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music.
527
The Royal Opera, Stockholm
Swedish music first experienced a national tendency at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Swedish composers certainly acquired — as before that time
and ever since — an impress from the productions by the great masters in the
world of music. But even in this sphere it holds good on the one hand that
"all culture is after all acquired, but barbarism was once native to the soil". On
the other hand, the native art of music has more and more given expression
to the character of the country and its people, and has also utilized the
folksongs by imitating them or employing them as a foundation on which to rear
a more artistic musical fabrik. This commenced particularly in the province
of ballads and men’s quartettes. This is discernible as early as J. E.
Nordblom (1788—1848), it is conspicuous in Erik Gustav Geijer (1783—1847)
and Adolf Fredrik Lindblad (1801—78). Both of the latter composed
chamber music (Lindblad also two symphonies and an opera), and both wrote
chiefly vocal solos. Geijer, a university professor, historian, politician, and
poet, could only apply himself to music in his leisure hours, between periods
of onerous duties. Lindblad, called "the Schubert of Sweden", preferred to
embody Swedish scenery and folk life in his great production of songs, which
were chiefly written to his own poems. J. A. Josephson, too, (1818—80), in
addition to a symphony, cantatas, choral works, etc., principally wrote
part-songs and glees for men’s voices ("Our Country", "In praise of Ring", "Bright
twinkling Stars", etc.) which are still much sung. The foremost
representatives of choirs and quartettes for men, in the first phase of the past
century, were Otto Lindblad (1809—64) and Gunnar Wennerberg (1817—1901).
The latter, who also set the Psalms of David to music and wrote long
sacre chorales, gained great popularity not only with his national hymns and
choral work for men, but also with "Gluntarne" a cycle of poetical duets skil-
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