Aslak Brekke (October 6, 1901 – February 13, 1978) was a prominent

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

of one of the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n poetic genres that is referred to as

stev Stev is a form of Norwegian folk song consisting of four line lyric stanzas. The English version of the word is stave, meaning the stressed syllable in a metric verse. Various types There are various types of ''stev'': ''Gamlestev'' * gamlestev ...

. He was also well-known as a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

singer.

Early life

He was born in

Vinje Vinje is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot. General inform ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

. One way to describe his style of singing, might be to use his own words, that he recited the songs, to a greater degree, rather than straightforwardly singing them. Often he would follow the pulse of the song, with foot-tapping. Aslak lived as a

postman A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

in his early years. It is said that he could be heard far off, as he was singing all the way while treading his bicycle. Eivind Groven was a childhood friend of him, and Eivind`s wife Ragna recalled how he came to Groven farm in the late 1920s. Then he sang from the moment he arrived and all through the evening. His repertoire was almost incredible, Ragna recalled.

Career

Musical/poetic career highlights include : * he was the first folksinger to perform on a nationwide radio-broadcast, in Norway. * his performance at the significant concert that was held 1945, in the ceremonial hall (the "Aula") at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. * a unique recording of the song Ståle Storli, together with

Eivind Groven Eivind Groven (8 October 1901 – 8 February 1977) was a Norwegian composer and music-theorist. He was from traditional region of Vest-Telemark and had a background in the folk music of the area. Biography Groven was born in the village of Lå ...

(

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

). When Aslak Brekke was first broadcast on national radio, the more urban public reacted with scorn. They were not used to his way of singing, finding it crude and unlearned. Eivind Groven noted that the public might not be trained in the "old Norwegian tonal ways" as he put it. His voice and singing could be compared to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

in his younger years. Aslak Brekke and Eivind Groven met each other for the last time in the summer of 1976. Groven died the next winter, Brekke in 1978. Groven, ill from Parkinson`s disease, approached, and Aslak exclaimed: "Eivind, are you still counted among the living?" The two of them sat down and sang old ditties and songs all evening, to the delight of all involved. The Norwegian/English edition of ''Aslak Brekke og visune hans'', was released in 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brekke, Aslak 1901 births 1978 deaths Norwegian folk musicians People from Vinje