Anon. c.1740:

Aria: Lät min Gud för mig upwälla

ABOUT THE PIECE

- a unusual and delightful rococo aria with a Swedish text, for a solo voice and strings. The singing part is labelled simply voce, voice; it is given in soprano clef, but could also be sung in the tenor register.

The original is to be found in the music library of Carl Nyrén, donated at the end of the 18th century to the gymnasium (grammar school) of Härnösand in northern Sweden, and now part of the collection of the County Museum of VästerNorrland.

No composer's name is mentioned, nor is there any indication of an association with any particular scribe, owner or place. If I had to suggest a composer, it would be Johan Adolf Hasse, for there are several similar works attributed to him in the collection - but there are hundreds of other candidates: what composers had in common was much more significant than what distinguished one from another. It might have been composed around 1740, perhaps to an Italian text, and the Swedish text might have been a later replacement, though not much later, to judge by the handwriting: this is confident, flowing and flamboyant, not that of Carl Nyrén himself.

The manuscript stands on its own, not gathered together with other works, and consists of two folio sheets, sewn together but not bound; the music is written on seven of the eight pages, starting straight away on page 1 with no title-page.

The piece is unusual for several reasons

• it's written in score, and with no separate parts written out - most of the works in this collection are the other way round, only parts and no score;
• it has a Swedish text - though the marrying between syllable and note is so forced that one might hope that the text was translation rather than an example of what someone thought was convincing rhetoric;
• apart from that aspect, the source is a thoroughly professionally job, both as to composition and copying: the expression marks are detailed, consistent and effective, no notes are miscopied, text is clearly and consistently underlaid, and the inner parts are clearly thought through, leaving no suspicion that they might be the work of a learner: it might indeed be the work of a professional scribe at a publishing house - it's clear that not all publishing presupposed printing, if the demand was not known to be high enough;
• it features a musical figure which I haven't noticed in any other piece (do let me know if you who read this know of other examples!) - a note which starts plain but develops into a trill towards the end, in the last quarter of its life; I suspected at first that this might be a scribe's mistake, but it's consistent throughout the piece, and indeed is a delightful effect;
• the third instrumental part is called 'violetta', evidently a viola, though in the vast majority of other pieces in the collection the term 'alto viola' is used, and in an earlier generation 'violetta' would perhaps have indicated a viol, viola da gamba rather than viola da braccia.

The material offered here is essentially just the work of a scribe, making separate parts from the score: the only editorial changes are

• that I have given the solo singing-part in treble g-clef rather than the original soprano c-clef;
• I've included the basso part under the singing-part, as was normal at the time, and which is a rgeat help when a singer wants to rehearse with a single accompanist before meeting the band;
• I've included the marks p. and f. when these were occasionally missing in one part, though given in another.

Text:  

Lät min Gud för mig uppwälla wattnet utur lifsens kiälla, som är siälens nådesaft..   När min tro will magtlös blifwa kan ditt ord mig styrka gifwa, och meddela Himmelsk kraft.   Lät mig ej i sÿnden blifwa, Löse mig ur otrons klåfwa, nådens bud så skall siäl och hierta låfwa Dig min Gud.

Let my God for me pour water from the spring of life, the distillation of grace for the soul.   When my faith would become weak, Your word can give me strength And bring Heavenly power.   Let me not in sin remain, Release me from the thrall of infidelity. For the message of grace, shall soul and heart praise You my God.

There's more about the Nyrén collection and my work with it here:

Warmest thanks to Inger Stenman and Per Höglund at the VästerNorrland County Museum, and to Karin Skoglund for help with the text.

You can hear my own recorded interpretation here.

David Kettlewell

david@new-renaissance.net

 

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