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Carl Michael Bellman
Some of the previously issued CD:s with Torsten Mossberg
CDA 1818-2
To Cecilia - Swedish love songs Songs by Casserman, Taube, Söderlundh et al.
Torsten Mossberg, tenor Stina Hellberg Agback, harp Jonas Isaksson, guitar
Anders Karlqvist, piano
CDA 1834-2
About every Hill and Valley - Swedish songs, broadsides and ballads from medieval to present. Songs by Almqvist, Wennerberg, Sjöberg, Taube et al.
Torsten Mossberg, tenor Stina Hellberg Agback, harp Jonas Isaksson, guitar
Carl Michael Bellman, 1779.
Oil painting by Per Krafft the Elder (1724-1793)
the soloists at the gypsy jazz festival Gypsysphera in Moscow and a solo perfor- mance at the birthday concert to the Head of Åland’s Board of Trade Anders Wiklöf, with Bill Clinton as one of the guests. Andreas is since 2010 a member of the gypsy quartet Whatclub.
Andreas Nyberg
Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795) kräver knappast någon närmare presentation i Sverige. Han betraktas som vår kanske främste nationalpoet. Flera av hans visor lär vi oss redan i skolan; många kan dem utantill, till exempel Gubben Noak, Opp Amaryllis, Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga och Vila vid denna källa. Men det är viktigt att sätta Bellman i hans sammanhang och ta del av i vilken tid och i vilken miljö han växte upp och kom att verka. Han blev känd som underhållare, en estradör i salongerna och på krogarna i 1700-talets Stockholm. Vari ligger hemligheten i hans visor som gör att vi efter flera hundra år fortfarande sjunger dem?
Bellmans Stockholm
Det Stockholm Bellman växte upp i var en liten stad med omkring 70 000 invånare.
De flesta bodde i det vi idag kallar ”Gamla stan” eller ”Staden mellan broarna”.
Liksom idag var gränderna trånga men på den tiden var staden smutsig med avskräde överallt och en stank från vanskötta latriner. På grund av den dåliga hygienen och brist på rent vatten drabbades befolkningen ofta av farsoter och epidemier och dödligheten var bland de högsta i Europa. Tuberkulos, virusepidemier, bakteriella infektioner skördade många offer. Stora intag av alkohol likaså.
Är jag född så vill jag leva
Ett urval av Fredmans epistlar, Fredmans sånger
och ungdomsdikter
Mossberg in several songs on the double-CD with songs by Kurt Weill released in 2017, on the CD To Cecilia, with Swedish love songs (Sterling CDA 1818-2) and in 2019 About every Hill and Valley – Swedish songs, broadsides and ballads from medieval to present.
Jonas Isaksson, guitar
Jonas Isaksson is a guitarist educated at Royal College of Music in Stockholm.
Since 2005 he is also Riksspelman of clarinet. Jonas has a wide musical repertoire, but specializes in improvisational music and strives for a personal expression in the border between jazz, art music and folk music. He is currently working as a freelance musician with many big jazz bands and accompaning bands as well as smaller groups. Jonas is taken part in several CD:s with own compositions for electric guitar and harp, along with the harpist Stina Hellberg Agback. Jonas accompanies Torsten Mossberg in several songs on the CD To Cecilia from 2018 (Sterling CDA 1818-2) and on the CD About every Hill and Valley – Swedish songs, broadsides and ballads from medieval to present from 2019.
Andreas Nyberg, violin
Nyberg grew up in Åland, where, from an early age he took part in classical violin teaching and the folk musician tradition. After studying classical violin playing in Örebro and Gothenburg, among others, he has been active as a freelance violinist with appearances in Sweden and abroad. Recently there has been, among other things, tours with the Gothenburg Symphony and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany, Austria and Finland, appearance as one of Barnadödligheten var oerhört hög, sex av tio barn dog före tio års ålder. Begravnings-
tågen var en nästan daglig syn. Ute på malmarna utanför den centrala staden dök kåkstäder upp. De beboddes framför allt av arbetarna i de industrier som växte fram.
På Södermalm fanns en rad sidenväverier och andra textilfabriker. Vid Salpeters- bruket vid Rålambshov lossades latrinpråmarna. De förmögna köpmännen och borgarna hade ofta vackra gårdar med trädgårdar på malmarna, så kallade malm- gårdar. Djurgården var kunglig mark men där huserade en mängd krogar och glädjehus.
1700-talets Stockholm hade ett rikt kulturliv. Den franska kulturen var högsta mode, så också språket. Även tyska, engelska, italienska kunde höras vid Skeppsbron vilket Bellman skildrat i epistel 33. Staden var således både provinsiell och internationell.
Mycket av detta skildras i Bellmans diktning.
Bellmans liv
Bellmans farfars far, skräddaren Martin Casten Bellman flyttade 1660 till Sverige från Brementrakten i Tyskland. Han gifte sig med Barbara Klein, dotter till en annan tysk skräddare. Bellmans farfar, Johan Arndt Bellman gifte sig med Katarina Elisabet Daurer även hon av tysk familj. De fick tre barn, och yngst av dem var Carl Michaels far, Johan Arndt. Bellmans farfar var professor i vältalighet i Uppsala och var en mycket god improvisatör på cister, det lutliknande instrument som även Bellman var skicklig på. Carl Michael föddes i sin farmors fastighet, det Daurerska huset på Hornsgatspuckeln. Bellmans far, Johan Arndt d.y. (1707–1765) var ämbets- man. Han avancerade småningom till sekreterare i slottskansliet. Han gifte sig 1738 med Katarina Hermonia (1717–1765), dotter till kyrkoherden i Maria församling
Michael Hermonius, född i Dalarna och hans hustru Kristina Arosell från Västerås.
Makarna Bellman fick många barn. Carl Michael talar i sina kortfattade memoarer om 21 barnsängar, sannolikt en överdrift, men 15 är registrerade. Carl Michael var äldst.
Carl Michael Bellman föddes 4 februari 1740. Han fick en gedigen utbildning med en egen informator, Magister Claes Ludvig Ennes som framför allt undervisade Carl Michael i språk och litteratur samt i konsten att skriva dikt. Under Ennes ledning fick Bellman göra översättningar från tyska och franska.
1757 i december fick Bellman sitt första arbete som provanställd i Riksbanken. I november 1758 skrevs Bellman in på Stockholms nation vid Uppsala universitet.
Uppsalastudierna blev inte särskilt grundliga. Han återvände till banken i juni 1759 som extra ordinarie tjänsteman och stannade där i fyra år.
Under åren på banken deltog Bellman flitigt i stadens nöjesliv vilket resulterade i att han drog på sig omfattande skulder. 1763 gick han i konkurs. Därmed tog bank- karriären slut. Han flydde enligt osäkra uppgifter till Norge och anhöll därifrån om lejd och rätt att komma hem för att reda ut affärerna utan straff. Familjen kom på obestånd, fadern fick avgå från sin tjänst och huset vid Hornsgatan fick säljas.
Bellmans föräldrar flyttade till ett säteri söder om Stockholm. Båda föräldrarna dog 1765. Konkursen och föräldrarnas död tog Bellman mycket hårt.
Efter diverse relativt osäkra anställningar blev Bellman 1776 sekreterare i Nummer- lotteriet, som hade inrättats av Gustaf III 1773. Han behöll tjänsten till sin död. Han kunde också titulera sig ”Kungl. Hof-Secreterare” från och med november 1772 och tillräkna sig en kunglig pension. Bellman fick aldrig någon välbetald position i samhället men drog sig fram med hjälp av vännernas stöd.
Torsten Mossberg, tenor
Torsten is a physician, specialist in Anesthesiology and intensive care. He has studied singing with among others Ester Ruhrseitz, Eva Pilat and Björn Thulin.
