Engel Lund was a singer,
born in Reykjavik in 1902. She sang
all over Europe and the United States
before returning to Iceland for her
final years and died a month before
her 96th birthday. Her particular
interest was in folk song. Helped by
her accompanist Ferdinand Reuter she
produced a book of folk songs in the
1930s, partly to show their belief in
the power of music as a beneficial influence
bringing people together. The present
recording is said to be its first complete
recording.
Nowadays, except where
the arrangements are by composers with
a reputation in the wider musical world,
such as Britten, Grainger or Brahms,
there is some suspicion of the results
when singers with "trained"
voices sing folk songs, especially if
the accompanying instrument is the piano.
This is understandable, and it is true
that the actual sound of these songs
is likely to bear little resemblance
to that of the "folk" from
whom many of these songs were collected.
But to deny ourselves the pleasure of
hearing them would be foolish. Their
existence does not threaten the existence
of the original songs, and they are
presented with such skill and sensitivity
that almost all of the songs have a
distinctive and interesting flavour
of their own. I would not want to exaggerate
their musical value, but in general
Rauter’s accompaniments are very carefully
devised to demonstrate the individual
character of each song without drawing
too much attention away from the singer.
I suspect that any
performance of some of these songs would
be enjoyable, but Lieder Theatre London
have hit on the ingenious idea of splitting
them between no less than fourteen singers.
All appear from the photographs and
their singing to be young, and for the
most part they sing songs in their own
languages. The final song - the only
one from England – is the exception
being sung by a group of singers, only
one of whom appears to have English
as their first language. There are songs
in the various Scandinavian languages,
in Yiddish, German, French and so on.
The varied sounds of the languages,
especially when they are as well articulated
as they are here, are a major feature
here, and their wonderful mixture of
flavours gives great delight in itself
in these generally fresh and well projected
performances. The pianists are all excellent,
doing all they can to provide variety
within the generally simple strophic
accompaniments.
I have been unable
to locate a copy of the original book,
so that I am unclear as to whether the
order on these discs has been altered.
The recording results from a concert
version first performed at the Austrian
Embassy in London, and certainly even
given the involvement of so many singers
and pianists the sequence is clearly
devised to be a coherent as a whole.
I had no difficulty in listening to
the two discs in succession with no
sense of monotony. Various themes emerge
gradually, including love, animals and
death, but these are not hammered home.
Instead there is a growing feeling of
common concerns being raised in different
ways but of a common underlying humanity.
The opening sequence of Scandinavian
songs demonstrates this best. The languages
and cut of the tunes is clearly different
and yet in a way these very differences
demonstrate what they have in common.
I suspect that the implicit messages
these discs give to anyone listening
to them with care are worth any amount
of formal "diversity training".
Perhaps they should be made compulsory
listening in schools and, even more,
by politicians.
The original texts
are printed in the booklet, together
with brief notes on each song and what
are clearly singing translations – often
very ingenious and not too far from
the originals of those languages that
I could follow. There are also photographs
of most of the artists and of Engel
Lund and Ferdinand Rauter. Curiously
no timings are given of individual songs
and no indication of where or when they
were recorded. The total length of the
two discs is little more than could
have been put onto one, and many potential
purchasers may wish that either a couple
of songs had been omitted to do that,
or that additional material had been
added. One obvious candidate would have
been examples of Engle Lund’s own singing
of these songs, recordings of which
presumably do exist. I would not want
to make too much of these points, however
What matters is the sheer enjoyment
that these discs give and the pleasure
in a diversity of language which only
partly conceals a common underlying
humanity. A perfect present at any time
of year.
