Uppfostran till patriotism

En idéhistorisk exposé över manskörsångens århundrade ur ett upsaliensiskt perspektiv

Abstract

Brought up as patriots - a historical summary of a century of male voice choirs from the perspective of Uppsala.
The article is a historical survey of the role of male voice choirs in Sweden during the 19th century. An attempt is made ro reveal the ideas behind the creation of male voice choirs, how these ideas changed and in due course transformed the male voice choir into an 'honorable institution'. Two main stages can be distinguished in this development. During the introductory stage in the early years of the 19th century the trends were largely progressive but male voice choirs became bastions of conservatism during the second half of the century. An important condition for the growth of the male voice choirs was the appointment of JCF Haeffner as Director Musices at the University of Uppsala. However, he is only one link in the chain, where the contemporary system of philosophical. political. pedagogical and social ideas had decisive roles and where happenings abroad such as the war with Russia. resulting in the loss of Finland. and the choice of Marshall Bernadotte as Swedish Crown Prince. were contributory components. The great difference from the earlier singin at the University was the patriotic role of the male chorus with didactic undercurrents. The songs functioned as pieces of musical. patriotic. gothic rhetorics. Impulses for this came. for example. from the music of the
French revolution. However. initially there were no direct contacts with the parallel movement in male voice choirs in Germany. German male choruses and Liedertafel started to influence the soloistic song quartettes in the 1820's. the main forum being the concert hall and the soaré salons. The massive male chorus with its domestic repertoire remained, however, very much part of the Scandinavian student movement during the 1840's. At that time bourgeous concerts were considered the natural forum for the male voice choir. thus absorbing the final remnants of the idealistic male chorus movement. Having originally been devoted to active patriotism during wartime. the heroic songs were transformed into a ceremonial adoration of the incarnated god Tor - King Karl Johan and his dynasty. From there the lower classes were supplied with this 'suitable' form of bourgeous music. The student marches became the songs of workingmen. folk-ballads returned to the people as a re-moulded product. Simultaneously. the Swedish male chorus movement. although occasionally reactionary, became the involuntary intermediary in supplying the labour movement with enlightening pedagogic ideas and the methods used in the political struggle during the French revolution. The increases in the number of patriotic songs in school books. generally found in periods of crisis. can partly be explained by a surge of patriotism on these occasions among leading cultural personalities. Patriotism appears to belong to the ineradicable archetypes of mankind. Patriotic songs are still used today in the same way as during the French revolution. the German war of liberation against Napoleon and the Swedish war with Russia. The Swedish male chorus movement in the early 1800's is one of the many examples of the role played by the patriotic song in unifying a nation. but is also a classic example of how the ruling class can make use of the same repertoire to further its own interests.