dice
  • Miles Davis; Samla Mammas Manna
  • Return To Forever; Horizont, Overture
  • Tassavallan Presidenti; Horizont
  • Weather Report; Horizont, Samla Mammas Manna
  • Unspecified jazz/fusion; Delirium, Bo Hansson, Horizont, Kebnekajse, Samla Mammas Manna, Solar Plexus

Swedish rock

  • Blå Tåget; Miklagård
  • Contact; Kaipa
  • Made in Sweden; Kaipa, Solar Plexus
  • November; Trettioåriga Kriget
  • Samla Mammas Manna; Fantasia, Kaipa, Miklagård, Ragnarök
  • Tages; Solar Plexus
  • Träd, Gräs och Stenar; Ragnarök
  • Älgarnas Trädgård; Anna Själv Tredje

Art music

  • Bartok; Miklagård
  • Beethoven; Kaipa
  • Debussy; Dice, Overture
  • Handel; Solar Plexus
  • Holst; Alter Ego, Horizont, Overture
  • Mozart; Kaipa
  • Mussorgsky; Dice, Miklagård, Overture
  • Satie; Solar Plexus
  • Sibelius; Horizont
  • Stravinsky; Dice, Horizont, Overture, SMM, Solar Plexus
  • Orff (Carmina Burana); Horizont
  • Ravel; Dice
  • Williams; Alter Ego

Folk music- Bo Hansson, Kaipa, Kebnekajse, Miklagård, Ragnarök, SMM, Solar Plexus, Älgarnas Trädgård

 

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