He has extensive experience as a choir singer, a tenor in the Oscar Chamber Choir in Stockholm and is often engaged as a soloist. Torsten has a broad repertoire, from ballads to romances and cabaret songs, and has released several CD:s of rarely recorded songs by Swedish composers: Kosteliga ting – Precious Things with songs by Lille Bror Söderlundh (Sterling CDA 1657-2), complete songs by Allan Pettersson (Sterling CDA 1678-2) and You held me dear – Swedish Romantic Songs (Sterling CDA 1682-2), all with Anders Karlqvist at the piano. In 2017 Torsten released a double-CD with songs by Kurt Weill: A portrait – From Berlin to New York (Sterling CDA 1820/1821-2), in 2018 the CD To Cecilia, with Swedish love songs (Sterling CDA 1818-2) and in 2019 About every Hill and Valley – Swedish songs, broadsides and ballads from medieval to present (Sterling CDA 1834-2).
Stina Hellberg Agback, harp.
Stina is educated at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Berklee College of Music in Boston and Trinity College of Music and has a master’s degree in jazz playing on harp. She has, among other things performed with artists like Rebecka Törnqvist, Frida Hyvönen and Tomas Ledin, and with orchestras such as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra. Stina moves about freely between different genrers and is playing classical as well as jazz music, and she likes to improvise. She both performs as a soloist with her own programs, and in ensemble and has great experience in recordings and has released two CD:s together with the trio Trilobit. Stina is accompaning Torsten
När nu Bellman fått en någorlunda fast inkomst kunde han gifta sig. Den 19 december 1777 vigdes Carl Michael, nu 37 år, med Lovisa Grönlund, 22 år, i Klara kyrkas sakristia. Makarna Bellman fick fyra barn: Gustav 1781, Elis 1785, Karl 1787 och Adolf 1790. Elis dog redan 1787. Gustav stupade under Napoleonkrigen. Karl gick till sjöss. Adolf var musikaliskt begåvad men fick psykiska problem. Hans försök att skriva en biografi över fadern slutfördes aldrig. Lovisa överlevde sin make med 52 år. Hon dog 1847.
Bellman lagfördes 1794 för en mindre skuld som han inte kunde betala, och sattes i slottshäktet. Där fick han sitta i två och en halv månad innan vännerna lyckades få ut honom. Bellman skrev sin självbiografi, ”lefvernesbeskrivning” i arresten. Den finns bevarad men är mycket kort och sakuppgifterna sannolikt opålitliga. Tiden i arresten bröt ner Bellmans hälsa och han avled den 11 februari 1795.
Bellmans diktning
1758 utkom Bellmans första egna verk anonymt, Tankar om flickors ostadighet. Det följdes 1760 av den politiska satiren Månan, en viktig dikt med spetsiga och sam- hällskritiska kommentarer till tidens aktualiteter, som kriget i Pommern, Halleys komet och herrnhutismen.
Bellmans ungdomsdiktning omfattar sammanlagt närmare 300 dikter. Mest dryckesvisor. I en lång rad visor uppträder vinguden Bacchus i olika professioner.
Han är tiggare, friare, advokat, tunnbindare med mera. Gestalter ur Gamla Testa- mentet förekommer ofta: Adam, Eva, Kain och Abel, Abraham, Sara, Noak, Judit, Joakim i Babylon. Mest känd av dessa visor är kanske Gubben Noak, som kom ut som skillingtryck i 1767.
Jonas Isaksson, gitarr och luta
Jonas Isaksson är gitarrist utbildad vid Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm.
Sedan 2005 är han även riksspelman på klarinett. Jonas har en bred musikalisk repertoar, men är specialiserad på improvisationsmusik och strävar efter ett personligt uttryck i gränslandet mellan jazz, konstmusik och folkmusik. Han arbetar idag som frilansande musiker och ingår i flera storband och kompband men även i mindre grupper. Jonas medverkar på flera CD med egenkomponerad musik för elgitarr och harpa tillsammans med harpisten Stina Hellberg Agback.
Jonas ackompanjerar Torsten Mossberg i flertalet sånger på CD:n To Cecilia från 2018 och på CD:n Om alla berg och dalar – Svenska visor, skillingtryck och ballader från medeltid till nutid från 2019.
Andreas Nyberg, violin
Nyberg är uppvuxen på Åland, där han från tidig ålder tog del av såväl klassisk violinundervisning som den lokala spelmanstraditionen. Efter studier i klassiskt violinspel i bland annat Örebro och Göteborg är han sedan ett antal år verksam som frilansviolinist med uppdrag i Sverige och utomlands. Den senaste tiden har bland annat innehållit turnéer med Göteborgs symfoniker och Kungliga filhar- monikerna i Tyskland, Österrike och Finland, deltagande som en av solisterna vid gypsy jazz-festivalen Gypsysphera i Moskva och ett soloframträdande vid det åländska kommerserådet Anders Wiklöfs födelsedagskonsert, där Bill Clinton var en av gästerna. Andreas är sedan 2010 medlem av gypsykvartetten Whatclub.
Stina Hellberg Agback & Jonas Isaksson
I 1760-talets nöjesliv i Stockholm hade sällskapsordnarna en betydande plats som Frimurarorden, Timmermansorden med flera. Bellman var medlem i flera. Bellman uppfann en fantasiorden, Bacchi orden. För att bli medlem i denna måste man ha legat redlös i rännstenen minst två gånger. De första ordenskapitlen framfördes troligen 1766. Skalden Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna skrev i sin dagbok den 4 december 1769: ”Bellman har inrättat en orden till Bacchi ära, ……jag har ännu i all min livstid ej skrattat så mycket som ikväll”.
Riddarna i Bacchi orden, Jensen, Trundman, Glock och Lundholm med flera, var kända som flitiga krogbesökare i dåtidens Stockholm. Ordensparodin Bacchi Tempel som trycktes först 1783 men skriven långt före, är Bellmans mest omfattande tryckta arbete. Antik och kristen mytologi blandas med svenska drinkargestalter. Några av Bellmans mest sjungna visor, som till exempel Bort allt vad oro gör och Vem är som ej vår Broder minns finns med.
Bellman gav också ut religiösa dikter: Betraktelser över åtskillige evangeliska texter 1781 och Zions Högtid 1787. De religiösa samlingarna fick ett svalt mottagande och den framgång och inkomst han väntat sig uteblev.
Fredmans Epistlar och Fredmans Sånger
I Fredmans epistlar utgår Bellman från Nya Testamentet. Den nersupne, före detta hovurmakaren Jean Fredman har huvudrollen som samtidens Paulus som sänder epistlar till de trogna drinkarna på Stockholms krogar. Fredman predikar om att vi ska ta vara på ögonblicket. De tidigare epistlarna har många bibelparodiska drag.
Persongalleriet i Fredmans Epistlar är stort. De flesta har identifierats som verkliga personer i Stockholm som bland andra Fredrik Movitz, Eric Nordström och Lorenz Mollberg. Ulla Winblads förebild hette Maja Christina Kiellström-Winblad.
Torsten Mossberg, tenor
Torsten är läkare, specialist i Anestesiologi och Intensivvård. Han har studerat sång för bland andra Ester Ruhrseitz, Eva Pilat och Björn Thulin. Lång erfarenhet som körsångare, tenor i Oscars kammarkör i Stockholm och ofta anlitad som solist. Torsten har en bred repertoar – alltifrån visa till romanser och kabarésånger och har gett ut flera CD med sällan inspelade sånger av svenska tonsättare: Kosteliga ting – Precious Things med sånger av Lille Bror Söderlundh (Sterling CDA 1657-2), samtliga sånger av Allan Pettersson (Sterling CDA 1678-2) och svenska romantiska sånger: You held me dear – Swedish Romantic Songs (Sterling CDA 1682-2). Samtliga med Anders Karlqvist vid pianot. Under 2017 gav Torsten ut en dubbel-CD med sånger av Kurt Weill, A portrait – From Berlin to New York (Sterling CDA 1820/1821-2), 2018 CD:n To Cecilia med svenska kärlekssånger (Sterling CDA 1818-2) och 2019 Om alla berg och dalar – Svenska visor, skillingtryck och ballader från medeltid till nutid (Sterling CDA 1834-2).
