Photo by Outi Markkula
As a folk musician Emilia Lajunen is also working as a researcher. She graduated as Doctor of Music from University of Arts Helsinki, Folk Music Department at the end of 2023. During over seven years studies she focused on developing the musician´s expression through archival work and simultaneous dancing and playing. She is now continuing her artistic research working and focusing deeply with different archive sound recordings, “silent voices” of archives, female aspect of musicianship and her own artistic work which very much were and will be born of this deep connection.
Here you can read an abstract of Emilia Lajunen´s doctoral thesis in english.
Village of Haunted Fiddlers – Developing the Musician ́s Expression through Archival Work and Simultaneous Dancing and Playing
Emilia Lajunen´s doctoral degree, A Village of Haunted Fiddlers – Developing the Musician ́s Expression through Archival Work and Simultaneous Dancing and Playing, consists of four artistic components – Artjamei – Rites and Movement (2017), Quadrille in two Dimensions (2018), Mytty-Soirée (2018) and Legacy of the Dead (2020) – and this written thesis. As an appendix to this thesis is also the solo album, Legacy of the Dead: Deep in the Dregs (2023), a summary of the music created during the research process.
This doctoral study is a practice-based artistic research project that focuses on the role of archival sources in the praxis of the historically informed, dancing and composing musician, thus bringing a new perspective to the study of contemporary folk musicianship. Central to the research is the observing the musician’s simultaneous playing and dancing and the related phenomenon of multichannel listening as identified by the researcher. In exploring the relationship between music and dance as the musician’s experience, the study also contributes to choreomusicology. Other themes that cross the research are the transition period between the old and newer traditions of Finnish folk music and the historically informed composing of new music, primarily inspired by archival material from Central Finland. The study also touches upon the importance of gender and gender roles in the historical context of folk music and their impact on contemporary folk musicians.
The research examines how musicianship and artistic expression develop through simultaneously playing and dancing and what musical and artistic phenomena might be involved. It investigates how musical material changes and is shaped when it is in contact with movement as the dancing musician plays the fiddle. The research methods draw from the praxis of the folk musician who composes, improvises, plays, sings and dances, as well as from the tradition of artistic research. The chosen archival material was studied and used in various ways as inspiration and material for creating the music. The primary research method has been to create artistic performances in which the musician plays the fiddle and dances or moves simultaneously. The artistic components have served as the material, the method and, in part, the result of the research.
This thesis discusses the findings that emerged from the artistic work and the three methods used in and developed in the research: working with archival material, the long aesthetics method of variation folk music, and exercises for learning simultaneous playing and dancing.
The study opens a perspective on the historically informed artistic work of the contemporary folk music professional, allowing for the bearing of tradition in a new, academic context. The research connects to the discussions on musician’s expression and its development and the impact of embodied exercises and experiences on musicianship. It brings to light the living tradition of folk music and describes the methods by which the contemporary musician can join the chain of tradition.
Read the study (pdf, in Finnish)
Keywords: archival recordings, musical expression, musician’s simultaneous dancing and playing, musician’s embodiment, in-betweenness of traditional styles, tradition bearer, composing, artistic research.
Links and interviews about Emilia´s doctoral studies
Keskisuomalainen 16.9.2023
