Sorge-Musique för en död drottning.

Om musiken vid Ulrika Eleonora den äldres begravning 1693

Abstract

Mourning Music for a Dead Queen.
On the Music for the Funeral of Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Older in 1693
Ulrika Eleonora the older, the Queen of Sweden since 1680, died in July 1693. She was buried in the Royal funeral church, Riddarholmskyrkan, on November 28 the same year. The Queen’s funeral was designed to be one of the most magnificent ceremonies of state in Sweden during the baroque era. The decorations for the ceremony were created by the Royal court architect, Nicodemus Tessin the younger (1654– 1728). For the Queen’s coffin he built a castrum doloris with a huge black pyramid, covered with emblems and inscriptions painted in a golden colour, which were illuminated by lamps inside the construction (see illustration). Little or nothing has been known about the music played during this ceremony. According to the official printed account two musical works were performed. In this article I am able to show that the works referred to consisted of one composition by the French court violinist Pierre Verdier, Kristus är mitt liv, and one by the Flemish composer Daniel Danielis, Ascpice e caelis, with a new text in Swedish. This can be shown by means of source and watermark studies and by analysing the texts. The biblical verse on which Verdier’s piece is based (Phil. 1:21: “to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”), was the Queens motto and the text for the funeral sermon. Moreover, Danielis’ Aspice e caelis was originally composed for the funeral of princess Eleonora of Güstrow-Mecklenburg, who was a cousin to Ulrika Eleonora’s husband, the King. Both works are marked by a sad, plaintive affect appropriate for such an occasion. Both are scored for gamba consort, which in this time was associated with tears and sorrow. Arguably, one could relate the specifically sweet and tearful character of these pieces to the Queens’ female gender. Contemporary funeral music for Kings and male heroes seem to have had a more dignified and moderate affect. In both works we find instances of symbolic, rhethorical personification: in Verdier’s composition the duet between bass and soprano can be associated with the Queens’ tender relation to Christ. In Danieli’s motet the solo soprano voice represents the female gender of the person being buried.