The Netherlands has multiple musical traditions, mostly related to nearby German and Belgian forms. Immigrants from Africa and the Middle East have also had a profound effect. Much more so than most non-English speaking European countries, the Netherlands has remained closely in tune with American and British trends.
In the early 19th century, rural Dutch folk began moving to cities, like Amsterdam and Rotterdam, bringing with them folk traditions. Many of these songs and dances, however, began to dwindle in popularity. In the early part of the 20th century, however, a number of urban intellectuals travelled to the countrysides recording local musicians, a process paralleled in many other European countries, Spain, for instance.
In the 1970s, the Netherlands underwent a roots revival, led by artists like Gerard van Maasakkers, Jos Koning, Dommelvolk and RK Veulpoepers BV, Fungus and Wolverloi. Many of the folk songs performed by these musicians was collected by Cobi Schreijer or Ate Doornbosch, the latter of whom broadcast them on his radio program Onder de groene linde (Under the green lime).
It was in about 1974 that the Dutch folk revival peaked, a year marked by the first recording of Fungus and the birth of Wargaren from the band Pitchwheel.
The mainstream popularity of the Dutch roots revival was short-lived, but a major pocket continued in Friesland, where a handful of groups, starting with Irolt in the mid-1970s, sang in Frisian. Frisian folk music has survived thus, aided in part by the Aaipop Festival in Nylân and annual festival in Joure. At Joure's festival, established in 1955, participants dress in 19th century-style clothes and perform revival traditional music and dance like the skotsploech ensembles.
Dutch folk-rock group Matzko performing on an island in the river Vltava in Prague in the summer of 2005.
Modern revivalists include the Groningen band Törf, Folkcorn, Pekel and Twee Violen en een Bas, Lirio, Dubius, Mus, Matzko and Wè-nun Henk.
Moluccan-Dutch musicians like Tala Mena Siwa and the Moluccan Moods Orchestra have had some success with pop-based Moluccan music, while kaseko, a style from the former Dutch colony of Surinam, has also seen mainstream popularity, primarily due to musicians like William Souvenir and Carlo Jones.
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