Dear Mark and Vocalisters;
The original text for Solveig's Sang was written by Henrik Ibsen, Norways great dramatist (The Doll House, Hedda Gabbler, etc) He wrote in a form of Norwegian which was called "Riksmal" (language of the kingsom) also called "Bolmal" (language of books). Riksmal had been the official written Norwegian during Danish rule but by the middle of the 19th century it had begun to incorporate more and more typically Norwegian words and re-spelled many other words to denote their Norwegian pronunciation. Riksmal is one of the two official Norwegian languages and Ibsen and Bjornson were the two most famous writers to use riksmal. (from Ellingboe)
The second offical Norwegian language is called "Landsmal"(language of the land) or "Nynorsk" (new norwegian). It was introduced by Ivar Aasen, a self taught linguist. It was a compilation and standardization of the many Norwegian dialects which had descended from Old Norse among the country people. It soon become the second official language of Norway and represents the countries attempt to rid itself of its Danish and Swedish influences. Ibsen and Bjornsen were well traveled men and linguistically conservative. They ridiculed the landsmal movement and were more in favor of revising the earlier Riksmal Norwegian because it would relate more easily to the rest of the European languages.
Norwegian and Swedish are very similar in pronunciation but, to a certain extent, spelling and grammar differ between the two. Conversely, Norwegian and Danish are very similar on paper, but the sounds of these languages are further removed. (from Ellingboe)
So, the answer is not as clear as I first thought. But to say Ibsen wrote in Swedish or Danish would not be received well by many Norwegians.
As a member of the St. Olaf Choir on a tour of Norway in 1955, we had the strange experience of singing Grieg (in Riksmal) and being asked why we were singing in Dansk (Danish). They expected us to change it to Landsmal.
> > Can anyone tell me the original language? I have it in English and German. > > I would assume neither of them is the original. If you know the original, >> could you put a copy of the words here? > >I believe the original language is Swedish, though set by a Norwegian >composer (Grieg in his Peer Gynt Suite). Norwegians often used Swedish in >literature because historically it was considered more suited for the >sound element so necessary in poetry. Someone correct me if I have my >facts backwards; I'm recalling this from memory. > >Mark Montgomery > > >
-- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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