Swedish Julglädje

Holiday season celebrated in the Swedish style at Julglädje.

This group proves quite well that Swedish fiddlers can continue to play while they participate in "Vi äro musikanter." They joined in a variety of traditional games around the Christmas tree at the annual Julglädje celebration with Ross Sutter and Friends, held at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith.
Children and their significant adults joined in the annual Julglädje celebration at the end of December. Ross Sutter and Friends lead the show every year at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, including music from the season, an interactive story about the tomtar with Tomte Kajsa, and song games around the Christmas tree.
Tomte Kajsa led the song games around the Christmas tree at the Julglädje celebration. Musicians were: Ross Sutter on accordion, guitar and dulcimer; Cheryl Paschke on fiddle and nyckelharpa; Marya Hart at the keyboard; and Carol Westberg playing clarinet. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith.
After some gathering music, Tomte Kajsa, acted by Rose Arrowsmith De Coux, invited all the children to join her. They put on their red tomte hats and learned what their jobs would be on the Johansson farm. While they were preparing and learning their lines, the older members of the audience listened to the music of button box accordion, keyboard, clarinet, fiddle and nyckelharpa.
All the tomtar get ready to help at the farm. They are looking forward to their risgrynsgröt after a good year of work for the Johansson family. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith.
When the tomtar returned to the room, they acted out the story and chopped the wood, curried the horses, fed the chickens, picked the eggs, and shoveled snow. They didn’t mind the work because they knew they were going to get some "mums ... rice pudding!" But the people inside the house seemed to have forgotten their responsibility to the tomtar, and so the tomtar turned their hats inside out to become invisible and started throwing snowballs at the family. One old granny came out and said, :Who IS it?!" The tomtar shouted, "We want rice pudding!"
After eating a lot of risgrynsgröt, the tomtar fall asleep and dream about their wonderful treat on the Johansson farm. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith.
They got their risgrynsgröt, gobbled it up and then danced and sang a song about it: "Rice Pudding is the best by far, tra la la la." After this they climbed into their tomte nest and fell asleep dreaming about risgrynsgröt until it was time to get up and dance around the Christmas tree with all the adults in the room.
It’s "10 for the big ones, and 5 for the small" when everyone sings "Karusellen" at the annual Julglädje Celebration in Minneapolis. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith.
For more information about this holiday show and other programs, search online and via Facebook. The musicians are frequently found at Nordic festivals and events in the midwest and beyond.