Carl Michael Bellman:
In the eighteenth century, Europe underwent the age of Enlightenment. The learning of music became accessible to amateurs and the middle class. Carl Michael Bellman who came from the middle class had the fortune to become literate in both music and poetry. Although he's considered to be an obscure musician by historical standards, Carl Michael Bellman was, in fact, a major pioneer in Swedish folk music and culture.
Carl Michael Bellman was a Swedish poet and musician, and was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1740. His music was largely influenced by Swedish culture and history, which is why his music looms large in that culture up till this day. He wrote his poetry and the music, often taking melodies from the operas and adopting them into his songs with new lyrics. Most of his poetry celebrates the sensual aspects of life- the joy of drinking and sexual pleasure, and fun living. His most notable compositions were the Song’s of Fredman and Epistles of Fredman. He gained popularity with King Gustav III, who supported him for his musical activities and made him a central figure in Sweden.
Song’s of Fredman consists of 65 poems and songs. I listened to song no. 31 “The Fishing Party”. It describes the life of a fisherman who is trying to wake up his companion, Amaryllis, in the morning to go fishing with him. The song is in 3/4, a dance rhythm. The guitar accompaniment provides harmonic progression of I-IV-V-I; the vocalist sings repeating notes on each chord for the first phrase. The last phrase the melody is taken over by the descending arpeggios in the tonic key. The dance-like rhythms with the repeating notes give the song an uplifting energy for the brand new day. In the second section, the fisherman gives Amaryllis his personal narrative on why she should refrain from sleeping. The melody becomes very lyrical and stepwise which give a personal feeling intimacy. Near the end of the song, the fisherman gets Amaryllis out of the bed and they go fishing together. They celebrate the joy of life on the boat and find comfort in each other’s arms.
For second song, I picked “Drick ur ditt glas”(Drain your glass), song no.30 from the collection of Epistles of Fredman . The whole collection of consisted of 82 songs which took Bellman over twenty years to finish them (he completed them in 1790). The texture is light as there is a simple melody sung over the guitar accompaniment. The song has two stanzas. The poem is elegiac, mourning Father Movitz who is dying of tuberculosis. The melody opens up with a descending line describing how death awaits him. Bellman built up the tension by using bigger intervals while the lyric describes the seriousness of his illness which will inevitably be fatal and seek hope. This is a good example of how the music reflects the poem and vice versa.
In order to be in the canon, the work has to not only to have expressive nature in music that connects with the listeners but it also needs to be artistically-crafted. In Bellman’s case, he wrote songs that aren’t as complex in texture which is suitable for amateur singers. I could imagine people on the street of Stockholm learning and singing the song joyfully. The second reason why I think these songs are not in the canon is because it is written in Swedish which is not as well-known compared to Italian or French, the major languages at the time. However, using Swedish in the song gives the song a distinct and vernacular flavor, showing specificity to the people of Sweden and their own culture.
The songs of Bellman reflects the musical trend during the mid-eighteenth century in which Italian opera travelled north to the main continent of Europe and merged with national style. Bellman adopted operatic melody and set to his own texts. Homophonic texture and emphasis on the vocal lines over sparingly accompaniment, features related to this period, were also present in Bellman’s works. His music is very straightforward, which makes it approachable, personable and enjoyable. His songs precisely express the tones and nature of the poem of which they are based on. Unlike grandiose the typical opera works, Bellman’s music is driven by heart-felt emotion. When I listen to his song, it is as if Bellman is telling me stories of his life through guitar. The lyrics and the music really complement each other very well throughout all Bellmen’s songs in Song’s of Fredman and Epistles of Fredman.
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