Stina Hellberg Agback, harpa
Stina är utbildad vid Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm, Berklee College of Music i Boston och Trinity College of Music och har en magisterexamen i jazzspel på harpa.
Hon har bland annat framträtt med artister som Rebecka Törnqvist, Frida Hyvönen, Tomas Ledin och med orkestrar som Sveriges Radios symfoniorkester och Nordiska kammarorkestern. Stina rör sig fritt mellan genrer och spelar både klassiskt och jazz och improviserar gärna. Stina, som både uppträder som solist med egna program och i grupp, har stor erfarenhet av inspelningar och har tillsammans med trio Trilobit gett ut två CD och med Jonas Isaksson ytterligare en. Stina ackompanjerar Torsten Mossberg i flera sånger på dubbel-CD:n med sånger av Kurt Weill utgiven 2017, på CD:n To Cecilia med svenska kärleksånger, utgiven 2018 samt på CD:n Om alla berg och dalar – Svenska visor, skillingtryck och ballader från medeltid till nutid utgiven 2019.
Bellman planerade att samlingen skulle omfatta 100 nummer. De första femtio epistlarna tillkom på mindre än tre år, 1773 fanns 65 epistlar klara men sen gick det mera trögt. Totalt blev det 82 stycken. Redan i början på 1770-talet försökte Bellman få trycktillstånd för epistelsviten. När så småningom utgivningen efter många turer äntligen skulle bli av, ingrep censuren i form av bland andra Johan Henrik Kellgren.
Allt som kunde uppfattas som anstötligt ändrades och sviten gavs en enhetligare prägel. Rätt betydande ingrepp gjordes, bland annat blev nr 72 praktiskt taget helt omskriven. Åtskilligt ratades. Bellman skrev om och skrev nytt. Kellgren skrev ett lovordande förord. De senast tillkomna epistlarna, nummer 71, 79, 80, 81 och 82 räknas idag till de allra vackraste.
Den 16 oktober 1790 kom Fredmans Epistlar ut i Stockholm. Ett år senare kom samlingen Fredmans Sånger. Denna innehåller dryckesvisor, ordensvisor, många bibelvisor och annat, sammanlagt 65 nummer. Dessa skrevs vid sidan av övrig produktion, från tidigt 1760-tal till utgivningen av epistlarna. Sångerna avslutas med en lång dikt som avviker från det övriga innehållet, ett magnifikt versbrev till vännen och hovmannen Elis Schröderheim.
Övriga verk
Bellmans dramatiska arbeten uppgår till ett tiotal. Nämnas bör Det lyckliga skepps- brottet från 1766, Värdshuset från 1787. 1790 kom tre pjäser för hovet; Dramatiska sammankomsten, Lust-Spel den 17 juli och Caffehuset. Mantalsskrifningen kom 1791.
Nämnas kan också kantaten Fiskarstugan.
I samarbete med diktarkollegan Olof Kexél gav Bellman ut några nummer av en skämttidning, titulerad Hwad Behagas?. Den kom ut i 8 nummer under 1781. Inne- hållet i Hwad Behagas? består av dråpliga skämthistorier och parodiska biografier.
Torsten Mossberg
Bellman var även hyllningsdiktare och blev under en period under Gustaf III:s regering betraktad som hovpoet. Så småningom tog Carl Gustaf af Leopold och Johan Henrik Kellgren över den rollen. Bellman har skrivit våra första egentliga kungssånger - Gustafs skål! över statskuppen den 19 augusti 1772, och den hög- stämda Så lyser din krona nu, Kung Gustaf dubbelt dyr.
Musiken
De flesta av Bellmans melodier är danser, marscher, operaarior eller visor som var välkända i dåtidens Stockholm. Musikforskaren James Massengale konstaterar att Bellman ofta gjorde bearbetningar som tjänade hans egna syften till exempel modifieringar för att anpassa melodin till texten. Ibland eftersträvade Bellman en burlesk effekt genom att skriva en väsensfrämmande text till en välkänd melodi.
Bellman kunde inte skriva noter men var uppenbart musikalisk och skrev sannolikt flera melodier själv, som till epistel nr 25. Mycket tyder på att också musiken till epistlarna 71, 79, 80, 81 och 82 är originalkompositioner eftersom man inte lyckats hitta spår av några förlagor. Kjellgren uppger i sitt företal att de flesta epistlarna
”hafva gift sig tillsammans med förut kände Melodier; andre finnes dock, som erkänna samma Skapare med Versen, och nästan alle hafva mer eller mindre emottagit Skaldens ändringar och förbättringar”. Noterna till Fredmans epistlar och Fredmans sånger nedtecknades av Olof Åhlström inför publiceringen men i dessa saknas Bellmans egna vokala broderier.
Val av sånger på denna CD
Bellmans sånger blev omtyckta i samtiden, flera trycktes som skillingtryck. Bellman skildrar såväl högt som lågt i samhället, både vackert och fult, sjukt och friskt, kontrasterar det glada kroglivet och ordenslivet, fylla och sex, med sjukdom, åldrande
och död. Han skildrar både den vanliga människan och gudarna, den antika miljön och den svenska naturen. Allt med burleska, parodiska och ironiskt anslag. Många kunde nog känna igen sig. Jag har på denna CD försökt skildra denna mångfald.
Bland de livsbejakande har jag bland annat valt sång nr. 16 (Är jag född så vill jag leva), sång nr. 11 (Portugal, Spanien) och sång nr. 56 (När jag har en plåt att dricka);
den senare skildrar även alkoholens effekter som även finns levande beskrivna i epistel nr 23 (Ack du min moder), samt sång nr. 6 (Hör klockorna med ängsligt dån).
Den senare sången är en parentation över brännvinsbrännaren Lundholm. Döden är ofta närvarande vilket med säkerhet speglar Bellmans samtid. Drabbades man av infektion i till exempel lungor eller mag-tarmkanalen fanns inget egentligt bote- medel. Lungsoten, Tbc, skildras oerhört realistiskt i epistel nr. 30. Den tidigare nämnda sång nr 6, epistel nr. 27 (Gubben är gammal) och sång nr. 19 (Ack döden är en faslig björn) är exempel på skildringar av åldrande och död. Några mer lyriska sånger finns med här, till exempel epistel nr 36 (Ulla låg i sängen) som till en början är lyrisk/komisk. Stämningen bryts när det framgår att hon är lösaktig och fyra halta gubbar anhåller henne och sätter henne på spinnhuset. Jag har även tagit med den så kallade barnsängsepisteln nr. 43 (Värm mer öl), en berättelse om en förlossning med många ”bottnar”. Den är musikaliskt originell genom bland- ningen av taktarter som bidrar till den speciella stämningen i sången. Den mest lyriska sången på denna CD är sång nr. 32 (Träd fram du nattens gud) där Bellman blandar ett antikt mytologiskt landskap med svensk natur. I sång nr. 33 (Magistraten i Tälje) får byråkratin en känga. I den sången liknas den nye rådmannen vid en sugga, det vill säga ett fyllo.
Jag har också valt att ta med fem ungdomsdikter, flera av dem visor som inte funnits på fonogram tidigare. Redan här kan skönjas ett parodiskt, ironiskt bett i texterna.
I have also chosen to include five youth poems, several of them songs never issued before on phonogram. Already here one can notice a parodic, biting irony in the lyrics.
Stina Hellberg Agback, harp, Jonas Isaksson, guitar and lute and Andreas Nyberg, violin, have answered for the varied accompaniment. Jonas has made the careful arrangements and adaptions of the keys. Musician and technician Göran Stegborn has made sure to reflect the positive atmosphere we experienced during the recording sessions in 2019 at Grisslinge estate in the Stockholm archipelago.
