''Barefoot Songs'' ( sv, Barfotasånger, links=no) is a large

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

for voice and piano by

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

Background

The 24 songs in Swedish were composed between 1943 and 1945. At this time, Pettersson was violist at the Stockholm Concert Society. The text of the songs was written by Pettersson himself and is partly autobiographical. The main topic of the song cycle is his youth in poverty. The diatonic songs were kept simple, but the text is not easy to understand and uses a highly poetic and cryptic language. Pettersson wrote over 100 poems, but only 24 were set to music. The

Swedish Broadcasting Corporation Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

and his publisher Nordiska Musikförlaget initially refused to publish the songs. The cycle was first published in 1976. Musicologist Andreas Krause has posited that the name ''Barefoot Songs'' is a reminiscence and tribute to Schubert's ''

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...

''. "Barefoot on the ice" is a quotation from the 24th and last song '. Some songs are reminiscent of ballads or romances, folk songs or hymns and Schubert's ''Winterreise''.

Synopsis

# (Song of Lament) # (Wise Men and Clenched Hands) # (Mother is poor) # (Love errs) # (The Star and the Bars) # (Something got lost) # (Flower, Tell Me) # (Winter Song) # (The little one must wait) # (The Maiden and the Lying Wind) # (Death of a Fiddler) # (You know) # (Telling Lies) # (The Lord Walks in the Meadow) # (The Dogs on the Sea) # (Little Squabbler) # (I think of things) # (Flower at my Foot) # (The one that got away) # (My Yearning) # (Now one awaits the winter) # (The Friend in Sunday Land) # (While the Flies are Buzzing) # (He Will Extinguish My Light)

Quotations

Pettersson quoted songs from his 24 ''Barefoot Songs'' in several of his larger scale compositions. His 6th Symphony cites the song ''Han ska släcka min lykta'' (He Will Extinguish My Light), the 14th Symphony cites ''Klokar och knythänder'' (Wise Men and Clenched Hands) and Violin Concerto No. 2 cites ''Herren går på ängen'' (The Lord Walks in the Meadow).

Arrangements

Orchestration

In 1968–1969, conductor and composer Antal Doráti arranged eight of Pettersson's ''Barefoot Songs'' as full-scale orchestral songs. # (The Lord Walks in the Meadow) # (Wise Men and Clenched Hands) # (Flower, Tell Me) # (The Maiden and the Lying Wind) # (While the Flies are Buzzing) # (Telling Lies) # (My Yearning) # (Death of a Fiddler)

Suite

In 1969, conductor and composer

Eskil Hemberg Eskil Hemberg (1938–2004) was a Swedish composer and conductor. He held positions including CEO and artistic director of the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, as well as president of the International Federation for Choral Music. Life and caree ...

arranged six songs for mixed choir. # (The Lord Walks in the Meadow) # (The Friend in Sunday Land) # (Flower, Tell Me) # (Now one awaits the winter) # (Death of a Fiddler) # (Telling Lies)

Selected recordings

* Margot Rödin (mezzo-soprano),

Erik Saedén Carl Erik Sædén (3 September 1924, in Vänersborg – 3 November 2009), was a Swedish bass-baritone whose career was principally centred on Stockholm, both on the operatic stage as well as the concert platform. He made a few recordings and app ...

(baritone),

Arnold Östman Arnold Östman (born December 24, 1939) is a Swedish conductor and music director. Early life Born in Malmö, Sweden, Östman studied art history and musicology at Lund, Paris and Stockholm. As a musician, he concentrated on the piano and the ha ...

(piano) (Swedish Society Discofil LP 1974 and CD 1988) * Monica Groop (mezzo-soprano), Cord Garben (piano) (CPO CD 1998) * 8 ''Barefoot Songs'' (orchestrated Antal Doráti), Erik Saedén (baritone), Antal Doráti, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Lyssna 2LP 1974, HNH 2LP 1977) * 8 ''Barefoot Songs'' (orchestrated Antal Doráti), Anders Larsson (baritone),

Christian Lindberg Christian Lindberg (born 15 February 1958) is a Swedish trombonist, conductor and composer, Biography Early life and career Lindberg was born in Danderyd. As a youth, he learned to play the trumpet, and subsequently began to learn the trombone ...

, Nordic Chamber Orchestra (BIS CD 2009) * Suite from ''Barefoot Songs'', Margareta Dahlström (soprano),

, Stockholm University Chorus (Caprice CD 1988)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{italic title Compositions by Allan Pettersson 1945 compositions Classical song cycles Songs based on poems