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Article Excerpt
IN THE HISTORY of Swedish music of the last twenty years or so of the Gustavian period--about 1789 to 1809--the figure of Olof Ahlstrom (1756-1835) is a constant, if shadowy, presence. His publication of Bellman's Fredmans epistlar (1790) and Fredmans sanger (1791) has ensured him a sometimes-begrudged immortality. He was, however, also an organist at Mariakyrkan in Stockholm and, later, at Jakobskyrkan as well as being a composer of chamber music, theater music, and songs. Unfortunately, none of his personal and few of his business papers seem to have survived him. Albert Wiberg has made a good general survey of the music he published, and Tobias Norlind and Martin Tegen have studied the first twenty years of the publication of his own and others' songs [visor]. (1) On the whole, however, apart from his stimulation of and contribution to a new repertory of Swedish songs, Ahlstrom's impact on Swedish musical life, not least as a composer, remains to be discovered.
On one level, there was plenty of published music available in Sweden during the eighteenth century. The range of imported music was broad and reasonably up-to-date, and there was some publication of Swedish material as well. (2) The full orchestral range of this published (3) ensemble music was rarely heard outside Stockholm, Gothenburg, Linkoping and the university cities because provincial public instrumental music-making appears largely to have been in the hands of local regimental ensembles, which were mostly wind bands. (4) Some, perhaps most, of this provincial music-making consisted of harmoni arrangements of popular theater music such as were regularly made from operas, for instance. (5) Without exception, the music printed in Sweden consisted of songs, sonatas and other chamber music, and orchestral music reduced for keyboard. (6)
This does not mean that there was no other music-making outside the cities. For instance, anywhere there was an organ there was the possibility of a public concert. Most places in the country-side also had lively experience with spelmansmusik [folk-fiddling], and there was a rich flora of visor and skillingtryck [broadside ballads]. For those of a class to hold dance parties, there were also many manuscript books, usually of simply-arranged dance music. (7) What seems clear from visual evidence in images from Gustavian interiors, written evidence in letters and diaries, and from some of the music itself, is the increase during the eighteenth century of home keyboard instruments. For the first half of the century, these were harpsichords and, perhaps more often, clavichords, of which there were a number of Swedish builders. Not unexpectedly, these gave way in the latter quarter of the century to the sturdier piano. (8) From the extent to which we see the middle-classes imitating those of higher social status, we can infer the increase in the availability of keyboard instruments. (9) As a composer and music publisher, I think it indubitable that Ahlstrom understood this social fact.
In his September, 1789, advertisement for the first number of Musikaliskt tidsfordrif [Mtf] (1789-1834), one of his two musical journals, (10) he announced that he had begun to publish a
Musicaliskt Weckoblad, innehallande egentligen sadan smarre Musik, dels for rosten, dels for Instrumenter, som kan bidraga till Sallskapsnoje och tjena til ofning. (11) (Musical Weekly containing just that sort of smaller Music, partly for voices, partly for Instruments, which can contribute to Social pleasure and serve as exercise.)
Though selling music--and indeed other printed products--by subscription was already a routine practice in Sweden, as it was elsewhere, Ahlstrom clearly understood that there was here a potential market beyond the bookstalls where most music was sold. He also understood that he had to make his music-publishing business pay and, to help in that endeavor, he sought and acquired a monopoly on printing music in 1788, initially for twenty years. This fact did not, of course, stop booksellers from importing music, but Ahlstrom's entrepreneurial instincts stood him in good stead. Musikaliskt tidsfordrif appeared from September, 1789, in fourteen issues to the end of the calendar year, with about thirty issues a year after that until 1823, and thereafter fifteen larger issues a year until 1834, all of which made him a lot of money, even after his monopoly finally ran out. It seems useful, therefore, to have a close look at what this popular journal contained.
In an age of many music journals, Mtf is remarkable by any standard, not least for its longevity. It was not the first music printed in Sweden by any means, but it was the first music published and distributed there in a manner intended to reach as many people as possible. Its format and contents were clearly aimed at home music-making and not at public performance. Its oblong shape, 16 x 22 cm (c. 6 1/4 x 8 3/4 in), sat easily on the music-rack of a fortepiano and, with rare exceptions, everything in it was written or arranged for keyboard. This practice contrasts with the music seen in many Swedish paintings and drawings in the period of (admittedly higher-class) home music-making, where the music on the keyboard is often quite large and where all the players are usually looking at the same score. (12)
Obviously, announcing that there is a new journal to be bought is easier than filling it with things that will encourage people to buy it. That September, when Alstrom announced the availability of his publication, he said little about its specific contents, but promised he would,
for at harwid, i det narmaste kunna traffa hwars och ens tycke och smak, af sarskildte Auktorers arbeten, infora omsom, sa wal Arier, Duetter, coupletter, wisor, som Claverspiecer samt compositioner for Violin, Harpa, Zittra m.m. (see fn. 11) (in order to accommodate as soon as possible each and everyone's preference and taste for the work of certain Writers, include occasionally Arias, Duets, songs with refrains, light songs, (13) as well as Keyboard pieces and compositions for Violin, Harp, Cittern, and so forth.)
On the whole, he kept his word, but if we look closely at the output, we can see a broad pattern emerge, which reflects an interaction between national and international music and between current public musicmaking and Mtf. (14) A look at the fourteen issues of Mtf's first year will show us the emergence of this pattern.
The first fascicle consisted of a song by an unknown composer (15) to a text by a writer known only as "Sjoberg." (16) Its first verse reads:
Min lefnad har standigt besannat Hvad underverk Vin Guden gor Jag dricker men sallan for annat an at skingra et elakt humeur: Jag vil er min lefnad beratta hvad plagor hvad nojen jag haft: Men forst ma vi sorgerna latta i drufvornas muntrande saft. (Tegen 93)
(My life bas constantly demonstrated/What marvels the God of Wine does/I drink but seldom for other/than to banish a bad humor./I want to tell you my life-story/what sorrows what pleasures I've had:/But first let us ease our sorrows/in the cheering juice of the grape.)
In our time, we clearly recognize this as Bellman's territory, and it might have rung so in 1789, as well. It is also clear to us at once, however, that the regularity of the form and the static nature of the content are unlike most of Bellman's poems: it does not have the sense of place and sharp characterization that drive so many of his songs. The rest of the verses here fill the space with a brief tale--the singer seeks in vain to get the girl and returns to drink. In short, there is no textual energy here and no sense of life on the edge, as we frequently see in Bellman's world. It is possible that Ahlstrom was already working with Bellman on the notation of his melodies in September, 1789, but the melody of this song has more of the German Gesellschaftslied about it than of the French dance tunes characteristic of Bellman's melodic choices. It is, therefore, interesting that Ahlstrom chose to begin his new journal in such a way, one...
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