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Svante Pettersson (1911-1994) was one of the twentieth century´s most famous
folk musicians in Gotland. He was born in Lärbro in the northern part of
the Baltic isle of Gotland. In his early years he spent a lot of time
learning tunes from older fiddlers. Later he also played other kinds of
music, popular and classical, but his main interest was always in folk
music. He played in Norra Gotlands Stråkorkester (string orchestra),
Gotlands Spelmansförbund and Visby Konsertförening. In 1948, together with
his fellow folk musicians, he formed the famous Nordergutarnas Spelmanslag
to play the folk music of Gotland.
He was also a composer of many tunes, for example Gotländsk sommarnatt
(Homesick For Old England), known all over the world. Over the years Svante
collected many tunes and songs from older musicians in Gotland, and he has
published collections of tunes and songs as well as a biography of folk
musicians from Gotland. His tremendous work in preserving and promoting the
folk music of Gotland was rewarded many times. He was one of the few to
obtain the prestigious Zorn decoration in gold for exquisite work in the
folk music field. Svante Pettersson did in many ways embody the folk music
of Gotland. On this album he plays, mostly on his own, his collected tunes
but also some of his own compositions.
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Gunnfjauns Kapell
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