Madeleine Modin

In her research, Madeleine Modin has been interested in issues related to private and institutional collections and collecting of musical instruments, museum practices, cultural heritage, revivals, historical musical instruments, folk instrument making, as well as traditional hymn singing and singer songwriters in the 1960’s.

In 2018 Madeleine Modin defended her dissertation in musicology Perceptions and Presentations of historical musical instruments. A Study of the Stockholm Museum of Music History, 1899–1918 at Stockholm University. The study examines the early history of the museum today called Scenkonstmuseet (The Swedish Museum of Performing Arts), as well as the first approaches in Sweden to what later became the Early music movement with performances on historical instruments. For a period, the study was part of Statens musikverk’s research project Pluralize or Polarize: About cultural heritage, identity and popular education, 2011–2014.

Modin was 2020–2021 part of the research project Kreativa förflyttningar – musikaliska flöden i 1960- och 70-talens Sverige (Creative Shifts – Musical Flows in 1960s and 1970s Sweden) and looked into the history of Vispråmen Storken, the most important club and stage for singer-songwriters/troubadours in Stockholm in the 1960’s.

In the research project Immateriellt instrumentbygge som folkmusikalisk materialisering (Intangible instrument building as folk musical materialization) funded by The Swedish National Heritage Board 2021–23, the aim was to investigate contemporary folk instrument making as an area where negotiations on historic authenticity and product development for a living tradition take place, with a special focus given to makers’ choices of materials. A monograph presenting the project’s results is forthcoming.

She teaches musicology at Stockholm University and she is active in several national and international networks. She is Chair of the Swedish committé of ICTMD and Vice Chair of Svenska samfundet för musikforskning (Swedish society of music research). She takes part in networks as ICOM Music, INHMS (International Network of Herding Music Scholars), NOFF (Nordiska mötet för folkmusikarkiv med forskning och dokumentation) and NoFoVoFo (Nordiskt Forskarnätverk for Vokal Folkmusik).

Madeleine Modin is the General Editor of Svenskt visarkiv’s scholarly journal Puls – journal for ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology.

Publications

Modin, Madeleine (2026). “Carl Claudius (1855–1931) and His Sound-chests”. In: European, British, and American Musical Instrument Collectors, 1850–1940. Ed.Christina Linsenmeyer. Series: The Histories of Material Culture and Collecting, 1700–1950. Oxford: Routledge.

Modin, Madeleine (2023). “The Audience and the Boat on the Visa Wave. The Visa Barge Storken 1962–1969”. In: Creative shifts. Musical flows in 1960s and 1970s Sweden. Ed. Hyltén-Cavallius, Sverker [Elektronisk resurs] Svenskt visarkiv. Access on internet: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:statensmusikverk-56469

Modin, Madeleine (2022). ”Publiken och båten på visvågen. Vispråmen Storken 1962–1969”. In: Kreativa förflyttningar: musikaliska flöden i 1960- och 1970-talens Sverige. Ed. Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius. Möklinta: Gidlunds förlag.

Modin, Madeleine (2020). ”Rudolf Nydahl och hans samling”. In: Stiftelsen Musikkulturens främjande 1920–2020: jubileumsboken. Ed. Edward Klingspor. Stockholm: Stiftelsen Musikkulturens främjande.

Modin, Madeleine (2018). Museala och musikaliska föreställningar om historiska musikinstrument: en studie av Musikhistoriska museets verksamhet 1899–1918. Diss. Stockholm: Stockholms universitet. Access on internet: https://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1195114/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Modin, Madeleine (2014). ”Den utåtriktade verksamheten på Musikhistoriska museet under 1960-talet”. In: Apropå Jan Ling. Elva texter om musikforskning och musikliv presenterade vid ett symposium till Jan Lings minne den 8 april 2014 på Kungl. Musikaliska akademien. Eds. Märta Ramsten & Gunnar Ternhag. Stockholm: Kungl. Musikaliska akademien och Svenskt visarkiv. Access on internet: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:statensmusikverk-6057

Modin, Madeleine (2013). ”Ernst Emsheimers Extended Network”. In: Studia instrumentorum musicae popularis III (New Series). 18th Meeting of the ICTM Study Group on Folk Musical Instruments. Ed. Gisa Jähnichen. Münster: Monsenstein und Vannerdat.

Modin, Madeleine (2010). Den folkliga koralen och ursprungsfrågan teori- och metodproblem, identitet och förståelse. Masters thesis. Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för musik- och teatervetenskap. Access on internet: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-55703