B.S. Ingemanns salmetekster som litterære forlæg for musikalske kompositioner

Abstract

The article examines the relations between Ingemann’s hymn texts and the musical works written to the texts. Central to the article are the questions of how Ingemann related to existing melodies when writing poetry, and how the composers related to the texts when composing new music for the texts. The article uses two approaches: The first is author-centered, as it examines how Ingemann’s early hymn texts from Morgenpsalmer (1823) and Høimesse-Psalmer (1825) are written to existing melodies. The second approach deals with reception aesthetics as it examines the composers’ different motivations for setting Ingemann’s hymn texts to music. The hymn texts described include “Glade jul, dejlige jul”, “Fred hviler over land og by” and “Den store mester kommer”.

The article shows that Ingemann’s hymn texts have been set to music to an extent that has not been known before. Many of the musical works are not in widespread use among the population, but they nevertheless testify to a great interest in and relevance of Ingemann’s religious writings over a period of approximately 200 years. One of the main points of the article is that Ingemann’s hymn texts have been used for many purposes other than congregational singing, which can be seen in different compositional approaches in the musical works.