Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the
Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th century.
[ Evert Taube. ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: 27 June 2013.]
Early life
Evert Taube was born in 1890 in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, and brought up on the island of
Vinga
Vinga is a commune in Arad County, western Romania, south of the county seat of Arad, with a population of 5,828 inhabitants (as of 2011).
Vinga is located in the northern section of the Banat. The people in Vinga are mainly Romanians, the sec ...
,
Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
, where his father, Carl Gunnar Taube, a ship's captain, was the lighthouse keeper. His mother was Julia Sofia Jacobsdotter. Taube belongs to an untitled branch of the
Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
noble
Taube family
Taube is an ancient Baltic noble family, originally from Denmark, Jutland whose earlier roots can be traced from Westphalia, Germany.
History
The family historic references: Engelke Tuve (Taube) 1373 Danish vassal in Estonia. Another branch ...
, introduced at the
Swedish House of Nobility
The House of Nobility ( sv, Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility.
Name
The name is literally translated as ''House of Knights'', ...
in 1668 as noble family No. 734.
Career
Having spent two years (1907–1909) sailing around the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
,
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and South Africa, Taube began his career as a singer-songwriter and collector of sailors' songs, and on Christmas Eve 1908, on board the Norwegian ship ''SS Bergen'' headed for Spain, he performed "Turalleri, piken fra Hamburg".
Following a five-year stay (1910–1915) in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, he developed an interest in
Latin American music and introduced the Argentinian
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
to Sweden in the twenties. Contrary to widespread perceptions, Taube did not work as a
gaucho
A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired and ...
(cowboy) on the
Pampas but as a
foreman
__NOTOC__
A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry.
Foreman may specifically refer to:
*Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew
* Jury foreman, a head j ...
supervising workers who were digging canals designed to prevent flooding on the vast plains.
He is perhaps best known as a depictor of the idyllic, with motifs from the Swedish archipelagoes and from the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, from a perspective every Swedish four-week holiday tourist could recognize. But he also wrote the most hard-hitting anti-fascist anti-war poem in the Swedish language, "Målaren och Maria Pia", about the Italian war in Abyssinia, from the late 30s. He also composed the anthem of the budding environmental movement in the 70s, "
Änglamark Änglamark is a Swedish song composed and written by Evert Taube for the movie The Apple War (Äppelkriget) in 1971. The song is sung in the movie's opening and ending credits by the composer's son, Sven-Bertil Taube. Instrumental variations of ...
" (originally written for the successful 1971
Hasse & Tage
Hasse & Tage ( sv, Hasse och Tage) were a popular Swedish comedy duo featuring Hans "Hasse" Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. They are sometimes known as ''Hasseåtage'', a spelling created by the Swedish press in the 1960s, but never used by the du ...
film ''
The Apple War
''The Apple War'' ( sv, Äppelkriget) is a 1971 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Tage Danielsson, starring Gösta Ekman, Hans Alfredsson, Tage Danielsson, Monica Zetterlund and Max von Sydow. The political theme of the film is the battle be ...
'').
Taube's literary secretary
Inga-Britt Fredholm
Inga-Britt Margareta Fredholm (née Pütter; 25 April 1923 – 28 March 2014) was a Swedish secretary, archivist and author. She spent more than ten years serving as Evert Taube’s literary secretary, both in Sweden and abroad. She collected a ...
was from late 1950s working as a secretary at the Park Avenue Hotel in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
. There, in 1962, Evert Taube met her and this led to her becoming his literary secretary for more than ten years. During the 1964–1965 period she undertook travel for work, along with Taube, going to the
Antibes
Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice.
The town of ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and to the
Pampas
The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...
in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. She collaborated with
Astri Taube
Astrid "Astri" Linnéa Matilda Taube, née ''Bergman'' (9 December 1898 – 23 December 1980) was a Swedish sculptor and artist known for her child portraits and sculptures in public venues. She was married to Swedish singer and songwriter Ever ...
on "Vid tiden för Astri och Apollon: okända dikter och berättelser", published in 1964.
During the 1960s Fredholm collected Evert Taube's stories and published them in eight volumes at
Albert Bonniers Förlag
Albert Bonniers Förlag is a publishing company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Albert Bonniers Förlag is part of the book publishing house Bonnierförlagen, which also includes Wahlström & Widstrand and Bonnier Carlsen.
History
Albert Bonnier ...
under the shared title of "Samlade berättelser med tillhörande visor och ballader", released 1966–1967. In the 1970s she produced two pictorial biographies of Taube: ”När jag var en ung caballero: en bildbiografi" (1970) and ”Kom i min famn: Evert Taube 1920-1971 : en bildbiografi" (1972).
Among Taube's most famous songs are "
Calle Schewens vals", "
Min älskling (du är som en ros)", "Dans på Sunnanö", "Brevet Från Lillan", "Flickan i Havanna", "
Änglamark Änglamark is a Swedish song composed and written by Evert Taube for the movie The Apple War (Äppelkriget) in 1971. The song is sung in the movie's opening and ending credits by the composer's son, Sven-Bertil Taube. Instrumental variations of ...
