The Beauty of Windpower | 36 comments (36 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: The Beauty of Windpower (4.00 / 2)

Nice job!
Very minor nitpick: That would be the Swedish title for Grieg's compositions, "To elegiske melodier" should be the original Norwegian title... (or "Two elegiac melodies" in English, why not)

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Tue Jul 31st, 2007 at 06:35:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Beauty of Windpower (none / 1)

If you are sure, I'll be happy to change it. I took the title from the soundtrack file. Pure cut and paste. (I don't even know how to make that A with the circle over it just using my USA keyboard.)

I'm thinking I may have used the wrong title. Why would it be called "two" melodies when it is clearly just one?

Anyway--I just love the melody. Pure 19th century Nordic romanticism. When I was 16, I was in a choir that sang this tune to words written by someone other than Grieg. It was perhaps the only number that choir did well.

Anyone here know the real story about this melody? I would certainly like to get it right after all these years.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Tue Jul 31st, 2007 at 09:25:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

And here I thought it meant this part ... (4.00 / 2)

... of Minnesota has more gentleman Swedish farmers than gentleman Norwegian farmers.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Tue Jul 31st, 2007 at 10:47:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Grieg (4.00 / 2)

You are quite correct, the melody in question is "Våren" (The Spring) from "To elegiske melodier for strykeorkester""Två elegiska melodier för stråkorkester""Two Elegiac Melodies for Strings". The other melody of the two is "Hjertesår" (Heart wounds), which I did not find in any free, easily linkable version online.

Source: Complete list of Griegs works at the Grieg Museum Troldhaugen (in norwegian). It is Op34, so scroll down a bit.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Tue Jul 31st, 2007 at 02:02:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grieg (4.00 / 2)

Thank YOU!!!!!

I discover the mp3 file I was using was recorded by the Stockholm Philharmonic (which explains the Swedish spelling). The word Våren is included in parenthesis so I assumed it was not part of the name but some Nordic musical notation.

I also remember the choral version I learned was called "The Last Spring" but since I always assume such texts are either bad translations or written by someone other than the composer, it was not useful information.

I find this sort of confusion quite embarrassing. My grandfather who immigrated from Sweden was fluent in four languages (Swedish, Polish, German, English). He had four years of formal education. I, with a university degree, can barely navigate in one language.

But what is not in question is that Grieg's little tune is so beautiful it can make grown men weep.

Thanks again.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Tue Jul 31st, 2007 at 04:43:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grieg (4.00 / 2)

You are very welcome. 5 minutes with google and wikipedia (en/sv/no) was all it took. Being able to read swedish and norwegian (if you can read one you can read both) was a great advantage.

Polish? That is impressive. German and English are fairly easy for a swede, being germanic languages and all. But polish, yeah that is impressive.

Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se

by A swedish kind of death on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 at 08:56:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Grieg (none / 1)

The story he told me was that when he got to Chicago in 1899, his first job in a foundry was with a bunch of Poles. He claimed he thought they were speaking English so set out to learn it first (that, I never believed.)

What is true is that his language skills were first used in union organizing activities and later in Minnesota to help organize agricultural coops. I never found out if could ever write in Polish, but he could whip a crowd into a political frenzy in Polish. That may not fit the classic definition of "fluent" but it is close enough for me. His neighbor claimed he had a noticeable Swedish accent when he spoke Polish but that no one had trouble understanding him.

"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"

by techno (reply@elegant-technology.com) on Wed Aug 1st, 2007 at 12:07:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Beauty of Windpower | 36 comments (36 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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