"Draumkvedet" ("The Dream Poem"; NMB 54,

TSB Banking A trustee savings bank is a type of financial institution. * In the United Kingdom: ** Trustee Savings Bank, a bank in the United Kingdom that merged with Lloyds Bank in 1995 to form Lloyds TSB until 2013 ** Lloyds TSB, the name used by ...

B 31) is a Norwegian visionary poem, probably dated from the late

medieval age In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...

.Knut Liestøl: "Draumkvedet. A Visionary Poem from the Middle Ages", ''Studia Norvegica 3, 1946''"The Dream Lay"
– ''Listen to Norway, Vol.9 - 2001 No. 1'' (Retrieved on February 18, 2008) It is one of the best known medieval ballads in Norway. The first written versions are from

Lårdal Lårdal is a village in Tokke Municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The village is located on the north shore of the lake Bandak and about south of the village of Høydalsmo and the European route E134 highway. The village is ...

and Kviteseid in

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

in the 1840s. The protagonist, Olav Åsteson, falls asleep on Christmas Eve and sleeps until the twelfth day of Christmas. Then he wakes, and rides to church to recount his dreams to the congregation, about his journey through the afterlife. The events are in part similar to other medieval ballads like the Lyke Wake Dirge: a moor of thorns, a tall bridge, and a black fire. After these, the protagonist is also allowed to see

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

and some of

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

. The poem concludes with specific advice of charity and compassion, to avoid the various trials of the afterlife.

Musical Settings

The poem was set to music by several Norwegian composers: *

David Monrad Johansen David Monrad Johansen (8 November 1888 – 20 February 1974) was a Norway, Norwegian composer. He was born in Vefsn and grew up near Mosjøen, where he received his first piano lessons. He came to Oslo, Christiania (Oslo) in 1904 to study at ...

is perhaps the first composer to treat the poem text musically with his op. 7 for male choir from the 1920s. * His son,

Johan Kvandal David Johan Kvandal (né Johansen; 8 September 1919 – 16 February 1999) was a Norwegian composer. Career He was born in Kristiania to David Monrad Johansen and Amunda Holmsen, with the family later moving to Bærum where Kvandal died. He too ...

wrote his "Draumkvædet" op. 15 in 1955, based on the Draumkvedet texts and melodies. This work is available in two versions, one for soprano solo and mixed choir with piano/ organ and another for soprano, mixed choir, flute, clarinet, bassoon, horn, viola, cello and double bass. It has been recorded by Bergen Domkantori (Bergen Digitalstudio BD7011). * Eivind Groven made a composition for soloists, choir and symphony orchestra in 1963. The work is available on CD (Aurora 1988). *

Harald Gundhus Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to: Medieval Kings of Denmark * Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986) Kings of Norway * Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933) * Harald Greycloak (died 970) * Harald Hardrada ...

arranged the poem for tenor saxophone, flute (performed by him), hardingfele (performed by

Knut Buen Knut Buen (born 31 October 1948) is a Norwegian fiddler, composer, folklorist and publisher. He was born in Kongsberg; the son of folk musician Anders Buen and Margit Tjønn, and is brother of Hauk Buen, Agnes Buen Garnås and the artist Kari Bue ...

), celtic harp (performed by Warren Carlstrøm) and organ (performed by Kåre Nordstoga), the poem proper being sung by

Agnes Buen Garnås Agnes Buen Garnås (born 23 October 1946) is a Norwegian folk singer from the county of Telemark. She comes from a famous musical family from the town of Jondal, and is known particularly for her singing of ancient unaccompanied Norwegian ballads, ...

. It was recorded at Gjerpen Kyrkje, 5–7 June 1984, for the Kirkelig Kulturverksted label. *

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. He ...

set it to music in 1994 as ''Draumkvedet (The Dream Ballad)''. He scored it for solo singing voices, speakers,

Hardanger fiddle A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than fo ...

, electronics, chorus and orchestra. The work was composed in honor of the millennium of the city of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

in 1997. It was recorded in 2001 and released on a two-CD set in 2006. *

Ola Gjeilo Ola Gjeilo ( , ; born May 5, 1978) is a Norwegian composer and pianist, living in the United States.Charles Anthony Silvestri Charles Anthony "Tony" Silvestri (born 1965) is an American poet and lyricist, and a lecturer in history at Washburn University. Early life and education Silvestri was born in Las Vegas in 1965. He studied ancient and medieval history at Loyola Ma ...

.ACDA, “Scott Dorsey,” ChoralNet: American Choral Directors Association, 2014, accessed October 5, 2014, http://www.choralnet.org/view/user/18884.

Recordings

Nordheim, Arne. ''Draumkvedet = The Dream Ballad.'' Vocal soloists and musicians;

Grex Vocalis Grex Vocalis (The Singing Band) is a Norwegian chamber choir, formed in 1971 by Carl Høgset. The repertoire spans from the renaissance to music by contemporary composers. The choir has been awarded the Norwegian Spellemannprisen prize (the Norwegi ...

;

Norwegian Radio Orchestra The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Norwegian, ''Kringkastingsorkestret'', abbreviated as KORK) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (''Norsk rikskringkasting AS'', or NRK). Its principal base is the ''Store Studi ...

; Ingar Bergby, conductor. Simax PSC 1169, 2006. CD

References

«Draumkvedet».
From Fragments of a Folk Song to a National Cultural Treasure (PDF)
Carlsen, Christian, "Draumkvedet and the Medieval English Dream Vision: A Study of Genre" (2008). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. Paper 867
{{Authority control Norwegian literature Norwegian folk songs Visionary poems

Musical Settings

Recordings

See also

References