Torsten Mossberg
Basis to the text:
Huldén, Lars & Nell, Jennie, Carl Michael Bellmans liv och verk. En minibiografi, www.bellman.org/html/biografi.html.
Hassler, Göran: Bellman, en antologi. En bok för alla, Litteraturfrämjandet 1989.
Burman, Carina: Bellman. Biografin. Bonniers förlag 2019.
Stina Hellberg Agback, harpa, Jonas Isaksson, gitarr och luta samt Andreas Nyberg, fiol, har stått för ett varierat ackompanjemang. Jonas står för de diskreta arrange- mangen och tonartsanpassningarna. Musikern och teknikern Göran Stegborn har sett till att spegla den positiva atmosfär vi upplevde vid inspelningarna under 2019 på Grisslinge gård i Stockholms skärgård.
Torsten Mossberg
Underlag till texten:
Huldén, Lars & Nell, Jennie, Carl Michael Bellmans liv och verk. En minibiografi, www.bellman.org/html/biografi.html.
Hassler, Göran: Bellman, en antologi. En bok för alla, Litteraturfrämjandet 1989.
Burman, Carina: Bellman. Biografin. Bonniers förlag 2019.
and sex with illness, aging and death. He depicts both ordinary people and the gods, the ancient context and the Swedish nature. Always with a burlesque, parodic and ironic touch. Probably it was recognisable for many people. I have tried to portray this diversity on this CD.
Among the life-affirming, I have chosen song No. 16 (Är jag född så vill jag leva), song No. 11 (Portugal, Spanien) and song No. 56 (När jag har en plåt att dricka);
the latter also depicts the impact of alcohol, also vividly described in epistle No.
23 (Ack du min moder), as well as song No. 6 (Hör klockorna med ängsligt dån).
The latter song is an oration to the memory of the brandy-distiller Lundholm.
Death is often present, which certainly reflects Bellman’s time. If you were affected by an infection in, for example, lungs or gastro/intestinal canal, there was no proper cure. The consumption, tuberculosis, is immensely realistic depicted in epistle No. 30. The previously mentioned No. 6, epistle No. 27 (Gubben är gammal) and song No. 19 (Ack döden är en faslig björn) are examples of depictions of aging and death. Also some more lyrical songs are included, such as epistle no. 36 (Ulla låg i sängen) which is initially lyrical/comic. This mood breaks when it is clear that she is promiscuous, and four limp chaps arrest and put her in the spinning house.
I have also included the so-called cot-epistle No. 43 (Värm mer öl), a tale of a childbirth with many “layers”. It is musically unconventional through the mixture of time signatures, contributing to the special mood of the song. The most lyrical song on this CD is song No. 32 (Träd fram du nattens gud) where Bellman mixes an ancient mythological landscape with Swedish nature. In song No. 33 (Magistraten i Tälje) the bureaucracy gets a dig. In the song, the new court judge is compared to a sow, that is a drunk.
af Leopold and Johan Henrik Kellgren took over that role. Bellman has written our first proper songs in tribute to the king – Gustafs skål! [Toast to Gustaf!] on the coup d’état on August 19, 1772, and the solemn Så lyser din krona nu, Kung Gustaf dubbelt dyr [Such are your crown now shining, King Gustaf twofold dear].
The music
Most of Bellman’s melodies are dances, marches, opera arias or songs well known in Stockholm at that time. The musicologist James Massengale notes that Bellman often did arrangements that served his own purposes, such as modifications to adapt the melody to the lyrics. Sometimes, Bellman sought a burlesque effect by writing an alien text to a well-known melody. Bellman was unable to write down notes but was obviously musical and it is likely he composed several melodies, as the one to epistle No 25. There are many indications that the music to the epistles 71, 79, 80, 81 and 82 are original compositions since there is no traces of any originals. Kjellgren states in his foreword that most epistles “amalgamated to well known melodies; others, however, can recognize the same creator as the poems, and almost everyone is given changes and improvements by the Poet”. The scores to Fredman’s epistles and Fredman’s songs were wrote down by Olof Åhlström before the publishing, however Bellman’s own vocal embroidery is missing.
Choosing songs on this CD
Bellman’s songs were popular at that time, several were printed as broadsheet.
Bellman is depicting both high and low in society, both beautifully and ugly, sick and healthy, contrasting the happy tavern life and the life in orders, drunkenness
Afrodite Apollo Arachne Astrild Bacchus Bergère Bischoff Björn Charon Chloris Cupido Cythére Eol Fontignac Fröja Fyrk Grimmen Galt, sugga
Aphrodite Apollo Arachne Astrild
Dionysus/Bacchus Bergère
Bischoff Bear Charon Chloris Cupid Cythére (Satyr) Aeolus Fontignac Freyja Fyrk Grimmen Boar, sow Kärleksgudinnan
Skaldekonstens gud Vävande kvinna i grekisk mytologi
Svenskt namn på Amor (enligt Stiernhielm) Vinguden
Herdinna Vinbål
Fordringsägare Underjordens färjkarl Herdinnenamn
Annat namn för Amor, kärleksguden
Annat namn för Venus, kärleksgudinnan
Vind-gud En vinsort
Kärleksgudinnan i nordisk mytologi
Litet mynt Känd procentare Fyllesvin
Goddess of love
God of the art of poetry Weaving woman in Greek mythology
Swedish name of Amor God of wine
Sheperdess
A kind of bowl of wine Creditor
Ferryman of the Underworld/
Hades
Name of a sheperdess
Other name of Amor, God of love
Other name for Venus, Godess of love
God of wind A sort of wine
God of love in Norse Mythology Small coins
A wellknown usurer A drunk
Ordförklaringar till några av de ord och begrepp som förekommer i Bellmans texter Word list to some of the words and expressions occuring in Bellman’s texts.
offensive was changed and the suite was given a more uniform character. Quite significant changes were made, for instance, No. 72 was practically completely rewritten. A good deal were rejected. Bellman re-wrote and wrote new. Kellgren wrote a praising foreword. The last epistles, No. 71, 79, 80, 81 and 82 rank today among the most beautiful.
On October 16, 1790 Fredmans Epistlar was issued in Stockholm. A year later the collection Fredmans Sånger was published. It contains drinking songs, order songs, many Bible songs and other, in all 65 items. These were written alongside his other production, from the early 1760s right up to the publication of the epistles. The songs conclude with a long poem differently from the other, a magnificent letter in verse to the friend and courtier Elis Schröderheim.
Other works
Bellman’s dramatic work amounts to around ten. One could mention Det lyckliga skeppsbrottet [The Happy Shipwreck] from 1766, Värdshuset [The Tavern] from 1787. In 1790 three plays for the court were written; Dramatiska sammankomsten, Lust-Spel [The Dramatical Gathering, Comedy] on 17 July and Caffehuset [The Coffee House]. Mantalsskrifningen [The Residential Registration] in 1791. Also the cantata Fiskarstugan [The Fisherman’s Cottage] could be mentioned.
In collaboration with his fellow-poet Olof Kexél, Bellman published some issues of a comic magazine, titled Hwad Behagas? [What pleases you?]. There were eight numbers in 1781. The content of Hwad Behagas? consists of hilarious joke stories and parodic biographies. Bellman was also a complimentary poet and was for a period during Gustaf III’s reign regarded as a court poet. Later on Carl Gustaf
Iris Knaster Konfonium Kvestion Majshus Marod Mars, Martis Morfeus Neptun Nymf Paphos Palt Pan
Pontak / Pontac
Rack Salopp Triton Venus Vesta Vestaler Vulcan / Vulcanus
Herdinnenamn Tobak
Harts för stråke Rättslig utredning Bordell
Kanalje Krigsguden Sömnens gud Havsguden
Naturväsen, här ofta glädjeflicka
Ort på Cypern med Afroditekult
Sedlighetspolis Herdeguden
Rödvin från Pontacq.
