The Zorn Badge () is an award that is given to prominent
folk musicians
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The prize is awarded by , the Swedish national organization for traditional music, dance and handicraft.
[Zornmärket, '']Nationalencyklopedin
(; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version.
History
The project was ...
'', accessed 21 July 2016
History
In 1910, the first national gathering of (performers of traditional folk music) took place at
Skansen
Skansen (; "the Sconce") is the oldest open-air museum and zoo in Sweden located on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It was opened on 11 October 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. For this occasion, the artist
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish artist who attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. His portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three President of the Un ...
, who was interested in the revival of traditional folk culture, designed and financed a silver badge for distribution to all the participating .
In the early 1930s, received the rights to the badge from Zorn's widow Emma. They put together a
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
for a new
National Folk Musicians' Gathering in
Västerås
Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...
in 1933, before whom spelmän could test their mettle.
The Jury would grant a number of different awards to those spelmän, the highest of which would be Anders Zorn's silver badge.
The award
The Zorn Badge has three levels: bronze, silver and gold.
The bronze and silver badges are awarded after trials, which take place at regional folk musicians' gatherings where a jury from is present. A musician who wishes to try for the Zorn Badge must be 16 years of age, and must perform three to five different pieces of folk music.
The gold badge is awarded to one or two master musicians each year. There are no trials for this level, which is awarded to extremely prominent musicians and tradition bearers.
A musician who receives the silver or gold badge is entitled to call himself or herself (often translated as "Musician of the Realm" or "National Folk Musician").
Sweden had approximately 300 living in 2009.
Swedish folk music artists with Riksspelman status that have received golden Zorn Badge distinctions
* Silver Badge awards to Granhammar in 1931 and Dahlgren in 1933 were done without a live performance and was decided by the board of directors at Ungdomsringen. Likewise, the silver distinction awarded to Iderström in 1942 followed the same procedure.
See also
*
Swedish folk music
Swedish folk music is a genre of music based largely on folkloric collection work that began in the early 19th century in Sweden. The primary instrument of Swedish folk music is the fiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish traditio ...
*
Bellman Prize
The Bellman Prize () is a literature prize for "an outstanding Swedish poet" awarded yearly by the Swedish Academy () The prize was first established by Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish ...
References
External links
Zornmärkesnämnden(the Zorn Badge committee in Svenska Folkdansringen)
{{Anders Zorn, state=collapsed
Swedish folk music
Swedish music awards
Anders Zorn