Hedvig Maria Johansson (née Farwall; 5 March 1918 – 6 November 2002), commonly known as Marias enmansorkester (The Maria one-man orchestra) or Maria med orgeln (Maria with the organ), was a Swedish street missionary one-man band playing daily at Sergels torg in central Stockholm from 1972 until 2002.
Biography
editHedvig Maria Farwall was born in Ånimskog, Älvsborg County, on 5 March 1918.[1] She grew up in a religious family where the father was a free churchpreacher.[2]
Married to Erik Johansson, she lived in Stockholm as an adult playing at weddings and prophane event, and was asked to play for a lottery booth at the square Sergels torg in central Stockholm in 1970.[3] The square itself had opened in 1967.[4] The year after, she returned for an eight days religious song meeting and was asked to come back to Sergels torg by people, which she did in between other events.[3]
On 4 September 1972, Johansson brought a cart with instruments to the square to play daily for passers-by.[5] The setup was a cart with three shelves for two electric pianos, amplifiers, microphone and loudspeakers as well as baskets for taped recordings and pamphlets.[6] Since 1979, it was motorised after approval from the National Swedish Road Safety Office.[3]
The repertoire consisted of Christian songs and hymns, among them her favourite "Jag har hört om en stad ovan molnen" and her own composition "Skyddsängeln".[7]
Johansson died in Hägersten, Stockholm, on 6 November 2002 at the age of 84.[1] Earlier in the year, she did not have the possibility of celebrating 30 years as an artist due to her health.[7] Her cart was donated to the Stockholm City Museum by her husband.[6] Her funeral ceremony was held at Uppståndelsekapellet at Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm.[3]
Johansson published an autobiography, Nardus och spikar, in 1986.[8]
References
edit- 1 2 "Maria Johansson". Svensk filmdatabas. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ↑ "Maria Johansson". Nationalmuseum. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Forsling, Jon (30 December 2024). "Hon spelade på Sergels torg i nära trettio år". Östgöta Correspondenten (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ↑ Lundberg, Elina (2 July 2021). "Plattans klassiska plattor byts ut". Mitt i (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ↑ Taawo, Amanda (24 November 2008). "Maria blev en kändis på "Plattan"". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- 1 2 "Maria Johanssons enmansorkester" (in Swedish). Stockholmskällan. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- 1 2 Ovander, Petter (15 November 2002). "Maria Johansson med orgeln har avlidit". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.
- ↑ Ahlborn, Kenneth (29 May 2011). "Sångare värda salighet". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 May 2025.