", "
Sjösala vals", "
Fritiof och Carmencita", "
Så skimrande var aldrig havet" and "Så länge skutan kan gå".
In 1976 he released an album of songs (on SR Records) about and by Sweden's 18th century bard,
Carl Michael Bellman
Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...
, performing 9 of Bellman's ''
Fredman's Epistles
''Fredmans epistlar'' (English: ''Fredman's Epistles'') is List of Fredman's Epistles, a collection of 82 poems set to music by Carl Michael Bellman, a major figure in Sweden, Swedish 18th century song. Though first published in 1790, it was cre ...
'' including the ever popular ''
Vila vid denna källa'', ''
Ulla! min Ulla! säj, får jag dig bjuda'', and ''
Solen glimmar blank och trind''.
Taube has been translated into English by Helen Asbury,
Paul Britten Austin
Paul Britten Austin (5 April 1922 – 25 July 2005) was an English author, translator, broadcaster, administrator, and scholar of Swedish literature.
He is known in particular for his translations of and books on the Swedish musician, si ...
, Emily Melcher
[''A Talk While Dancing'' CD, trans. by Emily Melcher, (Madison: Emily Melcher, 1999).] and others. His songs have been recorded in English by
Roger Whittaker
Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...
,
Sven-Bertil Taube
Sven-Bertil Gunnar Evert Taube (24 November 1934 – 11 November 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. Internationally, he was perhaps better known for his acting career. Taube played Henrik Vanger in the film ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' ...
,
Martin Best
Martin Best (born 13 April 1942) is an English singer, lutenist, guitarist, and composer. Best has been active mainly in early music including Renaissance music, minstrel songs and the French troubadour traditions, in works related to Shakespea ...
, Roger Hinchliffe and Emily Melcher.
Personal life
In 1925, he married
Astri Bergman Taube, a painter and sculptress.
Taube died in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
and is buried on the churchyard of
Maria Magdalena Church
The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene ( sv, S:ta Maria Magdalena kyrka) is a church on Södermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to and named for Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene.
The church plan has a nave but no aisles. In its eastern e ...
on
Södermalm
Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm.
Overview
The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wa ...
.
Taube had a
summer house called ''
Sjösala'', located in
Stavsnäs, which was burned down by
Mona Wallén-Hjerpe in 1969.
Honors
On his 60th birthday in 1950, Taube received the
Bellman Award from the
Swedish Academy and in 1960 he received an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 s ...
. He was elected as a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...
in 1970.
Taube is regarded as one of the finest troubadours in Sweden. There is a complete pavilion, "Evert Taube's World" opened in 2008, dedicated to him at
Liseberg
Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia, attracting about three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roll ...
Theme Park in Gothenburg.
On 25 March 2010, Norwegian Air Shuttle's (Norwegian.com) new Boeing 737-8FZ LN-NOV (msn 31713) was accepted at the Oslo (Gardermoen) base with the tail image of Evert Taube.
On 6 April 2011, the
Bank of Sweden
Sveriges Riksbank, or simply the ''Riksbank'', is the central bank of Sweden. It is the world's oldest central bank and the fourth oldest bank in operation.
Etymology
The first part of the word ''riksbank'', ''riks'', stems from the Swedish ...
announced that Taube's portrait will feature on the 50
kronor banknote, beginning in 2014–15.
On 12 March 2013, a Google doodle was dedicated to him.
Children
#''Per-Evert'' Arvid Joachim Taube (1926–2009)
#''Rose Marie'' Astrid Elisabet Taube (1928–1928)
#''Ellinor'' Gunnel Astri Elisabeth Taube (1930–1998)
#
''Sven-Bertil'' Gunnar Evert Taube (1934-2022)
Publications
* ''Sjösalaboken'' (1942), with illustrations by
Roland Svensson.
Biography in English
*''I Come From A Raging Sea'' 1967
*''A History of Swedish Literature'' 1989
*''A History of Swedish Literature'' 1996
[''A History of Swedish Literature'' edited by Lars G. Warme, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996).]
See also
*
List of Swedes in music
This is a list of Swedish composers, musical groups, musicians and singers:
Composers
A–M
* Johan Agrell (1701–1765), full name: Johan Joachim Agrell
* Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960), full name: Hugo Emil Alfvén
* Kurt Atterberg ...
*
Swedish ballad tradition
Notes
References
External links
Swedish
*
Taube societyEvert Taubeat
Open Library
Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...
.
Evert Taube homepage (unofficial)English
Evert Taube biographyEvert Taubeat
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
.
Translations
''A Talk While Dancing''
*
ttp://johnirons.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-best-bread-song-by-evert-taube.html ''The cheerful baker of San Remo'' (Den glade bagaren i San Remo)br>
''Morning song at Baggensfjärden'' (Morgonsång på Baggensfjärden)
;Videos
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taube, Evert
1890 births
1976 deaths
Burials at Maria Magdalena Church
Swedish people of Baltic German descent
Swedish songwriters
Musicians from Gothenburg
Swedish male writers
20th-century Swedish male singers