ABOUT

When Danes talk about Danish vocal music, we often refer to den danske sangskat or the treasure of Danish songs as a secluded gem, which cannot be performed by foreigners because of the difficulty of the Danish language. However, the days when a classical singer could get by mastering just three or four languages are over. The repertoire today is vast and varied, and it is expected that it is performed in the original language. Thus, a singer must be able to perform in multiple languages, and why should Danish not be one of them? 

During my years as an opera singer at The Danish National Opera, the tradition of singing everything in Danish changed to everything being performed in the original language. We had wonderful coaches, and with hard work we were relatively successful in achieving this, but it was not until I began teaching that I discovered the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as a tool for singers. This discovery ignited the idea that the Danish art song repertoire should be described and transcribed according to the norms set by Nico Castel and William Leyerle, and in 2015 I received a grant from the Danish Ministry of Culture to undertake this task. Of course, I could not do this alone, so phonetician Ruben Schachtenhaufen was on board from the very beginning, and a couple of years later we were joined by pianist Christen Stubbe Teglbjærg. 

The difference between the sung and the spoken word is prominent in most languages when it comes to classical singing, and this is also the case in Danish. The version of the IPA used in the following is the result of a long process of developing a notation which reflects this pronunciation.  We have had numerous discussions with students and faculty along the way, but when it comes to deciding which pronunciation is the “right” one, it cannot be avoided that my personal opinion shines through. It is my experience that a somewhat conservative pronunciation results in a more intelligible text and a sound that meets the demands for a beautiful timbre, and since the lyrics in this publication are for the most part romantic bordering on the archaic, a conservative pronunciation is nonetheless recommendable. 

Actually, the lyrics offer quite a challenge to the translator, because a great number of the words used are no longer part of the language. Old dictionaries like Moths and Kalhars have come in handy, but they have not always been able to offer a meaning. However, whereas the lyric translations in this anthology give the reader an idea of one meaning without trying to recreate the poetry, the word-to-word translations might reveal another. Translating word-to-word is not an easy task and sometimes results in strange sentences, but the singer needs to know the meaning of each and every word in order to give it emotional value and vocal color. In fact, I am convinced that native Danish singers could benefit from studying the footnotes in this publication, and maybe even be inspired to treat their language with the same detail as they do when they sing in other languages.

However, the primary goal of this publication is to introduce a selection of Danish art songs to non-native singers, and to guide them in the direction of an idiomatic and intelligible pronunciation of the Danish language. In support of this goal you will find that the IPA is written directly into the score under the Danish text. This is practically never done in other publications, where the IPA will appear on a separate page, but based on our experience, the performers appreciate having the transcription ready at hand. The website, which you find through the QR code on the cover page, offers further instructions such as recordings with slow readings of the texts as well as special diction practice tracks. Included are also artistic readings of the texts done by actors which can inspire to a personal phrasing of the music, videos of the songs with students and faculty from The Royal Danish Academy of Music recorded by our Tonmeister students, and finally you will find an article discussing in detail the development of the notation used here.

The choice of repertoire has been a challenge since there is so much wonderful music to choose from. However, from the very beginning, I wanted to avoid problems with legal rights, which is why this publication ends with the composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). Other parameters have been to comply with different voice types and to include both single songs and song cycles. Finally, a focus on the role of the piano part as a collaborating voice and not “only” as an accompaniment is the reason why you find very few strophic songs with the same piano part for each verse. This has of course left out a vast number of songs meant for communal singing, but that repertoire, which experienced a veritable resurrection during Covid, deserves its own publication. The plan with this project is to continue with an anthology of songs from Rued Langgaard to the present. By that time, we hope to have solved the legal challenges.

I have many people to thank for their contribution to this project. First of all, my fellow musketeers: Ruben Schachtenhaufen, whose phonetic expertise has been crucial to the project, and Christen Stubbe Teglbjærg, whose role in the project has grown immensely over the years. Our collaboration means the world to me. A warm thank you also goes to Søren Schausser for his wonderful portraits of the composers and to Thomas Darelius for proof-playing the scores. Furthermore, I would like to thank Kirsten Buhl Møller for taking the first tentative steps with me, The Royal Danish Academy of Music for hosting the project and believing in it, the Danish Ministry of Culture for granting me the initial funding through the Artistic Research Fund (KUV-puljen), the AEC for including the work in the INTERMUSIC project, allowing us to try out the material in a digital learning environment, Marianne Løkke Jakobsen for including the publication in the MUSIPÆD project, and The A.P. Møller Foundation for granting the funds for it. A huge thank you to all the students involved over the years and to my wonderful colleagues in the voice department. Finally, a shout-out to Edition-S for initiating their research edition with this publication.

Eva Hess Thaysen