Roman-forskningens nuläge - och en blick framåt

Abstract

One aim of this paper is to give a survey of the research on J. H. Roman (1694-1758) from the 1910s to the present, including some information on unpublished material. Another aim is to point out the most obvious lacunae and central tasks that should be dealt with. Thus recent findings and tentative hypotheses have been inserted at suitable places. The table on p. 9 shows the amount of identifications of spurious works and doubtful attributions untio 1980. The results are summarized later on in the paper. For further details see the publication Mr. Roman’s Spuriosity Shop (1976), with supplement (1980). Section 2 is designed as a complementary addition to the source descriptions and thematic catalogue in I. Bengtsson, J. H. Roman och hans instrumentalmusik (1955). Details are given of recent identifications of works by other composers. In these particular respects, the scope of Roman’s production of
instrumental music may now be considered to be fairly well mapped out. Section 3 deals with Roman’s son Johan Helmich junior. The identification in 1979 of his handwriting is an extremely valuable clue as regards the authenticity of a great many works, confirming several other statements in the source material. In particular, it is important with respect to the vocal compositions
attributed to Roman. In section 4, earlier contributions to the knowledge of Roman’s vocal works are critically commented upon in chronological order. Since the pioneering work by D. Vretblad from 1914 few such comments have appeared. Unfortunately the relevant parts of the Roman-collection of “Skma” are bound in an extremely messy way and never have been thoroughly described and analyzed. The amount of parody songs using tunes by Roman certainly does not diminish the complications. Some important studies in that field have been made by Åke Vretblad. Summarizing facts on identifications of vocal works are added in section 5.
The futurological part starts with section 6. Here we can note (6. i) that there still are several unsolved biographical riddles, for example concerning Roman’s lineage and family, his years in England, his contacts with Hessen-Kassel, & c. An earlier intermittent discussion of work chronology (6.2) with contributions by C.-A. Moberg, R. Danielson and G. Rhyming is noted as a sign of the need for thorough source criticism of the vocal compositions; inter alia some insight should be possible to obtain from paper properties, watermarks in particular. Another group of problems centers around (6.3) Roman’s choice of vocal texts, both sacred and secular, mostly in Swedish but also in several other languages. Special attention should be paid to his religious outlook and his keen interest in musical declamation of poems and Biblical texts in Swedish, which immediately arouses questions about his personal contacts with clergymen poets and linquists. The paper ends with (6.4) a reminder or the stylistic problems remaining, and (6.5) the regrettable scarcity of critical editions, in particular of vocal compositions.