Three picks of pre-Second half of 19th century non-classical traditional Swedish music

Local church in Bredsättra, a village where I spent all my summers until very recently. Looks oldschool enough for the subject matter.

The title may seem like just an odd way of saying ‘Swedish folk’ , but where to draw the line between traditional folk of and other types of oldie music such as church songs and material in old lower-class entertainment performances aimed towards a wide audience, is often very blurry. When it comes to musical inspiration, songs from these various contexts were largely interconnected to each other, shamelessly stealing/’borrowing’ from each other all the time. So for the purposes of this blog entry and its imaginary reader’s entertainment, it’d be very unnecessary limiting it to just pure folk tunes. Also, that they (estimately) need to be at least from the mid-19th century is to avoid romanticist attempts to ’’recreate the sound of the past’’ which was very popular the later half of the century, and instead focus on the genuine material nostalgic aristocrats were crying and masturbating each other about later on.

Have a listen

Till Österland Vill Jag Fara
(To The Land In The East I Will Fare)

Rather moody all-male vocal church choir song which I couldn’t find a studio recording of, so it’s just recorded from a regular church performance. It’s about traveling to the holy land/Israel before death arrives. The song has nine verses, but only two of them are preformed here. The melody is taken from a church song titled På Dig o Herre Kära found in a psalm book from 1695. The lyrics can interestingly enough be traced back to text fragments by a regular sailor named Anders Flöija from the mid 1700’s.

To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree
I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
Where the trees are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly
Where the tress are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly

När Som Jag Var På Mitt Artonde År
(When I Was On My Eighteenth Year)

Slow-paced, somewhat eerie vocal-only folk song from the perspective a young woman remembering a love interest who cheated on her, but who she still loves and longs for. Much of the songs charm unfortunately gets lost in translation and not only in the usual sense with pacing and rhymes getting all screwed up, but because it relies heavily on poetical wordplay and grammar-twisting in very old fashioned Swedish. There isn’t much information available on the internet about this one, but it’s featured in a book from 1907 among other authorless traditional Swedish folksongs. To able to establish such status, a qualified guess is that it’s at the very least from the mid 1800’s. My first thought when hearing this was that it was probably a romantic early 1900’s/ late 1800’s composition dreaming of an ancient Scandinavian musical tradition, but seeing there is no author to be found, it might just have it’s origins in that really, really old reality.

When I was on my eighteenth year
There was beautiful boy who fell out in my yard
I thought of owning it forever
But this my thought soon disappeared
There was another girl who got laid down in his arms
He compares it with a blooming flower
Though I’ve held father and mother in high love
And sisters and friends who’ve loved me here
This love goes beyond it all
Thanks for having been my only comfort
And thanks for all the moments I’ve rested on your chest
In heaven we shall again be united

Ack Värmeland Du Sköna
(O Värmeland You Beautiful)

Dramatic song number about a Swedish province whose lyrics is originally written for a 1822 sångspel, which was a theatrical musical act of significally lower budget than opera aimed towards a broad mass, often relying on traditional melodies rather than originally written material. You know the score with these types of songs: Just change the area to any other with a decent nature and it works just as well. Actually, that’s the foundation of this very song: Pretty much the same lyrics and melody was used earler for a folk song about Swedish province Östra Götaland, which in its turn is suspiciously similar to dutch 1500’s folk song O, Nederland! Let op u saeck. Nevertheless Ack Värmeland remains the most polished and proudest version of the tune both lyrically and melodically, and the performance by one of the most skilled operatic tenors of all time Jussi Björling (1911 –1960) posted here is the strongest version of the song recorded.

O Väremland, you beautiful, you magnificent land
You crown jewel among Sweden's provinces
And if ever I should reach the Promised Land
I would still return to my beloved Värmland
For there I want to live, there I want to die
If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.
If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.
In Värmeland – yes, there I want to settle down and live
With the simplest joy to be satisfied with
It’s valleys and forests gives me the calm of silence
And the air is fresh on it’s heights
And the streams sings their lovely song
By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.
By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.