Parkman is a violinist, singer, and composer focused on Swedish folk music. Horn is a Swedish contemporary composer employing varied instrumentation ranging from analogue synthesizers to choir, string instruments, pipe organ, and various chamber music formats. Their musical relationship dates back to when they were both teenagers playing in the same band in their hometown Härnösand.

During the process of making Funeral Folk they revisited this shared background after a decade of cultivating their respective musical paths. This musical meeting explores everything from sacred songs and minimalist spectral music to folk melodies from Ångermanland and Finnish black metal. The music is performed with a varied instrumentation consisting of synths, zithers, hurdy gurdy, guitars and mellotrons, as well as voices and rusty cowbells, and was originally composed for the dance performance Funeral, created by Mattias Lech and Lisen Ellard. Leading up to this performance, the group learned some traditional lamentation techniques of Finnish Karelia from Pirkko Fihlman. These songs of mourning have been used as a way of expressing collective and personal grief, and are sung at funerals to guide the deceased on their last journey.

Funeral Folk was released in summer 2022, a joint release between two labels: Supertraditional, focusing on contemporary folk music, and XKatedral, releasing music in the realm of slowly evolving harmonic and timbral sounds. For their live performance they will be joined by Mats Erlandsson on guitar, zithers, and vocals.

• Funeral Folk, by Maria W Horn & Sara Parkman

• Funeral Folk, by Maria W Horn & Sara Parkman