The province of Härjedalen, in the heart of Sweden, is home to a singular flute: the Härjedalspipa. Its repertoire owes much to the musician Olof Jönsson (1871–1953), known as Ol’ Jansa, who gathered and transmitted many local tunes. These melodies, preserved in the collection « Ol’ Jansas låtbok: stamplåtar, visor och andliga sånger för härjedalspipa » (Emma Grut, 2005), reached Hervé Dréan thanks to woodwind maker Gunnar Stenmark – himself continuing the work of Oskar Olofson's traditional instruments. Gunnar not only crafted the flutes Hervé plays here, including one with a traditional quarter-tone scale, but also placed in his hands the very book from which these tunes were drawn. Encounters with Swedish musician Göran Månsson, who also devoted recordings to Ol’ Jansa’s repertoire, further anchored this transmission.

Born in 1959 in Brittany, Hervé Dréan has dedicated his life to collecting, studying and writing about oral tradition in his native region. When he began playing the Swedish repertoire, it was out of pure fascination for the melodies – not as a specialist, but as a musician guided by curiosity and pleasure.

Here, the story continues through a new generation. Hervé’s son, Martin Goodwin-Dréan, composer of experimental ambient, dub techno and electronic soundscapes, took his father’s recordings and wove them into contemporary compositions. Processing, textures and rhythms extend the voice of the wooden flute into vast and resonant spaces, carrying tradition into dialogue with modern sound design.

This album is therefore less a reconstitution than a living act of transmission. From Ol’ Jansa’s notebook to Gunnar Stenmark’s workshop, from Hervé’s breath into the Härjedalspipa to Martin’s electronic architectures, a thread runs through time. The result is music both rooted and forward-looking: a meeting of memory and invention, of fragile wood and resonant machines, of heritage and future sound.  

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Härjedalspipa played by Hervé Dréan
Electronics & arrangement by Martin Goodwin-Dréan
Mixing & mastering by Martin Goodwin (MGS Mastering)
Manufactured & pressed by Matter Of Fact
Artwork by Katia Gaillard
Cover design by Manon le Toquin
Special Thanks to Gunnar Stenmark and Göran Månsson 

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Häckla Henriks Låt (Hervé Dréan & Martin Goodwin-Dréan) [PATN001]

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Patientia is an independent, non-profit label devoted to creating a dialogue between ancient and contemporary music, a space for rooted, transcendental and experimental sounds where heritage meets modern creation.

Patientia Records

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