Så lunka vi så småningom
"Så lunka vi så småningom" | |
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Art song | |
English | So we gradually amble |
Written | December 1787 |
Text | poem by Carl Michael Bellman |
Language | Swedish |
Melody | May be from Naumann's Gustaf Wasa |
Composed | 1786 |
Published | 1791 in Fredman's Songs |
Scoring | voice and cittern |
Så lunka vi så småningom (So we gradually amble) is a song from the Swedish poet and performer
Bellman's biographer
Context
Song
Melody and verse form
The song is in
The melody is found in Johann Gottlieb Naumann's 1786 opera (with Johan Henric Kellgren's libretto) Gustaf Wasa , but it is not certain whether Bellman took it from there directly or via another source.[11]
Lyrics
The song was subtitled "Måltids sång" in the first edition;[12] Kleveland and Ehrén give a more explanatory subtitle Under måltiden, varvid han ställer döden under gästernas ögon (During a meal, during which he places death under the eyes of the guests).[13] It is a table-song, which in the last stanza implores the guests around the table to praise host and hostess, in reality Gustaf and Helena Widman.[11][14] Bellman wrote it between Christmas and New Year in December 1787, some months after the death of his son Eli.[11] The song makes light of death, urging youths to "heed my word, and take the prettiest Nymph who smiles at you under your arm". The chorus runs "Do you think the grave is too deep? Well, take a swig, take another, ditto two, ditto three, so you'll die happier."[12]
Carl Michael Bellman, 1791[15] | Paul Britten Austin, 1977[16] | John Irons, 2014[17] |
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Du vid din remmare och präss, |
And thou who standest to thy glass, |
You at your dram and rummer glass, |
Reception
Bellman's biographer Lars Lönnroth writes that Bellman takes an existential look at life in the song, comparing the tone to the monologue in Hamlet Act 5, scene 1 where the prince laments, holding Yorick's skull in his hands. All the same, he writes, Bellman still turns in the end "to his usual role as the drinking-companion full of gallows humour".[18] The song has been recorded by the Bellman interpreters Fred Åkerström and Sven-Bertil Taube.[19]
The musicologist Richard Engländer calls the song "a specially interesting case".
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The song's theme has been compared to the scene in Hamlet with Yorick's skull.[18] Painting Young Man with a Skull by Frans Hals, c. 1626
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The melody is fromGustaf Wasa(right) agonises over whether to continue to fight the Danes.
References
- ^ Bellman 1790.
- ^ Bellman Society. Archived from the originalon 10 August 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
- ^ "Bellman in Mariefred". The Royal Palaces [of Sweden]. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ISBN 978-0131369207.
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, p. 39.
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, pp. 81–83, 108.
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, pp. 71–72 "In a tissue of dramatic antitheses—furious realism and graceful elegance, details of low-life and mythological embellishments, emotional immediacy and ironic detachment, humour and melancholy—the poet presents what might be called a fragmentary chronicle of the seedy fringe of Stockholm life in the 'sixties.".
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, p. 63.
- ^ Bellman 1984, pp. 75–76, 133.
- ^ a b c "N:o 21 (Kommentar tab)". Bellman.net (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ a b Bellman, 1791.
- ^ Kleveland & Ehrén 1984, p. 75.
- ^ Burman 2019, p. 423.
- ^ Bellman 1989, p. 205.
- ^ Britten Austin 1977, p. 118.
- ^ Irons, John. "Time for a Bellman!". John Irons. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ^ a b Lönnroth 2005, p. 354.
- ^ Hassler & Dahl 1989, p. 285.
- ^ a b c Engländer, Richard (1956). "Bellmans musikalisk-poetiska teknik" [Bellman's Musical-poetic technique] (PDF). Samlaren: Tidskrift för svensk litteraturvetenskaplig forskning (in Swedish): 143–154.
Sources
- Bellman, Carl Michael (1790). Fredmans epistlar. Stockholm: By Royal Privilege.
- ISBN 91-7448-742-6.
- ISBN 91-7736-059-1. (with facsimiles of sheet music from first editions in 1790, 1791)
- ISBN 978-3-932759-00-0.
- Britten Austin, Paul (1977). Fredman's Epistles and Songs. Stockholm: Reuter and Reuter. OCLC 5059758.
- ISBN 978-9100141790.
- Hassler, Göran; ISBN 91-7448-742-6. (contains the most popular Epistles and Songs, in Swedish, with sheet music)
- ISBN 91-7736-059-1. (with facsimiles of sheet music from first editions in 1790, 1791)
- OCLC 61881374.
External links
- Text of Song 21
- Then off we’ll lumber, every one by John Irons