Swedish ballad tradition

The Swedish ballad tradition had been initiated by Bellman in the late 18th century. In the 19th century, poetic sing-songwriting fell in decline in favour of the academical student choirs, until it was again revived in the 1890s. Poets increasingly continued the tradition of having their poetry put to music to give it a wider audience. In the early 1900s, a lot of poetry of the 90s poets Gustaf Fröding and Erik Axel Karlfeldt had been put to music, and the popularity of those poets largely depended on the troubadours.

Birger Sjöberg (1885–1929) was one of the early popular troubadours. Sjöberg published the poetry collection "Frida's Book" ("Fridas bok", 1922), a light and humorous story of the young "Frida". In 1926, he reinvented himself with "Kriser och kransar" ("Crises and garlands"), a much darker collection of poetry. It is regarded as the foremost collection of Swedish poetry of the 1920s. ["Tradition i förvandlning", Palm A., p.44, in Delblanc, Lönnroth & Gustavsson (ed.), vol 3.]

The arguably most renowned Swedish troubadour of the 20th century was however Evert Taube (1890–1976). He established himself as a performing artist in 1920 and toured Sweden for about three decades. He is best known for songs about sailors; ballads about Argentinian; and songs about the Swedish nature."Nöjets estradörer", Lönnroth L., in Lönnroth, Delblanc & Göransson (ed.), vol 3, pp.275-297]

A poet who has known for songs is Nils Ferlin (1898–1961) who published six collection of poetry between 1930 and 1957. Ferlin wrote melancholic but with a stinging irony. Many of his poets were put to music by friends and colleagues. "Nöjets estradörer", Lönnroth L., in Lönnroth, Delblanc & Göransson (ed.), vol 3, pp.275-297]

Between 1962 up until his death, the highest regarded singer-songwriter in the Swedish ballad tradition was Cornelis Vreeswijk (1937–1987). His song were initially leftist protest songs where he took upon him to speak for the weaker men of society. After his death, Vreeswijk also gained appreciation for his poetic qualities. "Nöjets estradörer", Lönnroth L., in Lönnroth, Delblanc & Göransson (ed.), vol 3, pp.275-297]

Perhaps the best-known contemporary troubadour is Lars Winnerbäck, whose folk-rock ballads, often infused with a poetic quality, mix a Christian socialist political message with a typically Swedish sensitivity to nature in the spirit of Vreeswijk, making him one of Sweden's most popular currently active musicians.

Notes and references

* Lönnroth, L., Delblanc S., Göransson, S. "Den svenska litteraturen" (ed.), 3 volumes (1999)