I 1700-talets Sverige ett ord för rödvin i största allmänhet.
Arrack
Ärmlös kappa Vattengud Kärleksgudinnan
Husliga härdens gudinna Kyska jungfrur i Vestas tempel, Rom
Eldens och smideskonstens gud
Iris Baccy
Maraud Mars Morpheus Neptune Nymph Paphos Palt Pan
Pontacq / Pontac
Rack Cloak Triton Venus Vesta Vestals Vulcan
Name of a sherpedess Tobacco
Resin for a bow Judicial inquiry Brothel
Rascal God of war God of sleep
God of sea and water
Elemental being, in this case a prostitute
Place in Cyprus with an Aphrodite cult
Vice squad God of shepherd
Red wine from Pontacq.
In 18th Century Sweden a general term for red wine.
Arrack
Sleeveless coat God of the sea Goddess of love
Goddess of hearth and home Chaste virgins in Vestas temple in Rome
God of fire and smithwork
The parody of an order, Bacchi Temple, not printed until 1783 but written much earlier, is Bellman’s most extensive printed work. Ancient and Christian mythology are mixed with Swedish drinking figures. Some of Bellman’s most singed poems, such as Bort allt vad oro gör and Vem är som ej vår Broder minns, are included.
Bellman also published religious poems: Betraktelser över åtskillige evangeliska texter [Discourses on several evangelical texts] in 1781 and Zions Högtid [Zion’s Feast]
in 1787. The religious collections were unfavourable received and the expected success and income never occured.
Fredman’s Epistles and Fredman’s Songs
In Fredman’s Epistles, Bellman uses the New Testament as a basis. The drunkard, former royal watchmaker Jean Fredman has the leading role as a kind of a contem- porary St. Paul sending epistles to the persistent drinkers at Stockholm’s taverns.
Fredman preaches that we should make the most of the moment. The early epistles have many traits of paroding the Bible. The personage in Fredman’s Epistlar is large. Most of them have been identified as real people in Stockholm, such as Fredrik Movitz, Eric Nordström and Lorenz Mollberg. The role model of Ulla Winblad was Maja Christina Kiellström-Winblad.
Bellman planned the collection to comprise 100 items. The first fifty epistles were written in less than three years; in 1773 65 epistles were finished but later on the process slowed down. In total, it became 82 pieces. Already in the beginning of the 1770s, Bellman tried to get permission to print the suite of the epistles. At last, after many turnabouts, when the publishing were to take place, the censors, among them Johan Henrik Kellgren, intervened. Everything that could be perceived as In Sweden Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795) hardly requires any closer presen-
tation. He is regarded as Sweden’s perhaps foremost national poet. Already at school we learn several of his songs, many of them knowing by heart, such as Gubben Noak, Opp Amaryllis, Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga and Vila vid denna källa. But it is important to put Bellman in his context and understand the time and the kind of environment where he grew up and came to operate. He became known as an entertainer in the salons and in the taverns in 18th century Stockholm.
Where lies the secrets in his songs which make us after several hundred years still sing them?
Bellman’s Stockholm
The city of Stockholm when Bellman grew up, was a small town with about 70 000 inhabitants. Most of them lived in what today is called “Old Town” or
“The city between the bridges”. As today, the alleys were cramped, but at the time the city was dirty with waste and rubbish everywhere and a stench from neglected latrines. Due to poor hygiene and lack of clean water, the population often suffered plagues and epidemics and mortality was among the highest in Europe.
Am I born , then I ' ll be living
A selection of Fredman's Epistles, Fredman's Songs
and early poems
Bellman’s poetry
In 1758, Bellman’s first work of his own was published anonymously, Tankar om flickors ostadighet [Thoughts about girls’ inconstancy]. It was followed in 1760 by the political satire Månan [The Moon], an important poem adopting a critical attitude towards society and sharp commentary on the topics of the day, such as the war in Pomerania, Halley’s comet and the Moravian church (Unitas Fratrum).
Bellman’s poetry of his youth comprises a total of nearly 300 poems. Mostly drinking songs. In many songs, the God of wine Bacchus appears in different professions. He appears as a beggar, a suitor, a lawyer, a cooper, etc. Figures from the Old Testament often appear: Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Judith, Joacim in Babylonia. Perhaps most famous of these songs is Gubben Noak, which was printed as a broadside in 1767.
Of the public amusements of the 1760s in Stockholm, the social orders held a significant position, such as the Masonic Order, Timmermansorden and others.
Bellman was a member of several. Bellman invented a fantasy order, Bacchi Orden [Bacchus Order]. To become a member of this, you must have been lying blind drunk in the gutter at least twice. The first order was probably performed in 1766. The poet Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna wrote in his diary on 4 December 1769:
“Bellman has set up an order in Bacchus’ honour, ... In all my life I haven’t laughed as much as tonight.”
The knights of the Bacchus Order: Jensen, Trundman, Glock, Lundholm and others, were known as frequent visitors of the taverns in Stockholm at the time.
Tuberculosis, viral epidemics, bacterial infections claimed many victims. Heavy drinking as well. Child mortality was extremely high, six out of ten children died before the age of ten. The funeral processions were an almost daily sight. Out on the gravel ridges outside the central city, shanty towns appeared. It was mainly workers in the expanding factories who lived there. On Södermalm there were a number of silk weaving mills and other textile factories. At the salpeter factory at Rålambshov, the barges with latrine were unloaded. The wealthy merchants and the bourgeois often owned beautiful estates with gardens on the gravel ridges, so called malmgårdar (litteraly: estates built on the gravel ridges). The island of Djurgården was a royal property, but a lot of taverns and brothels were situated there.
18th century Stockholm showed a rich cultural life. French culture was in highest fashion, as well as the language. As Bellman depicted in epistle 33, also German, English and Italian could be heard at the harbour Skeppsbron. Consequently, the city was both provincial and international. Much of this is depicted in Bellman’s poetry.
Bellman’s life
Bellman’s great-grandfather, tailor Martin Casten Bellman, moved to Sweden from the Bremen area of Germany in 1660. He married Barbara Klein, daughter of another German tailor. Bellman’s grandfather, Johan Arndt Bellman, married Katarina Elisabet Daurer, also decended from a German family. They got three children, and the youngest was Carl Michael’s father, Johan Arndt. Bellman’s grandfather was a professor of oratory in Uppsala and was a very good improviser
on cister, an instrument similiar to a lute, also skilfully played by Bellman too.
Carl Michael was born in his grandmother’s property, the house of Daurer, on the top of the street Hornsgatan. Bellman’s father, Johan Arndt the Younger (1707–1765) was a public official. He eventually advanced to secretary at the office of the Royal palace. In 1738 he married Katarina Hermonia (1717–1765), daughter of the vicar of the parish of St. Mary, Michael Hermonius, born in Dalecarlia, and his wife Kristina Arosell from Västerås. The couple got many children. In his brief memoirs Carl Michael tells about 21 childbirth, probably an exaggeration, but 15 are officially registered. Carl Michael was the oldest.
Carl Michael Bellman was born on February 4, 1740. He received a solid education with a private tutor, Schoolmaster Claes Ludvig Ennes who mainly taught Carl Michael in languages and literature as well as the art of writing poems. Under Enne’s supervision, Bellman was tasked to make translations from German and French.
In December 1757, Bellman was employed as a trainee at Riksbanken [The National Bank]. In November 1758, Bellman was registered at the Stockholm nation at the University of Uppsala. The studies in Uppsala were not very profound. He returned to the bank in June 1759 as a regularly employed clerk and stayed there for four years.
