Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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584 SONG
Songs, ' and more especially his Nine Danish
'
Songs ' to words by the national lyrists Oehlenschliiger,
Ewald, Grundtvig, Heiberg, and
Winther, are justly popular. Later in life
Weyse devoted himself to collecting and harmonising
two volumes of Gamle Ksempewise-
'
Melodier ' (Old Hero-songs). He died in 1842.
His contemporary, F. Kuhlau, also loved the
simple, noble melodies of the Kdmpeviser, which
he had noted down in his youth. These he
used later with success in the romance fonn,
and it is difficult to distinguish them from the
genuine folk-songs of this kind. Still Kuhlau
never cared for Danish poetry, and always
preferred to use German words. Contemporary
native musicians were less celebrated, and
Sbrenson, Olaus Schall, and Niels Schioriing
are names now scarcely remembered. But
the improvement in literature due to the
poets Oehlensohlager, Heiberg, Hertz, Hans C.
Andersen, and the publications at Copenhagen
of the numerous collections of Scandinavian
folk-songs, naturally influenced and stimulated
the musical feeling and inventive powers of the
song-writers. The consequent development of
Danish song we owe to J. P. E. Hartmann,
Niels Gade, and P. Heise. The songs of the
latter vary very much in merit, but his fine
song -cycles, 'Gudrun's Sorg' and 'Dyvekes
Sange' (words by Draohmann), have never
received their due appreciation. J. P. E.
Hartmann's songs are gloomy and northern in
colouring, and in form less perfect than Heise's
and Gade's. Among the best are the six to
Winther's poem 'Hjortens Flugt,' and the nine
entitled 'Salomon and Sulamith,' op. 52 ; but
at the present day they sound somewhat oldfashioned.
At first, Gade, who was steeped in
the atmosphere of Schumann and Mendelssohn,
wrote only German songs. But by degrees—
influenced, doubtless, by his old master. Berggreen
(the great folk-song collector)—he became
more national in feeling, and joined the ranks
of the northern romanticists, writing music
to Oehlenschlager's and Heiberg's romances.
His influence has been great over all subsequent
Scandinavian composers, and Gade's cultured
musical taste and true cosmopolitan feeling
never allowed his art to become bounded by
too narrow an horizon. Gade's lyrics are always
expressed in the simplest language, and sufl'er
from a certain poverty of rhythm. He shares
with other Danes the preference for the monotonous,
swaying 6-8 time, and he rarely modulates
beyond the nearest keys. A group of
composers who have treated the song in the
same simple and popular way are : H. Rung,
Barnekow, A. Winding, J. 0. Hornemann, S.
Salomon ; and Gade's pupils, K. Attrup and
L. Schy tte. More individual and more developed
in the accompaniment are those by Emil C.
Hartmann, C. F. Hornemann, A. Hamerik, 0.
Mailing, A. Enna, and notably E. Hansen and
P. E. Langemijller, whose ' Sulamith ' cycle
is interesting, and as well known abroad as in
Denmark. A new note in Danish music has
been touched by Carl Nielsen (b. 1865). He
has written only a few, but remarkable songs,
evincing in his rhythm and modulation a strong
originality.
Norway.—Although Norway was for a time
joined to Sweden, and in the past shared the
destinies of Denmark, whose language it still
retains, it ever remained the most independent
branch of the Scandinavian kingdom. The
people are intelligent and well educated, and intensely
jealous of their national rights. Foreign
music and literature never had the same influence
in Norway as in Sweden and Denmark, and
the Smgspiel and the opera were never popular.
The modem period in poetry and music began
with the awakening of national life which received
its first impulses in 1772, from the
' Norwegian Society' ;' from the national poets,
Wergeland (called the Schiller of Norway),
Welhaven, Miinch, Moe, and Jensen ; from the
folk -tale collector Faye, the hymn -writer
Landstad, and most of all from the folk-song
collectors Bagge and L. M. Lindemann. The
latter did valuable work in familiarising the
national melodies of his country. He published
them as psalms, hymns, songs, and dances, and
his work was can-ied on by C. Filing. The
first real song-writer of Norway was Halfdan
Ejerulf, whose lyrics long suffered from unaccountable
neglect. His two books of ' Sanger
och Visor ' contain songs of real beauty, as for
instance, 'Lokkende Toner,' 'Karlekspredikan,'
'Saknaden,' 'Eremiten,' 'Mit Hjerte og min
Lyre ' ('My Heart and Lute '), and Natten ' pas
Fjorden.' The voice-part and accompaniments
are well written and interesting,^ and there is no
Among the
straining for efl'ect or originality.
song-writers born between the years 1837 and
1847, we find the same inclination to represent
the national spirit in their art. But neither
Winter-Hjelm, J. Selmer, C. Cappelen, nor even
J. S. Svendsen, who wrote two books of highly
expressive songs, touched the true note. 'This
was reserved for E. Nordraak and Eduard
Grieg. Nordraak was a cousin of the poetnovelist
Bjbmson, and modelled his songs,
which are of a homely and popular type, after
Bjbmson 'speasant-novels. Nordraak died young
in 1866, but his patriotism and intimate
knowledge and love of his country's songs
exercised a strong influence on his friend Grieg,
whose taste when young had hitherto been
essentially German. Grieg's talent is curious
and delicate. It is strongly stamped with
his own individuality, and not without power,
1 A band of patriotic Norweglana Uving in Copenbagen. wbo
comblDed to found a native university in Christiania in 1811, and
to recover tbeir native independence in 1814.
2 To a certain degree KJerulf reaembles tbe Qerman eong-wifter
Robert Fianz. Both pay the eaine atrlot regard to the words and
accent, and in both the accompaniments are often treated poly.
phonically. {See for example Kjemlf's op. 23, TSo. 2.)