Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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humour, and pathos, but it is limited. His
songs, romances, and ballads, especially those
set to the northern poets Draohmann, Bjornson,
Miinoh, Moe, and Ibsen constitute a characteristic
portion of his best work. Owing to
the exigencies of the concise song-form, and to
Grieg's close study of the follc-music, and his
aim, above all, to be simple in form and melody,
his songs, though essentially national in colour,
never become wearisome or mannered. They
may be lacking in intensity of passion, and in
the deeper psychological qualities, but they are
full of poetry and imagination.
An intimate friend of Grieg's, a celebrated
pianist, Agathe Backer-Grbndahl, has written
simple and expressive songs, which are very
popular in Norway. Other song-writers, born
in the second half of the last century, are : J.
Holter, Die Olsen, C. Sinding, Per Winge, and
his cousin Per Lasson, C. EUing, J. Halvorsen,
Andersen, Alnaes, and Sigurd Lie. The lastnamed
highly gifted composer was born in
1871 and died young. He has left few songs,
but they are of rare beauty and poetry. Sinding
has an abundance of melodic ideas, and is full
of energy, character, and expression, and the
strength which works with simple means. He
responds to every phase of northern thought
and such songs as 'Es schrie ein Vogel,' with
its harsh colouring, or ' Viel Traume,' with its
tender intimacy, or the fine national song Vi '
vil OS et Land,' show the intensity with
which he realises and reproduces a situation.
Sweden.—In the 16th century musical art in
Sweden reached a high level. Gustav Vasa was a
connoisseur in music, and encouraged composers
of the Netherland and Italian Schools to his
court. The Thirty Years' War brought Sweden
into contact with other European nations, and
many Germans ilooked thither. Under Charles
XII., French music reigned supreme, and long
held its sway over all native composers. The
Dliben family (Germans by origin), who settled
in Sweden early in the 17th century, and have
been called the founders of Swedish music,
'
hardly deserve this name, for though they did
much to further and develop music in Sweden
they were entirely under foreign influence.
Gustav Diiben (died 1690) wrote songs of the
type of Heinrich Albert in Germany, whilst
his brother Anders DUben, who inclined more
to French music, wrote only little arias for the
Court of the French chanson kind. In the
18th century the music of German and Italian
composers, such as Fux, Graun and Handel,
Scarlatti and Lotti, predominated, but simultaneously
the Swedish composers J. H. Roman,
Agrell, and Zellbell were pursuing the right
road towards founding a national school, by
using the vernacular in their vocal works. The
opera, which has always played an important
part in Stockholm, remained chiefly French
under Dalayrao and Monsigny, though German
SONG 585
dramatic influence was exerted by Gluck,
Naumann, Haeflner, etc. The only dramatic
composer of Swedish descent was the popular
K. Stenborg, who used his native folk-songs
in his operas, and led the way through Dupuy
and Eandel to Hallstrbm, the real creator of
the national opera.
The song of the Gustavian period {i.e. the
close of the 18th century) answers exactly to
that of J. A. Hiller, Schulz, Eeichardt, and
Zelter of Germany, and bore the same homely,
popular character, without, however, being in
any sense national. The forerunner of the
true Swedish Song was Olof Ahlstrom, who
published at the beginning of the ] 9th century
a collection of eighteen volumes called ' Skaldestycken
Satte i Musik,' containing songs by
himself, by HaeflTner, Stenborg, Palm, and
others. Many songs in this collection, as well
as those by Dupuy, Nordblom, Crusell,i etc.,
still show the same tendency towards the
Berlin School, but the words of Swedish poets
were used, and attention was thus called at
last to Swedish composers. A yet greater
service Ahlstrom did was to edit the songs of
that strange original genius C. M. Bellmann,
under the title of
'
Fredmans Epistlar och
Sanger' (1790-95). These are in reality
splendidly humorous pictures of Stockholm life,
skilfully adapted to favourite foreign (chiefly
French) and native airs ; very few tunes are
original, but they remain household words in
Sweden to the present day.
Literature and music kept pace during the
early 19th century, and both drank from the
same national source. It is difficult to say
whether poetry or music owes most to the socalled
Gothic revival, of which Geijer, Afzelius,
Tegner, Arwidsson, and Atterbom were the
leaders. The first impetus towards the new
lyric was given by Afzelius and Geijer in their
publication of old Swedish folk-songs in 1814-
1816.2 T}ie melodies in these volumes were
revised and harmonised by Haeifner and Greenland.
A little later Erik Drake published
another series, in which Afzelius joined. Arwidsson
(a Dane by birth) devoted himself to the
same subject, and published, between 1833
and 1837, three volumes of old war, hunting,
and love songs ; Bergstrbm, Hoijer, R. Dybeck,
and K. Sodling following suit.
The earliest composers who breathed the
romantic national atmosphere and sang the
characteristic melodies of Sweden, were Geijer,
A. Lindblad, J. A. Josephson, Wennerberg,
Berwald, Hallstrbm, Rubenson, L. Norman,
and A. Sbdermann. The classic time of the
Eomanze belongs to the three first named.
Geijer's songs are impregnated with the true
1 Cruaell would really be conBidered a Pimiiah composer, but the
Interesta and destinies of Finland and Sweden have been closely
Interwoven. This indeed applies to most of the literature and
music of the Scandinavian countries, and it is often hard to define
to which country the sevei-al poets and composers belong.
2 These volumes contain valuable prefaces and notes.
2p