Dear Mark and Vocalisters:
I apologize for sending this again. It has already been sent a second time by error from my computer at the University. Now I must send it a third time to correct some bad typographical errors and clear up some questions of language derivation. Mia culpa.
Lloyd
The original text for Solveig's Sang was written by Henrik Ibsen, Norway's great dramatist (The Doll House, Hedda Gabbler, etc) He wrote in a form of Norwegian which was called "Riksmal" (language of the kingdom) also called "Bokmal" (language of books). Riksmal had been the official written Norwegian during Danish rule but by the middle of the 19th century it had begun to incorporate more and more typically Norwegian words and re-spelled many other words to denote their Norwegian pronunciation. Riksmal is one of the two official Norwegian languages and Ibsen and Bjornson were the two most famous writers to use riksmal. (from Ellingboe)
I might add here also that the Norwegian language is part of the northern sub-set of the Teutonic family of languages. Descended from Old Norse, it is related to Danish, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are closely related and mutually understandable while the relationship to Icelandic and Faroese is more distant. all of these languages have the same syntax but abound in dialects. (from Ellingboe)
In each of the language names (Riksmal, Bokmal, Landsmal) the /a/ vowel shoud have a small "o" over the vowel. This indicates that the /a/ vowel should be pronounced as if it were a rather dark "aw" as in the midwestern pronounciation of "draw", usually wrtten in IPA as the backward C.
The second official Norwegian language is called "Landsmal" (language of the land) or "Nynorsk" (new Norwegian). It was introduced by Ivar Aasen, a self taught linguist. It was a compilation and standardization of the many Norwegian dialects which had descended from Old Norse among the country people. It soon become the second official language of Norway and represents the countries attempt to rid itself of its Danish and Swedish influences. Ibsen and Bjornson were well traveled men and linguistically conservative. They ridiculed the landsmal movement and were more in favor of revising the earlier Riksmal Norwegian because it would relate more easily to the rest of the European languages.
Norwegian and Swedish are very similar in pronunciation but, to a certain extent, spelling and grammar differ between the two. Conversely, Norwegian and Danish are very similar on paper, but the sounds of these languages are further removed. (from Ellingboe)
So, the answer is not as clear as I first thought. But to say Ibsen wrote in Swedish or Danish would not be received well by many Norwegians.
As a member of the St. Olaf Choir on a tour of Norway in 1955, we had the strange experience of singing Grieg (in Riksmal) and being asked why we were singing in Dansk (Danish). They expected us to change it to Landsmal.
-- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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