During the years at the bank, Bellman enjoyed a hectic life of pleasure, which brought him extensive debts. In 1763, he went bankrupt. That was the end of his banking career. According to uncertain sources, he fled to Norway, from where he requested for the possibility to return without a plea, making it possible to settle his business. The family went into insolvency, the father had to resign from
his post and the house at Hornsgatan had to be sold. Bellman’s parents moved to a manor south of Stockholm. Both parents died in 1765. The bankruptcy and the death of his parents were heavy blows to Bellman.
After varying odd jobs, Bellman in 1776 became secretary of Nummerlotteriet, a government owned lottery founded by king Gustaf III in 1773. He kept this position until his death. From November 1772 he also could use the title of Kungl. Hof-Secreterers [Secretary of the court] count in a royal pension. Bellman never reached any well-paid position in society but was scarcely backed up by his friends.
At this time, when Bellman at last had a fairly regular income, he was able to marry. On December 19, 1777, Carl Michael, now aged 37, married to Lovisa Grönlund, 22, in the sacristy of St. Clare Church. The couple got four children:
Gustav 1781, Elis 1785, Karl 1787 and Adolf in 1790. Elis died already in 1787.
Gustav was killed during the Napoleonic Wars. Karl became a sailor. Adolf was musically gifted but suffered from mental illness. His attempt to write a biography of the father was never completed. Lovisa survived her husband with 52 years.
She died in 1847.
In 1794 Bellman was prosecuted for a minor debt he was unable to pay and was put in the custody of the royal palace. After two and a half months, his friends at last managed to get him out. In the custody Bellman wrote his autobiography, lefvernesbeskrivning [description of life]. It is preserved but very brief and the facts are probably unreliable. The stay in the custody deteriorated Bellman’s health and he died on February 11, 1795.
on cister, an instrument similiar to a lute, also skilfully played by Bellman too.
Carl Michael was born in his grandmother’s property, the house of Daurer, on the top of the street Hornsgatan. Bellman’s father, Johan Arndt the Younger (1707–1765) was a public official. He eventually advanced to secretary at the office of the Royal palace. In 1738 he married Katarina Hermonia (1717–1765), daughter of the vicar of the parish of St. Mary, Michael Hermonius, born in Dalecarlia, and his wife Kristina Arosell from Västerås. The couple got many children. In his brief memoirs Carl Michael tells about 21 childbirth, probably an exaggeration, but 15 are officially registered. Carl Michael was the oldest.
Carl Michael Bellman was born on February 4, 1740. He received a solid education with a private tutor, Schoolmaster Claes Ludvig Ennes who mainly taught Carl Michael in languages and literature as well as the art of writing poems. Under Enne’s supervision, Bellman was tasked to make translations from German and French.
In December 1757, Bellman was employed as a trainee at Riksbanken [The National Bank]. In November 1758, Bellman was registered at the Stockholm nation at the University of Uppsala. The studies in Uppsala were not very profound. He returned to the bank in June 1759 as a regularly employed clerk and stayed there for four years.
During the years at the bank, Bellman enjoyed a hectic life of pleasure, which brought him extensive debts. In 1763, he went bankrupt. That was the end of his banking career. According to uncertain sources, he fled to Norway, from where he requested for the possibility to return without a plea, making it possible to settle his business. The family went into insolvency, the father had to resign from
his post and the house at Hornsgatan had to be sold. Bellman’s parents moved to a manor south of Stockholm. Both parents died in 1765. The bankruptcy and the death of his parents were heavy blows to Bellman.
After varying odd jobs, Bellman in 1776 became secretary of Nummerlotteriet, a government owned lottery founded by king Gustaf III in 1773. He kept this position until his death. From November 1772 he also could use the title of Kungl. Hof-Secreterers [Secretary of the court] count in a royal pension. Bellman never reached any well-paid position in society but was scarcely backed up by his friends.
At this time, when Bellman at last had a fairly regular income, he was able to marry. On December 19, 1777, Carl Michael, now aged 37, married to Lovisa Grönlund, 22, in the sacristy of St. Clare Church. The couple got four children:
Gustav 1781, Elis 1785, Karl 1787 and Adolf in 1790. Elis died already in 1787.
Gustav was killed during the Napoleonic Wars. Karl became a sailor. Adolf was musically gifted but suffered from mental illness. His attempt to write a biography of the father was never completed. Lovisa survived her husband with 52 years.
She died in 1847.
In 1794 Bellman was prosecuted for a minor debt he was unable to pay and was put in the custody of the royal palace. After two and a half months, his friends at last managed to get him out. In the custody Bellman wrote his autobiography, lefvernesbeskrivning [description of life]. It is preserved but very brief and the facts are probably unreliable. The stay in the custody deteriorated Bellman’s health and he died on February 11, 1795.
Bellman’s poetry
In 1758, Bellman’s first work of his own was published anonymously, Tankar om flickors ostadighet [Thoughts about girls’ inconstancy]. It was followed in 1760 by the political satire Månan [The Moon], an important poem adopting a critical attitude towards society and sharp commentary on the topics of the day, such as the war in Pomerania, Halley’s comet and the Moravian church (Unitas Fratrum).
Bellman’s poetry of his youth comprises a total of nearly 300 poems. Mostly drinking songs. In many songs, the God of wine Bacchus appears in different professions. He appears as a beggar, a suitor, a lawyer, a cooper, etc. Figures from the Old Testament often appear: Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Judith, Joacim in Babylonia. Perhaps most famous of these songs is Gubben Noak, which was printed as a broadside in 1767.
Of the public amusements of the 1760s in Stockholm, the social orders held a significant position, such as the Masonic Order, Timmermansorden and others.
Bellman was a member of several. Bellman invented a fantasy order, Bacchi Orden [Bacchus Order]. To become a member of this, you must have been lying blind drunk in the gutter at least twice. The first order was probably performed in 1766. The poet Johan Gabriel Oxenstierna wrote in his diary on 4 December 1769:
“Bellman has set up an order in Bacchus’ honour, ... In all my life I haven’t laughed as much as tonight.”
The knights of the Bacchus Order: Jensen, Trundman, Glock, Lundholm and others, were known as frequent visitors of the taverns in Stockholm at the time.
Tuberculosis, viral epidemics, bacterial infections claimed many victims. Heavy drinking as well. Child mortality was extremely high, six out of ten children died before the age of ten. The funeral processions were an almost daily sight. Out on the gravel ridges outside the central city, shanty towns appeared. It was mainly workers in the expanding factories who lived there. On Södermalm there were a number of silk weaving mills and other textile factories. At the salpeter factory at Rålambshov, the barges with latrine were unloaded. The wealthy merchants and the bourgeois often owned beautiful estates with gardens on the gravel ridges, so called malmgårdar (litteraly: estates built on the gravel ridges). The island of Djurgården was a royal property, but a lot of taverns and brothels were situated there.
18th century Stockholm showed a rich cultural life. French culture was in highest fashion, as well as the language. As Bellman depicted in epistle 33, also German, English and Italian could be heard at the harbour Skeppsbron. Consequently, the city was both provincial and international. Much of this is depicted in Bellman’s poetry.
Bellman’s life
Bellman’s great-grandfather, tailor Martin Casten Bellman, moved to Sweden from the Bremen area of Germany in 1660. He married Barbara Klein, daughter of another German tailor. Bellman’s grandfather, Johan Arndt Bellman, married Katarina Elisabet Daurer, also decended from a German family. They got three children, and the youngest was Carl Michael’s father, Johan Arndt. Bellman’s grandfather was a professor of oratory in Uppsala and was a very good improviser
The parody of an order, Bacchi Temple, not printed until 1783 but written much earlier, is Bellman’s most extensive printed work. Ancient and Christian mythology are mixed with Swedish drinking figures. Some of Bellman’s most singed poems, such as Bort allt vad oro gör and Vem är som ej vår Broder minns, are included.