John Sheppard
Full contents:
1 Stódum tvau í túni
(Iceland) [1:14]
2 Hjuringsvisa (Herdmaid's Song)
(Norway) [1:05]
3 Stev fra telemarken (Love Lament
from Telemarken) (Norway) [1:36]
4 Paal paa haugen (Paul and the Hen)
(Norway) [1:07]
5 Kristallen den fina (Like a Crystal
so fine) (Sweden) [1:59]
6 Brudstassen (The Wedding Array)
(Sweden) [1:57]
7 Stor Ola, lill' Ola (Big Ola, dear
Ola) (Sweden) [0:52]
8 Lammen har jag (Lambs have I) (Sweden)
[0:52]
9 Langt udi skoven (The Tree in the
Forest) (Denmark) [1:21]
10 Roselil og hendes moder (Rosalil
and her Mother) (Denmark) [4:02]
11 De tolv hellige ting (The twelve
holy Things) (Denmark) [1:07]
12 Es isch kei söliger Stamme
(No Race there is to vie) (Switzerland)
[0:54]
13 Kuhreigen (Alpine Cowherd Song)
(Switzerland) [0:44]
14 Es kam ein Herr zum Schloessli
(To a little Castle there came a Knight)
(Switzerland) [1:02]
15 Arum di Lichtelach (Around the
Candles) (Yiddish) [2:09]
16 Pinchosl un Chantschele (Pinchossel
and Hannah) (Yiddish) [1:27]
17 Die choissid beim bojn di suke
(The pious Jew builds his Booth) (Yiddish)
[1:04]
18 Ai ai, der rebe geit (Ay, ay,
the Rabbi's here) (Yiddish) [1:39]
19 Sinner Man (Appalachian, USA)
[3:20]
20 Counting Song (Appalachian, USA)
[1:49]
21 Der schwere Traum (The heavy Dream)
(Germany) [1:55]
22 Nachtwächterlied (Song of
the Night Watchman) (Germany) [2:55]
23 Fünf Söhne (The Fate
of the Five Sons) (Germany) [2:49]
24 Die Vogelhochzeit (The Wedding
of the Birds) (Germany) [2:39]
25 Maria durch ein Dornwald ging
(Sweet Mary through a Thorn Grove did
go) (Germany) [1:46]
26 Nattergalen (The Nightingale)
(Denmark) [1:55]
27 Det haver saa nyligen regnet (Tonight
it has just stopped raining) (Denmark)
[1:56]
28 Munken gaar i Enge (The Monk in
the Meadow) (Denmark) [1:22]
29 Naa ska'en liten faa sova saa
södt (The Cradle is ready) (Norway)
[2:06]
30 Eg heiter Anne Knutsdatter (My
Name is Annie Campbell) (Norway) [2:25]
31 Uti vår hage (Out in the
Garden) (Sweden) [2:15]
32 Näfvervisen (The Birchbark
Song) (Sweden) [1:36]
33 Litlu börnin leika sjer (Little
Children run to play) (Iceland) [1:09]
34 Bi bi og blaka (Bye Bye and Hushabye)
(Iceland) [1:19]
35 Di alte kasche (The old Riddle)
(Yiddish) [1:16]
36 As ech wolt gehat dem Kaissres
oizress (Had I all the Emperor's Riches)
(Yiddish) [2:29]
37 Du solst nit gein (You shall not
walk) (Yiddish) [1:09]
38 Guignolot de St. Lazot (The Feast
of St. Lazarus) (France) [1:44]
39 Noël Provençal (Carol)
(France) [2:02]
40 Ah, Lambert (Ah, Lambert) (Belgium)
[2:00]
41 Jesuken en Janneken (Little Jesus
and St. John) (Holland) [2:33]
42 Andulicko Moje (Mary Ann, my Pretty)
(Czech Republic) [0:38]
43 Tenkrate Bude Victoria (Then rise
to Victory) (Czech Republic) (1:23)
44 Es geht eine dunkle Wolk herein
(The heavy Clouds blow up again) (Germany)
[1:33]
45 Wiegenlied (Cradle Song) (Germany)
[0:39]
46 Die zwei Rosen (The two Roses)
(Austria) [1:01]
47 Heute bin ich rot (Today my Blood
runs red) (Austria) [2:01]
48 Hold on (Kentucky, USA) [3:13]
49 The Derby Ram (England) [2:10]
Sigridur Osk Kristjansdottir
(mezzo), Ouri Bronchti (piano) (1,33,34)
Randi Synnøve Røssaak
(soprano), James Southall (piano) (2,3,4,29,30)
Håkan Ekenäs (baritone),
Ouri Bronchti (piano) (5,7,8,31)
Anna Grevelius (mezzo), Ouri Bronchti
(piano) (6,32),
Jasia Julia Nielsen (mezzo), James Southall
(piano) (9,10,11,26,27,28)
Benno Widmer, tenor, James Southall
(piano) (12,13,14)
Revital Raviv (soprano), Ouri Bronchti
(piano) (15,17,18,35,36,)
Tania Mandzy (mezzo), Ouri Bronchti
(piano) (19,48)
Tania Mandzy (mezzo), Jasia Julia Nielsen
(mezzo), James Southall (piano) (20)
Daniela Lehner (mezzo), Kathron Sturrock
(piano) (21,23,26,44,45,46,47)
Norbert Meyn, tenor, James Southall
(piano) (22,24,)
Sophie Angebault (soprano), Ouri Bronchti
(piano) (38,39,40)
Madeleen Ijsselmuiden (mezzo), James
Southall (piano) (41)
Vojtech Safarík (bass-baritone),
Ouri Bronchti (piano) (42,43)
Sigridur Osk Kristjansdottir (mezzo),
Norbert Meyn (tenor), Andrea Rauter,
Revital Raviv (soprano), Simon Wallfisch
(baritone), Benno Widmer (tenor), James
Southall (piano) (49)
Lieder Theatre London/Norbert Meyn 
