There seems to be a concept amongst some people here that traditions somehow exist in discrete compartments,hermetically sealed off from each other and from other influences, and any form of mixing/cross-fertilisation should never be allowed. This sets political alarm bells ringing in my head (BNP etc). This concept surely ignores the whole history of the past two hundred years or so. Look at the song lists of the old guys- Harry Cox, Pop Maynard, George Spicer, O.J.Abbott et al- 'english','irish','scottish'- the whole delicatessen! Scottish ballads are widespread in Scandinavia, many folk tales are common to many countries, ditto dance tunes- Soldiers Joy is just as much a swedish tune as english or american. Many of our 'traditional' dances were originally foreign imports. 'Classical' music influences are also present- I play a bridal march from northern Sweden which often brings smiles to faces in the audience. Why? Because it is, more or less,a straight borrowing from part of Carl-Maria von Weber's 'greatest hit' Der Freischütz (sorry, can't think of the english title).And don't forget the mass emigrations of the 19th century. They weren't simply a case of 'down to the docks and hop on the next ship to North America.' For many people travelling to the port meant crossing large tracts of Europe with all the different traditions they possibly encountered on the way. On board ship the traditions started to mix. It's the same today with free movement of people inside the EU, to say nothing of the availability of CDs, tours by musicians, festivals like Sidmouth or Rudolstadt. People play the music they like, and generally try to play it respectfully and well, even if the instrumentation nowadays is anything but traditional. As Shuffy put it earlier- the music is like a cat in that it chooses you. However, whether you choose to immerse yourself in a foreign 'tradition' or prefer to assimilate that music into your own is up to you. At the end of the day, the question is, "What sort of traditions do we want? Living? Preserved in aspic? Or perverted by neo-fascist politicians??


There is another aspect to the political side. One of the reasons so many german musicians latched onto irish music, or more recently balkan, is that, thanks to the Nazis, german folk music was, for decades after WWII, simply discredited. The Dubliners et al offered an untainted music, wild and free, politically unsuspicious in post-war German terms. Singing german traditionals was, and still is to some extent, difficult to do without being branded as tending towards extreme right wing positions. You have to choose your material VERY carefully..........