Bellman also published religious poems: Betraktelser över åtskillige evangeliska texter [Discourses on several evangelical texts] in 1781 and Zions Högtid [Zion’s Feast]
in 1787. The religious collections were unfavourable received and the expected success and income never occured.
Fredman’s Epistles and Fredman’s Songs
In Fredman’s Epistles, Bellman uses the New Testament as a basis. The drunkard, former royal watchmaker Jean Fredman has the leading role as a kind of a contem- porary St. Paul sending epistles to the persistent drinkers at Stockholm’s taverns.
Fredman preaches that we should make the most of the moment. The early epistles have many traits of paroding the Bible. The personage in Fredman’s Epistlar is large. Most of them have been identified as real people in Stockholm, such as Fredrik Movitz, Eric Nordström and Lorenz Mollberg. The role model of Ulla Winblad was Maja Christina Kiellström-Winblad.
Bellman planned the collection to comprise 100 items. The first fifty epistles were written in less than three years; in 1773 65 epistles were finished but later on the process slowed down. In total, it became 82 pieces. Already in the beginning of the 1770s, Bellman tried to get permission to print the suite of the epistles. At last, after many turnabouts, when the publishing were to take place, the censors, among them Johan Henrik Kellgren, intervened. Everything that could be perceived as In Sweden Carl Michael Bellman (1740–1795) hardly requires any closer presen-
tation. He is regarded as Sweden’s perhaps foremost national poet. Already at school we learn several of his songs, many of them knowing by heart, such as Gubben Noak, Opp Amaryllis, Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga and Vila vid denna källa. But it is important to put Bellman in his context and understand the time and the kind of environment where he grew up and came to operate. He became known as an entertainer in the salons and in the taverns in 18th century Stockholm.
Where lies the secrets in his songs which make us after several hundred years still sing them?
Bellman’s Stockholm
The city of Stockholm when Bellman grew up, was a small town with about 70 000 inhabitants. Most of them lived in what today is called “Old Town” or
“The city between the bridges”. As today, the alleys were cramped, but at the time the city was dirty with waste and rubbish everywhere and a stench from neglected latrines. Due to poor hygiene and lack of clean water, the population often suffered plagues and epidemics and mortality was among the highest in Europe.
Am I born , then I ' ll be living
A selection of Fredman's Epistles, Fredman's Songs
and early poems
offensive was changed and the suite was given a more uniform character. Quite significant changes were made, for instance, No. 72 was practically completely rewritten. A good deal were rejected. Bellman re-wrote and wrote new. Kellgren wrote a praising foreword. The last epistles, No. 71, 79, 80, 81 and 82 rank today among the most beautiful.
On October 16, 1790 Fredmans Epistlar was issued in Stockholm. A year later the collection Fredmans Sånger was published. It contains drinking songs, order songs, many Bible songs and other, in all 65 items. These were written alongside his other production, from the early 1760s right up to the publication of the epistles. The songs conclude with a long poem differently from the other, a magnificent letter in verse to the friend and courtier Elis Schröderheim.
Other works
Bellman’s dramatic work amounts to around ten. One could mention Det lyckliga skeppsbrottet [The Happy Shipwreck] from 1766, Värdshuset [The Tavern] from 1787. In 1790 three plays for the court were written; Dramatiska sammankomsten, Lust-Spel [The Dramatical Gathering, Comedy] on 17 July and Caffehuset [The Coffee House]. Mantalsskrifningen [The Residential Registration] in 1791. Also the cantata Fiskarstugan [The Fisherman’s Cottage] could be mentioned.
In collaboration with his fellow-poet Olof Kexél, Bellman published some issues of a comic magazine, titled Hwad Behagas? [What pleases you?]. There were eight numbers in 1781. The content of Hwad Behagas? consists of hilarious joke stories and parodic biographies. Bellman was also a complimentary poet and was for a period during Gustaf III’s reign regarded as a court poet. Later on Carl Gustaf
Iris Knaster Konfonium Kvestion Majshus Marod Mars, Martis Morfeus Neptun Nymf Paphos Palt Pan
Pontak / Pontac
Rack Salopp Triton Venus Vesta Vestaler Vulcan / Vulcanus
Herdinnenamn Tobak
Harts för stråke Rättslig utredning Bordell
Kanalje Krigsguden Sömnens gud Havsguden
Naturväsen, här ofta glädjeflicka
Ort på Cypern med Afroditekult
Sedlighetspolis Herdeguden
Rödvin från Pontacq.
I 1700-talets Sverige ett ord för rödvin i största allmänhet.
Arrack
Ärmlös kappa Vattengud Kärleksgudinnan
Husliga härdens gudinna Kyska jungfrur i Vestas tempel, Rom
Eldens och smideskonstens gud
Iris Baccy
Maraud Mars Morpheus Neptune Nymph Paphos Palt Pan
Pontacq / Pontac
Rack Cloak Triton Venus Vesta Vestals Vulcan
Name of a sherpedess Tobacco
Resin for a bow Judicial inquiry Brothel
Rascal God of war God of sleep
God of sea and water
Elemental being, in this case a prostitute
Place in Cyprus with an Aphrodite cult
Vice squad God of shepherd
Red wine from Pontacq. In 18th Century Sweden a general term for red wine. Arrack
Sleeveless coat God of the sea Goddess of love
Goddess of hearth and home Chaste virgins in Vestas temple in Rome
God of fire and smithwork
af Leopold and Johan Henrik Kellgren took over that role. Bellman has written our first proper songs in tribute to the king – Gustafs skål! [Toast to Gustaf!] on the coup d’état on August 19, 1772, and the solemn Så lyser din krona nu, Kung Gustaf dubbelt dyr [Such are your crown now shining, King Gustaf twofold dear].
The music
Most of Bellman’s melodies are dances, marches, opera arias or songs well known in Stockholm at that time. The musicologist James Massengale notes that Bellman often did arrangements that served his own purposes, such as modifications to adapt the melody to the lyrics. Sometimes, Bellman sought a burlesque effect by writing an alien text to a well-known melody. Bellman was unable to write down notes but was obviously musical and it is likely he composed several melodies, as the one to epistle No 25. There are many indications that the music to the epistles 71, 79, 80, 81 and 82 are original compositions since there is no traces of any originals. Kjellgren states in his foreword that most epistles “amalgamated to well known melodies; others, however, can recognize the same creator as the poems, and almost everyone is given changes and improvements by the Poet”. The scores to Fredman’s epistles and Fredman’s songs were wrote down by Olof Åhlström before the publishing, however Bellman’s own vocal embroidery is missing.
Choosing songs on this CD
Bellman’s songs were popular at that time, several were printed as broadsheet.
Bellman is depicting both high and low in society, both beautifully and ugly, sick and healthy, contrasting the happy tavern life and the life in orders, drunkenness
Afrodite Apollo Arachne Astrild Bacchus Bergère Bischoff Björn Charon Chloris Cupido Cythére Eol Fontignac Fröja Fyrk Grimmen Galt, sugga
Aphrodite Apollo Arachne Astrild
Dionysus/Bacchus Bergère
Bischoff Bear Charon Chloris Cupid Cythére (Satyr) Aeolus Fontignac Freyja Fyrk Grimmen Boar, sow Kärleksgudinnan
Skaldekonstens gud Vävande kvinna i grekisk mytologi
Svenskt namn på Amor (enligt Stiernhielm) Vinguden
Herdinna Vinbål
Fordringsägare Underjordens färjkarl Herdinnenamn
Annat namn för Amor, kärleksguden
Annat namn för Venus, kärleksgudinnan
Vind-gud En vinsort
Kärleksgudinnan i nordisk mytologi
Litet mynt Känd procentare Fyllesvin
Goddess of love
God of the art of poetry Weaving woman in Greek mythology
Swedish name of Amor God of wine
Sheperdess
A kind of bowl of wine Creditor
Ferryman of the Underworld/
Hades
Name of a sheperdess
Other name of Amor, God of love
Other name for Venus, Godess of love
God of wind A sort of wine
God of love in Norse Mythology Small coins
A wellknown usurer A drunk
Ordförklaringar till några av de ord och begrepp som förekommer i Bellmans texter Word list to some of the words and expressions occuring in Bellman’s texts.
