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En vnlig grnskas rika drkt
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Wikipedia article
'"En vnlig grnskas rika drkt..."' ("A Friendly Green Does Richly Dress..."), also called 'Sommarpsalm' ("Summer Hymn"), is a popular 1889 Swedish summer hymn by the civil servant Carl David af Wirsn, and his only well-known work.
Summer hymn
in June 2010.
'En vnlig grnskas rika drkt' is one of Sweden's best loved summer hymns, whether sung in unison or in parts. For example, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden chose the hymn for her wedding to Daniel Westling in June 2010. In 2002 the hymn reached the Swedish pop music charts in a recording by The Real Group on the 2002 album ', scoring a Svensktoppen hit for six weeks between 15 June and 13 July 2002.
The first Swedish hymnbook to include the hymn was ', where it was number 644. The melody was composed by S. Gastorius in 1675.' Koralbok till Nya psalmer, av konungen medgivna att anvndas tillsammans med 1819 rs psalmbok.' Nordisk Nodestik- og Tryckkeri, Copenhagen, 1921. The melody used in most later hymnbooks is from a 1933 choral composition by Waldemar hln (18941982).[http://www.realgroup.se/attachments/098_stamning_alla_texter.pdf 'En vnlig grnskas rika drkt' (Sommarpsalm)(#201)]. Retrieved 22 May 2012.[http://evl.fi/psalmbok.nsf/nr/539?OpenDocument Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland: Psalmbok (1986)]. (All five verses) Retrieved 22 May 2012.
In 2016-2017 the melody was used in a Lnsfrskringar TV commercial film.
Reception
Cordelia Edvardson, writing in 'Svenska Dagbladet', identifies the hymn as a beloved example of popular poetry, part of the Swedish people's cultural heritage. So for example, she writes, in verse two "the dizzy birds" ('de yra fglarna') express the joy of summertime.
Carlhkan Larsn, reviewing Per Rydn's book about Carl David af Wirsn in 'Sydsvenskan', describes Wirsn as a loser on the dark side of literary history, only one of whose poems still survives: the summer hymn, 'En vnlig grnskas rika drkt'.
Hans Holmberg, writing in 'Kristianstadsbladet', notes that the hymn is part of Sweden's summer repertoire, and that people usually sing "only the first three verses, which are a hymn of praise to summer." But, observes Holmberg, the remaining verses are quite different: they give a feeling of decay, with the biblical phrase "All flesh is grass". The hymn, writes Holmberg, switches repeatedly between life and praise on the one hand, and death and decay on the other. 'En vnlig grnskas rika drkt' can be and is used both as a summer hymn and for funerals: but, remarks Holmberg, "I find it hard to imagine an occasion when the hymn is sung in its entirety". In fact, Holmberg concludes, while Wirsn is now derided as a dusty permanent secretary to the Swedish Academy, he was actually too bold for us to follow nowadays.
Publication history
* ' as no. 408 under heading 'Krleken' (Love) with melodies by Georg Stolpe and August Elfker, neither of which are used in the Swedish hymnal.
* ' as no. 644 under headings 'Tidens skiften: rets tider: Sommaren' (Changing times: Seasons: Summer).
* ' as no. 476 under heading 'Sommaren' (Summer).
* ' as no. 23.
* ' as no. 201 (copied into several other hymnals).
* ' as no. 789 under heading 'rets tider' (Seasons).
* ' as no. 22.
References
Sources
*[http://libris.kb.se/hitlist?d=libris&q=%22En+v%c3%a4nlig+gr%c3%b6nskas+rika+dr%c3%a4kt%22&f=simp&spell=true&hist=true&p=1 Libris]
*'Den svenska sngboken' (The Swedish songbook)
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