 | |
| Author | Carl Michael Bellman |
|---|---|
| Subject | Song |
| Genre | Rococo, pastorale, parody, drinking: it 'had no model and can have no successors' (Kellgren)[1] |
| Publisher | Olof Åhlström, by Royal Privilege |
Publication date | 1790 |
| Publication place | Sweden |
| Pages | 391 |
Fredmans epistlar (English: Fredman's Epistles) is a collection of 82 poems set to music by Carl Michael Bellman, a major figure in Swedish 18th century song. Though first published in 1790, it was created over a period of twenty years from 1768 onwards. A companion volume, Fredmans sånger (Fredman's Songs) was published the following year.
The Epistles vary widely in style and effect, from Rococo-themed pastorale with a cast of gods and demigods from classical antiquity to laments for the effects of Brännvin-drinking, tavern-scenes, and apparent improvisations. The lyrics, based on the lives of Bellman's contemporaries in Gustavian-age Sweden, describe a gallery of fictional and semi-fictional characters and events in Stockholm. Jean Fredman, an alcoholic former watchmaker, is the central character and fictional narrator. The "soliloquy" of Epistle 23, a description of Fredman lying drunk in the gutter and then recovering in the Crawl-In Tavern, was described by Oscar Levertin as "the to-be-or-not-to-be of Swedish literature".[2] Ulla Winblad, based on one of Bellman's friends, is the chief of the fictional "nymphs". She is half goddess, half prostitute, a key figure among the demimonde characters of Fredman's Epistles.
The Epistles are admired for the way that their poetry and music fit so well together. Bellman chose not to compose the tunes, instead borrowing and adapting existing melodies, most likely to exploit the humour of contrasting the associations of well-known tunes with the meanings he gave them. This may also have been intended to provide historical depth to his work; he sometimes devoted considerable energy to adapting melodies to fit an Epistle's needs.
Many of the Epistles have remained culturally significant in Scandinavia, especially in Sweden. They are widely sung and recorded: by choirs such as the Orphei Drängar, by professional solo singers such as Fred Åkerström and Cornelis Vreeswijk, and by ensemble singers such as Sven-Bertil Taube and William Clauson. The Epistles have been translated into German, French, English, Russian, Polish, Finnish, Italian and Dutch.
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- ^ Britten Austin 1967, p. 60
- ^ Britten Austin 1967, p. 61