The Music
The Accordion Kings of Ådalen
In Lugnviksstrand on the Ångerman River, two brothers grew up who would become legends of Swedish accordion music. Karl Johan Grönstedt (1912–1983) and Bengt Gustaf Erling Grönstedt (1923–2012) carried the musical heritage of Ådalen to the whole of Sweden.
The brothers
Two brothers, one river, hundreds of melodies
1912 – 1983 · big brother
Karl Grönstedt
Karl started playing dance music at twelve and won his first major competition in 1933. He took some ten first prizes and became Nordic champion and Swedish accordion champion in both 1941 and 1944.
His best-known compositions are “Månsken över Ångermanälven” (Moonlight over the Ångerman River), “Hoppa lätt” and “En afton i Ådalen.” “Månsken över Ångermanälven” became a timeless classic that sold more than 20,000 copies of sheet music.
Månsken över Ångermanälven
Hoppa lätt
En afton i Ådalen
1923 – 2012 · little brother
Erling Grönstedt
Eleven years younger than Karl, Erling became Swedish junior accordion champion in 1938, aged 14. He composed around a hundred melodies.
His best-known tune, “Kaffetåren” (A Drop of Coffee), was played countless times on the popular radio show Frukostklubben.
Norrlandstakter
På silvervåg
Det gamla speluret
Måvikens ros
Karl and Erling Grönstedt.
The Accordion River
Music from every cottage
In Ådalen there was music “everywhere, in every single cottage.” The accordion was pushing the fiddle aside, and in time the Ångerman River came to be called the Accordion River.
In those days there were close to 50 dance bands between Härnösand and Sollefteå alone.
The brothers often played together and made recordings as Karl och Erling Grönstedts Dragspelskvartett (the Karl and Erling Grönstedt Accordion Quartet) – taking the music of Ådalen to folk parks and dance halls across the country.
Listen
Hear the brothers play
Recordings by both brothers are available on streaming services, including Erling’s CD “Dragspel ska’ de’ va’” from 2001.
The TT news item about Erling’s Gre-No-Li March.
Ådalen – Tokyo
Accordion music all the way to Japan
The music of Ådalen did not stop at the river. Erling’s “Gre-No-Li March,” dedicated to all the world’s football players, was adopted by the Japan Football Association – and in the spring of 1964 NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, wrote to Erling in Solna. Radio Japan wanted to play his music in the program “To Our Listeners in Scandinavia.”
At the Tokyo Olympics that fall the march was never played – but the letter from Tokyo is still in the family’s possession.
Read the whole story and the letterKeep exploring