Duo NoordWest plays dance & listening music from Northwest Europe:

In tradtional Scandinavian folk music, specific melodies play an important role in specific events.
Some examples from Sweden: there is large collection of table music, consisting of melodies of which the title refers to specific dishes, such as Steklåt (for serving the meat) and Grötlåt (for the porridge). Each region has its own versions and varieties, and in some cases even the accompanying text has survived.
Music for weddings: apart from the obvious dances such as brudvals en brudpolska, this catagory also features melodies for the walking bridal procession, called brudmarsch, and tunes especially for accompanying the giving of wedding presents (skänklåtar). Often the titles tell exactly for whom the music was composed originally, as in "Joanna Johnsons Grandma's Wedding March". Sometimes the titles mention which "VIP" guests were present and even which musician learnt the tune from which colleague.
The traditional music with a religious background is equally worth playing and listening to. In the 19th and 20th centuries many Swedish psalms were collected in writing or in recordings, that abound with rich ornamentation and haunting 'blue-notes' (quarter-tones).
These same characteristics are to be found in the many hundreds of shepherds' tunes, the vallåtar, that resound with the vastness, loneliness and beauty of the Scandinavian countryside.
And then of course there are the many songs: drinking songs, love songs, lullabies, laments, etc.

Duo NoordWest can provide an evening of entertainment featuring the above mentioned genres of listening music, complemented by dance tunes in various arrangements. A programme can be based on a theme, for instance about instruments & dance forms, the musician in the tradition, or music and dance around feasts and customs.
If requested, the music programme can be accompanied by background information and entertaining stories from Svenska Låtar and other sources.
Spoken languages: Dutch, Swedish, English and German.

And of course we can also provide background music.