Stina Hellberg Agback, harpa, Jonas Isaksson, gitarr och luta samt Andreas Nyberg, fiol, har stått för ett varierat ackompanjemang. Jonas står för de diskreta arrange- mangen och tonartsanpassningarna. Musikern och teknikern Göran Stegborn har sett till att spegla den positiva atmosfär vi upplevde vid inspelningarna under 2019 på Grisslinge gård i Stockholms skärgård.
Torsten Mossberg
Underlag till texten:
Huldén, Lars & Nell, Jennie, Carl Michael Bellmans liv och verk. En minibiografi, www.bellman.org/html/biografi.html.
Hassler, Göran: Bellman, en antologi. En bok för alla, Litteraturfrämjandet 1989.
Burman, Carina: Bellman. Biografin. Bonniers förlag 2019.
and sex with illness, aging and death. He depicts both ordinary people and the gods, the ancient context and the Swedish nature. Always with a burlesque, parodic and ironic touch. Probably it was recognisable for many people. I have tried to portray this diversity on this CD.
Among the life-affirming, I have chosen song No. 16 (Är jag född så vill jag leva), song No. 11 (Portugal, Spanien) and song No. 56 (När jag har en plåt att dricka);
the latter also depicts the impact of alcohol, also vividly described in epistle No.
23 (Ack du min moder), as well as song No. 6 (Hör klockorna med ängsligt dån).
The latter song is an oration to the memory of the brandy-distiller Lundholm.
Death is often present, which certainly reflects Bellman’s time. If you were affected by an infection in, for example, lungs or gastro/intestinal canal, there was no proper cure. The consumption, tuberculosis, is immensely realistic depicted in epistle No. 30. The previously mentioned No. 6, epistle No. 27 (Gubben är gammal) and song No. 19 (Ack döden är en faslig björn) are examples of depictions of aging and death. Also some more lyrical songs are included, such as epistle no. 36 (Ulla låg i sängen) which is initially lyrical/comic. This mood breaks when it is clear that she is promiscuous, and four limp chaps arrest and put her in the spinning house.
I have also included the so-called cot-epistle No. 43 (Värm mer öl), a tale of a childbirth with many “layers”. It is musically unconventional through the mixture of time signatures, contributing to the special mood of the song. The most lyrical song on this CD is song No. 32 (Träd fram du nattens gud) where Bellman mixes an ancient mythological landscape with Swedish nature. In song No. 33 (Magistraten i Tälje) the bureaucracy gets a dig. In the song, the new court judge is compared to a sow, that is a drunk.
och död. Han skildrar både den vanliga människan och gudarna, den antika miljön och den svenska naturen. Allt med burleska, parodiska och ironiskt anslag. Många kunde nog känna igen sig. Jag har på denna CD försökt skildra denna mångfald.
Bland de livsbejakande har jag bland annat valt sång nr. 16 (Är jag född så vill jag leva), sång nr. 11 (Portugal, Spanien) och sång nr. 56 (När jag har en plåt att dricka);
den senare skildrar även alkoholens effekter som även finns levande beskrivna i epistel nr 23 (Ack du min moder), samt sång nr. 6 (Hör klockorna med ängsligt dån).
Den senare sången är en parentation över brännvinsbrännaren Lundholm. Döden är ofta närvarande vilket med säkerhet speglar Bellmans samtid. Drabbades man av infektion i till exempel lungor eller mag-tarmkanalen fanns inget egentligt bote- medel. Lungsoten, Tbc, skildras oerhört realistiskt i epistel nr. 30. Den tidigare nämnda sång nr 6, epistel nr. 27 (Gubben är gammal) och sång nr. 19 (Ack döden är en faslig björn) är exempel på skildringar av åldrande och död. Några mer lyriska sånger finns med här, till exempel epistel nr 36 (Ulla låg i sängen) som till en början är lyrisk/komisk. Stämningen bryts när det framgår att hon är lösaktig och fyra halta gubbar anhåller henne och sätter henne på spinnhuset. Jag har även tagit med den så kallade barnsängsepisteln nr. 43 (Värm mer öl), en berättelse om en förlossning med många ”bottnar”. Den är musikaliskt originell genom bland- ningen av taktarter som bidrar till den speciella stämningen i sången. Den mest lyriska sången på denna CD är sång nr. 32 (Träd fram du nattens gud) där Bellman blandar ett antikt mytologiskt landskap med svensk natur. I sång nr. 33 (Magistraten i Tälje) får byråkratin en känga. I den sången liknas den nye rådmannen vid en sugga, det vill säga ett fyllo.
Jag har också valt att ta med fem ungdomsdikter, flera av dem visor som inte funnits på fonogram tidigare. Redan här kan skönjas ett parodiskt, ironiskt bett i texterna.
I have also chosen to include five youth poems, several of them songs never issued before on phonogram. Already here one can notice a parodic, biting irony in the lyrics.
Stina Hellberg Agback, harp, Jonas Isaksson, guitar and lute and Andreas Nyberg, violin, have answered for the varied accompaniment. Jonas has made the careful arrangements and adaptions of the keys. Musician and technician Göran Stegborn has made sure to reflect the positive atmosphere we experienced during the recording sessions in 2019 at Grisslinge estate in the Stockholm archipelago.
Torsten Mossberg
Basis to the text:
Huldén, Lars & Nell, Jennie, Carl Michael Bellmans liv och verk. En minibiografi, www.bellman.org/html/biografi.html.
Hassler, Göran: Bellman, en antologi. En bok för alla, Litteraturfrämjandet 1989.
Burman, Carina: Bellman. Biografin. Bonniers förlag 2019.
Torsten Mossberg
Bellman var även hyllningsdiktare och blev under en period under Gustaf III:s regering betraktad som hovpoet. Så småningom tog Carl Gustaf af Leopold och Johan Henrik Kellgren över den rollen. Bellman har skrivit våra första egentliga kungssånger - Gustafs skål! över statskuppen den 19 augusti 1772, och den hög- stämda Så lyser din krona nu, Kung Gustaf dubbelt dyr.
Musiken
De flesta av Bellmans melodier är danser, marscher, operaarior eller visor som var välkända i dåtidens Stockholm. Musikforskaren James Massengale konstaterar att Bellman ofta gjorde bearbetningar som tjänade hans egna syften till exempel modifieringar för att anpassa melodin till texten. Ibland eftersträvade Bellman en burlesk effekt genom att skriva en väsensfrämmande text till en välkänd melodi.
Bellman kunde inte skriva noter men var uppenbart musikalisk och skrev sannolikt flera melodier själv, som till epistel nr 25. Mycket tyder på att också musiken till epistlarna 71, 79, 80, 81 och 82 är originalkompositioner eftersom man inte lyckats hitta spår av några förlagor. Kjellgren uppger i sitt företal att de flesta epistlarna
”hafva gift sig tillsammans med förut kände Melodier; andre finnes dock, som erkänna samma Skapare med Versen, och nästan alle hafva mer eller mindre emottagit Skaldens ändringar och förbättringar”. Noterna till Fredmans epistlar och Fredmans sånger nedtecknades av Olof Åhlström inför publiceringen men i dessa saknas Bellmans egna vokala broderier.
Val av sånger på denna CD
Bellmans sånger blev omtyckta i samtiden, flera trycktes som skillingtryck. Bellman skildrar såväl högt som lågt i samhället, både vackert och fult, sjukt och friskt, kontrasterar det glada kroglivet och ordenslivet, fylla och sex, med sjukdom, åldrande
