Engel Lund (14 July 1900 – 15 June 1996) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and a collector and distinguished interpreter of

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Her most notable work is the ''Book of Folk Songs'', a collection of 49 pieces with piano accompaniments by her stage partner, Austrian composer and pianist Ferdinand Rauter. It was first published in 1936 by Oxford University Press.Engel Lund's Book of Folk Songs
Album Notes, Nimbus Records 2007 Lund was born to Danish parents on 14 July 1900 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, where she spent her early childhood. At the age of 11, her parents moved back to Denmark, where she attended grammar school. She studied singing in Copenhagen, Paris, and finally in Germany. During that time, she developed a growing interest in folk songs and began working with Rauter. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she moved to London, where she would live through most of her professional career, as did Rauter (who, having effectively become a citizen of the Reich after the

German annexation of Austria The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany" ...

, was briefly interned early in the war). Concerts led them all over Europe, the United States, and Canada. Lund was renowned for her ability to present songs from many different countries in their original languages "completely without accent", and for speaking as many as 20 languages fluently. Lively introductions and story-telling were an integral part of her live performance. Her recitals would always include a few Icelandic and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

songs, of which she was particularly fond. Consequently, she stopped performing in Germany during the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

after authorities had asked her to refrain from presenting Jewish material. Having retired from the stage, she returned to Iceland, where she was awarded a professorship for life in singing at Reykjavík Conservatory, teaching regularly until she was almost 90 years old. Engel Lund died on 15 June 1996.

Recordings

* A recent rendition by various artists of the ''Book of Folk Songs'' is available.Lieder Theatre London, "Engel Lund's Book of Folk Songs",

Nimbus Records Nimbus Records is a British record company based at Wyastone Leys, Ganarew, Herefordshire. They specialise in classical music recordings and were the first company in the UK to produce compact discs. Description Nimbus was founded in 1972 by t ...

, Wyastone Estate 2007, http://www.wyastone.co.uk/engel-lund-s-book-of-folk-songs.html * An original recording by Lund and Rauter, ''Íslenzk þjóðlög'', is currently out of print, but can be obtained online in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format.Tonlist.com » Artists » Engel Lund » Íslensk þjóðlög
/ref> * Musicraft 78 rpm. Album 39. 1128-A & 1128-B, Matrix numbers: GM496A & GM497A. French Folk Songs (arr.F.Rauter) & American Folk Songs (arr. Cecil Sharp) with Ferdinand Rauter, piano.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lund, Engel 1900 births 1996 deaths

Engel Lund Engel Lund (14 July 1900 – 15 June 1996) was a Danish-Icelandic soprano and a collector and distinguished interpreter of traditional music. Her most notable work is the ''Book of Folk Songs'', a collection of 49 pieces with piano accompaniment ...

Yiddish-language singers Danish sopranos

20th-century Icelandic singers 20th-century Icelandic women singers