IRRBLOSS
- SONGS FROM THE POETRY OF SIGNE AURELL
FOR THREE YEARS, Maja Heurling and Ola Sandström worked to set the poetry of American immigrant Signe Aurell to music. The story about Signe is completely different from the famous Swedish one about Karl-Oskar and Kristina. Signe left Sweden on her own in 1913 to seek her fortune in the United States, where she worked as a laundress and political writer - at the same time as fellow Swedish poet and migrant Joe Hill was convicted of murder. Signe also published his metrically perfect and linguistically glowing poetry collection Irrbloss - in Swedish. Signe's up until now unknown poems are about longing fro home and the struggle for a brighter future.
In October 2019, 100 years after they were published, the album with the songs of Signe Aurell's poems was released on Kakafon Records. The CD IRRBLOSS - tonsatta dikter av Signe Aurell contains 12 of the poems from the poetry collection with the same name, as well as an instrumental track. Since the release Heurling and Sandström are touring with their show about Signe Aurell: IRRBLOSS - A different emigrant story than the one about Karl-Oskar and Kristina.
The project has come about thanks to a researcher at the University of Wisconsin, the Swedish-American and phil. dr. Marcus Cederström. Marcus wrote his dissertation (published in 2016) about the lone women who crossed the Atlantic to the USA from Sweden around the turn of the last century. During his research time in Sweden, he heard Maja sing songs from the Påtår project with Moa Martinsson and sent her Signe Aurell's poems.
The album Irrbloss was recorded in Playing With Music's studio by Petter Berndalen in the summer of 2019. Participating musicians: Livet Nord (violin quinton), Daniel Wejdin (double bass), Petter Berndalen (percussion), Lisa Långbacka (accordion), Helene Norrman (dobro) and Claudia Müller (recorder).
In September 2022, four of the songs came out in English at Kakafon records, translated by professor Anne.Charlotte Harvey (University if San Diego), Maja Heurling and Marcus Cederström. Partiipating musicians on the EP: Livet Nord (violin quinton) and Daniel Wejdin (double bass).
Foto: Christopher Anderzon
Maja Heurling
and Ola Sandström
Signe Aurell in
Minneapolis in 1919.
”Ask the refugee who crosses your path and you will most likely hear similar descriptions of longing for the known trails.”
– Lira Musikmagasin
"Heurling/Sandström have preserved the origin but added time. The songs sound then and now, American and Swedish."
– Hifi och musik
TOUR PLAN
this plan is continuosly updated
2023
9 FEBRUARY 18.00
Ludvika Bibliotek, duo
11 MARS
Folkteatern, Göteborg, quartet
13 MAJ
Aggershus, quartet
2022
9 FEBRUARY 12.00
Västmanlands Teater, Soppteater
23 MARSCH 19:30
Victoriateatern, Malmö, med Livet Nord och Daniel Wejdin
7 APRIL 12.00
Kulturrum, Partille
7 APRIL 20.00
Kom Bar, Göteborg
7 AUGUST
Visor för fred, Vinterviken, Stockholm, med Ola Sandström och solo
11 AUGUST
Hildasholm, Leksand, med Ola Sandström och band
22 AUGUST
Joe Hill Festival, Joe Hill-gården, Gävle, med Ola Sandström
4 SEPTEMBER
Järlåsa Bygdegård, med Ola Sandström
16 SEPTEMBER 12.00
Kulturlänken, Märsta med Ola sandström
23 SEPTEMBER 12.00
Dalateatern, Falun, med Livet Nord och Daniel Wejdin
1 OKTOBER
American Swedish Society, Minneapolis, MN, USA, quartet!
4 OKTOBER
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA, quartet!
6 OKTOBER
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL, USA, quartet!
8 OKTOBER
Swedish American Museum, Chicago, IL, USA, quartet!
29 OKTOBER
Näsby park kyrka, Täby
5 NOVEMBER 17.00
Sala Stadsbibliotek , Sala
2 DECEMBER 12.00
Kulturlänken Märsta
ORDER THE ALBUM AND THE EP IN ENGLISH
To order the CDs, please send an email to:
info(at)majaheurling.se
foto: SIla Ralfnert
Irrbloss Quartet: Livet Nord, Maja Heurling,
Ola Sandström and Daniel Wejdin.
PRESS & MEDIA
”Absolutely wonderful songs! That these poems reach us from such a long distance in time makes me completely weak.” – Göran Greider
”Down to earth and grand.” – Sydsvenskan
”What an amazing album this is.” – eFolket
”It is incomprehensible that Aurell has not received more attention here at home.” – TT
"Light and darkness meet in a language whose original twists and alliterations make one sharpen one's attention." – Gefle Dagblad
”Ask the refugee who crosses your path and you will most likely hear similar descriptions of longing for the known trails.” – Lira Musikmagasin
"Heurling/Sandström have preserved the origin but added the time. The songs sound then and now, American and Swedish." – Hifi och musik
ARTICLES
Svenska Dagbladet 15 april 2019
Kulturnyheterna, SVT, 16 april 2019
Foto: Christopher Anderzon
.jpg)
© 2020 by Maja Heurling
IRRBLOSS IN ENGLISH + US TOUR!
Since the release of IRRBLOSS in 2019, we have been planning a US tour. Twice we have been on our way, but had to postpone. But in October 2022 it finally happened!
To coincide with this, we released an EP with four of Signe's poems translated into English. The translations were made by Maja Heurling, Ann-Charlotte Harvey and Marcus Cederström. It´s been exciting to see how the songs have changed character when they are sung in English, and there has been a lot of text to learn, Signe's lyrics are already wordy in Swedish!
The first single of the EP, Josef Hillström, was released on September 2nd 2022. The US tour took place September 29-October 10 and we partially travelled in Signe's footsteps in Minneapolis. Other stops were Madison, Wisconsin (where we also meet students at the University of Wisconsin), Rock Island, Illinois, and the Swedish Museum in Chicago. We were blessed to have the great musicians Livet Nord (violin) and Nathan Gibson (double bass) with us on the tour!
To get the latest information and to learn more about Signe Aurell, follow us on Instagram:
