Josef Eriksson (1872−1957)
Josef Eriksson was born in Söderfors, Uppland on 8 December 1872 and died in Uppsala on 4 July 1957. He earned degrees in organ performance, church singing and music education, and studied composition under Ruben Liljefors. He lived in Uppsala throughout his professional life, working as both a composer, organist, choirmaster, teacher and music critic. His early compositions had a modernist inclination, later leaning towards a greater degree of simplicity. Although he composed within a variety of music genres, the weight of his work lies in his over 200 songs.
From Söderfors to Uppsala
Born 8 December 1872 to a teacher and organist, and after spending an isolated childhood in the Uppland industrial community Söderfors, Josef Eriksson moved to Uppsala where he earned degrees as an organist (1900) and precentor (1901) at Uppsala University. This was followed by a degree in music education in Stockholm under the composer Ruben Liljefors in 1906. Several years later, from 1913 to 1915, he continued with further studies in composition under Liljefors.
Eriksson was an organist in Söderfors, organist and cantor in Gävle and Uppsala, and music teacher at Uppsala folkskoleseminarium (a teachers’ college) from 1904 to 1907, followed by Småskoleseminariet (a college for primary school teachers) from 1921 to 1931. He lived in Uppsala throughout his life and worked there as both a composer, organist, choirmaster, teacher and music critic (for the Upsala newspaper). He passed away in Uppsala on 4 July 1957. Taking into account his 200 songs, set to lyrics written by some 60 poets, it can be said that he formed a third ‘Uppsala School’ (after Geijer/Lindblad in the early 1800’s; Josephson/Nyblom/Wennerberg, in the late 1800’s). His written correspondence with Mr Knut Håkanson 1913−29 (850 letters consisting of thousands of pages) reveals an intimate glimpse of the contemporary music scene.
Eriksson’s acquaintance with the 15 years younger composer Knut Håkanson was of critical importance, not least economically, for the often impoverished, frequently depressed and slightly bitter Josef Eriksson. While Håkanson was still rich, he was generous with spontaneous contributions, annuity payments, and assistance with the publishing of Eriksson’s music. Their letter correspondence, which began in 1913, was marked initially by formalities such as addressing each other as ‘Herr’ (Sir), but it soon became deeply personal. Contact was initiated by Eriksson, who sent a number of his own compositions via an agent, although it turned out that Håkanson was already familiar with most of his works.
Radical modernism
Josef Eriksson began composing in what was then considered to be a radical modernistic style, which was characterised by chromatic chords together with dissonant bitonalities and polytonalities in free harmonic progressions. His expressive style of song composition soon came to dominate all the musical genres that had been highly valued by his Uppsala predecessors in song composition, particularly pieces for men's quartet, choir and mixed choir set to a wide variety of lyrics, in addition to solo songs. In one of his early letters to Josef Eriksson, Håkanson described him as one of Sweden’s most original composers: ‘Dear friend, these are only words, but I know that you are something, something real. And therefore the rest will certainly follow.’ Particularly in his first letter to Eriksson, which included Vildmarkssång, from op. 8, Håkanson wrote that he was ‘somewhat perplexed, before I had finished it and 'absorbed' the harmonies. No wonder, by the way! Everything new and original must, so to speak, be stamped into the brain.’
Both composers came to share the lot of the outsider. Håkanson was outraged that ‘respected, capable artists with most of their work behind them barely have enough food for the day,’ as was the case according to an interview with ‘the best Swedish author after the death of August Strindberg − Ola Hansson’: ‘I was steaming mad, so ashamed I was over how Swedes have behaved... what can now be expected vis-à-vis the young who are elbowing their way forward!’ On the other hand, he was delighted with Eriksson’s words on relinquishing the old to make way for the new: ‘Yes! Oh dear! It is just as well that someone like you would at least cross the border to their own Terra Nuova.’ Eriksson realised that ‘a lot of musicians view my music as sheer experimentation’ and he continues: ‘From hereon, I would retort that I do not release anything until it is tested and true. That it is no longer an experiment, but appears as I intended.’ Both shared an admiration for Mahler’s songs, which according to them, was absolutely necessary in order to understand his symphonies.
An explanation
Since Håkanson found Eriksson’s song Solvind ‘extremely strange’, he sent him a ‘new edition of Cherubini’s counterpoint’ for careful study. During the summer of 1913 he received an answer from Josef Eriksson:
I think in any case − and no one will change my mind − it’s not that by basing one’s music on folk music that it becomes alive, nor even that one’s music consists of a lot of counterpoint. Music comes to life only if it has sprung from a living soul. Look at Fröding, look at Strindberg. What is it that enlivens their works, that engages us? It is not the artistic building blocks of their works (although I certainly do not underestimate these), but everything that they have lived through.
In the summer of 1914 Eriksson revealed a plan to ‘achieve something like Schoenberg’s Opus 19.’ The result was Eriksson’s Sechs kleine Klavierstücke op. 19, i.e. with the same title and the same opus number as Schoenberg’s works, and he added: ‘It did not end up resembling Schönberg at all.’ Håkanson responded however with mixed emotions: ‘Your purpose in life is to be an ‘agent’, a salt of the Earth, who forces people to think, feel differently. Away with habitual thinking and worn-down paths.’ On the music: ‘The first appeared almost as the colour red to a bull; I was a bit angry − but as it was, I saw the method in the madness. Nor did it seem as strange as I thought.’ But how many Swedish composers could reason like this in 1914?
Aesthetic considerations
The following year, in 1915, Eriksson suggested a volte-face in an eleven-page letter, in a move away from his experimenting that had reached a climax in the seven songs op. 14 from 1912, to something lighter and simpler. Earlier, he had wanted to ‘liberate himself from the darkness, struggling against the appalling conditions created within oneself ... I dare say that to me life and art are everything, as far as that is possible for human beings.’ However, despite persistent composing and touring both as a conductor and as a musician, success did not materialise, and in economic terms, he constantly led a precarious life, eased to some extent by financial assistance from national composition grants, especially throughout his later period, 1946−57.
In some ways his struggle for light was also successful. When Håkanson, after many years of friendship, summarised Eriksson’s musicianship in a January 1928 review in the Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning magazine, he discovered the ‘entire spectrum of the human heart’ in Eriksson’s song lyricism. But it was Eriksson’s warm sense of humour, particularly in his men's vocal quartets, and his song cycle Gamla gardet with lyrics by Ola Hansson, which he regarded highest, along with the irony and satire of this harmonic innovator. However, worldly success did not materialise for Eriksson, even though the ‘modernism’ which he had already more or less abandoned would soon dominate public music life, both in Sweden and internationally. Among his few pleasures was that Royal Opera baritone John Forsell had begun to perform his songs, as had the Orphei Drängar mens’ choir in the form of choral works and quartets, and the Kjellströmska Quartet (on tours with his Bukolika−suite and Ad tenebras). However, he often felt offended by Swedish music publishers and the majority of critics.
One of the foremost experts on Swedish song, Lennart Hedwall, found that one can not speak of Eriksson’s development in any way following his turnabout in 1914−15, after which the simplification and dispiritedness in his music almost completely isolated him from music of the outside world. At the same time, his unstoppable widening register of expression enabled him to periodically return to the poetry of Vilhelm Ekelund and Ola Hansson. According to Hedwall, his Ekelund-dikter op. 56 appeared 1939−42 only after he had worked with them for over 20 years without writing down a single note. Hedwall also finds ‘a direct Schubertian feeling for form’ in Eriksson’s Piano Sonata in G major op. 23.
Josef Eriksson’s piano music expresses a breadth and versatility similar to his songs, simultaneously remaining both intimate and universal, with inflections of desperate sorrow, as in his Poème tragique op. 13, dedicated to Gustaf Fröding, and the dark, conflict-ridden Chanson triste in the spirit of Alexandr Scriabin, to the ‘Schumannistic’ fragrant Ro, both from his Pianolyrik op. 53, or Ad tenebras from 1921, which was also arranged for string quartet. In his own music, he tackled his depression in a strange way, as expressed in a letter: ‘I do not think any human being − without being apathetic − wishes to become an outcast voluntarily.’
Conclusion
In 1918 Josef Eriksson was one of the eighteen founders of FST, Föreningen Svenska Tonsättare (the Society of Swedish Composers). He also received national music composition grants in 1916, 1927−28 and 1946−57. In 1932 he was elected as member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in addition to being awarded the royal medal Litteris et artibus. The Uppsala University Library has built up a large Josef Eriksson archive, including the original manuscripts of a greater part of his production, letters, newspaper clippings, manuscripts and biographical documents − together with a large collection of poetry he set music to or collected for later compositions.
Rolf Haglund © 2016
Trans. Thalia Thunander
Publications by the composer
Eriksson's manuscript and letter collection (including 800 letters to Knut Håkanson) was given to Uppsala University's Library in 1973.
Bibliography
Andersson, Bengt (excerpts and commentary): Oss tonsättare emellan, Brevväxling 1913–29 mellan Knut Håkanson och Josef Eriksson, Göteborg: Altfiol i Väst, 2015 (with CD).
Andersson, Bengt (excerpts and commentary): Tonsättare Knut Håkanson som musikrecensent i Göteborg, Göteborg: Altfiol i Väst, 2011.
Connor, Herbert: Svensk musik, vol. 2, Från Midsommarvaka till Aniara, Lund: Bonnier, 1977.
Forslin, Alfhild: Runeberg i musiken, SSLF, Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, no. 367, 1958.
Hedwall, Lennart: ‘Josef Eriksson’, in: Musik, 1962.
−−−: Josef Erikssons kyrkomusik, Kyrkosångsförbundet, 1962.
Helmer, Axel: ‘Josef Eriksson’, in: Sohlmans musiklexikon, vol. 2, Stockholm: Sohlman, 1975.
Håkanson, Knut: En svensk sångkomponist och hans utveckling, Köpenhamn: Musik, 1920.
−−−: ‘Svenska sångkomponister, 1: Josef Eriksson’, Ares, 1922, no. 7.
−−−: ‘Josef Eriksson och hans körkompositioner’, in: Vår sång, 1929.
Nordenfors, Ola: Känslans kontrapunkt, studier i den svenska romansen 1900−1950, diss., Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, 1992.
Sundkvist, Axel V.: Sven Kjellström-Institutet för rikskonserter, Umeå: self-published, 1978.
Summary list of works
Orchestral works, chamber music, piano works (sonatas, Lyrische Fantasien, Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, etc.), songs (over 200 solo songs, including Fyra Karlfeldt Songs, Seven Songs and Gamla Gardet), choral music (approximately 40 songs for men's choir, 24 men's quartets and about 20 songs for mixed choir), organ music.
Collected works
Vocal works with orchestra
Vårlåt (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 6:1, 1911.
Långt borta i världen (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 6:2, 1911.
Gullevi (A. Fjelner) op. 9:2, 1911.
I månaden Tjaitra (S. Agrell) op. 12:1, 1911.
Oändlighet (S. Agrell) op. 12:2, 1911.
Den svenske Celadons klagovisa över de svarta morhianer i Afrika (G. Fröding) op. 24:2, 1915.
Min själ vak upp ur dina tunga drömmar (V. Ekelund) op. 33:1, 1917.
Tonen (K. Hamsun), for solo tenor, men’s choir & orchestra (instr. Ivar Hellman), 1920.
Till en fjärran vän (E. Wessel) (instr. Ivar Hellman) op. 54:1, 1934.
Du har låtit din kärlek få försvinna, folk poem from Dala-Järna, for voice and string orchestra, also for voice and piano, printed 1948.
Other orchestral works
Air, for violin and orchestra, also for violin and piano op. 15:1, 1913.
Två danser i folkton, for violin and orchestra op. 36, 1916−18.
Bukolika, svit for string orchestra op. 27, 1917. [Also for string quartet.]
Ad tenebras (I skymningen), andante for string orchestra, 1921. [Also for piano or string quartet.]
Chamber music
Air for violin and piano op. 15:1, 1912.
Bukolika for string quartet op. 27, 1917. 1. Alla marcia, 2. Faun och nymf, 3. Menuett, 4. Pastorale, 5. Alla marcia. [Also for string orchestra.]
Två danser i folkton, A major, G major op. 36, 1918. [Orchestrated by Knut Håkanson, 1920.]
Elegi for violin and piano, 1919. [Also without violin.]
Ad tenebras (I skymningen), andante for string quartet. 1921. [Also for piano and for string orchestra.]
Douce-musik, 1921.
Exotisk svit op. 40 (including among others Morhianernas dans och Exotisk dans), 1921.
Music for winds
Gamla gardet op. 21, arranged for brass sextet, 1916.
Menuettfantasi över två skånska folkmelodier, 1916.
Piano
Två fantasistycken, printed 1900. 1. Novellette, 2. Impromptu.
Lyriska stämningar, op. 3, 1902.
Skisser och melodier op. 4, printed 1903.
Linnea, melodi, printed 1903.
Lyriska fantasier op. 8, printed 1911.
Poème tragique op. 13, printed 1911.
Sechs kleine Klavierstücke op. 19, 1914, printed 1916.
Sonatin op. 22, 1914, printed 1916.
Sonata, G major op. 23 (1914−16).
Vår, valse lente, ?.
Två danser i folkton op. 36, for violin and piano, 1918. [Orchestrated by Knut Håkanson, 1920.]
Elegi for violin and piano, 1919. [Also without violin.]
Exotisk svit op. 40 (including among others Morhianernas dans och Exotisk dans), 1921.
Douce-musik, 1921.
Ad tenebras, 1921 [Also for string quartet or string orchestra].
Bröllopsmarsch for piano or organ, 1926.
Fem Karlfeldt-sånger, after the setting for men’s choir, freely rearranged for solo piano, printed 1931.
En vårfanfar i marschform, to the Uppsala YMCA scouts on their tenth anniversary 13 May, printed 1933.
Bukolika, op. 27, setting for piano, printed 1935.
Pianolyrik, ten piano pieces, op. 53, printed 1935.
Lyrik, three piano pieces op. 61, printed 1944.
En liten vals, op. 64:1, printed 1948.
Organ
Simple and melodic preludes, op. 1, for organ or pump organ, printed 1902.
Bröllopsmarsch for piano or organ, 1926.
New collection of preludes op. 7, 1927.
Ten small organ pieces op. 63, printed 1948.
Songs
For voice and piano unless otherwise marked.
Slummersång (‘Effe’), 1896.
Old songs: 1. En resa (A. T. Gellerstedt), 1902, 2. Så underligt känns i mitt sinne (V. Juva), 1902, 3. Nu är de vita sippornas tid (R. Winter), 1896, 4. Siris vaggvisa (K.A. Melin), 1899, 5. Vill min lilla vän du vara? (A.T. Gellerstedt), 1902.
Spiritual songs (Swedish hymnal): 1. Om aftonen, 2. Hymn: Si Jesus är ett tröstrikt namn, ?.
Augustihymn (E.A. Karlfeldt), printed 1903.
Sensommar (E.N. Söderberg), 1904.
Four songs op. 5, 1905. 1. Lägg lugnt och fast din hand i min (E. Collin), 2. Adagio (B. Bergman), 3. Dina ögon äro eldar, 4. Du vet ej (båda E.A. Karlfeldt).
Four songs (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 6, 1911. 1. Vårlåt, 2. Långt borta i världen, 3. Uppbrott, 4. Höstens vår.
Six songs op. 9, 1911. 1. Nu faller natt över havet (H. Johnsson), 2. Gullevi (A. Fjelner), 3. Nocturne (E. Kléen), 4. Det faller ett gulnat löv (E. Kléen), 5. Jungfru Margits vårvisa (E. Kléen), 6. Över dina händer lutad (A. Österling).
Three songs (C. Sandell) op. 11, 1911. 1. Vildmarkens sång, 2. Höst, 3. Vårlöften.
Two songs (S. Agrell) op. 12, 1911. 1. I månaden Tjatra, 2. Oändlighet.
Seven songs op. 14, 1912. 1. En havssnäcka (E. Kléen), 2. Världens gång (G. Fröding), 3. En ariers hustruvisa (G. Fröding), 4. Trötta träd (M. Lybeck), 5. Den nattlotusögda (Sigurd Agrell), 6. Ung kärlek (E.A. Karlfeldt), 7. Idag vill jag tacka dig (S. Lidman).
Two songs by Maria Åkermark (Zwei Lieder), 1913. 1. När döden drar förbi, 2. Sjung, solvind, sjung.
Bed att det dagas (Z. Topelius), 1914. [Also for women’s choir and for solo and mixed choir with organ or piano.]
Landstormssång (J. Nordling), printed 1914.
Julimåne and other poems (A. Kock) op. 17. 1. Vi sprider allt längre, 2. Julimåne, 3. De bränna oss ögonblicken, ?.
Jag är en sjungandes röst (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 24:1, 1914.
Den svenske Celadons klagovisa (G. Fröding) op. 24:2, 1915.
Vandringen och målet, three poems by Hj. Procopé, op. 24:3−5, 1915/33. 1. Där är en ring kring våra själar dragen, 2. Vi tala vid graven saknadens ord, 3. Vandringen och målet.
Bisp Thomas sång om friheten, 1915.
Songs (M. Åkermark) op. 16. 1. Sjung, solvind, sjung, 2. Skuggan, ?.
Julimåne and other poems (A. Kock) op. 17. 1. Vi spridas allt längre, 2. Julimåne, 3. De bränna oss, ögonblicken, ?.
Helig mark (J. Nordling) op. 25, 1914. 1. Samlad låga, 2. Hör klockornas sång, 3. Håll marken helig, 4. Riddarpojkarnas sång, 5. Riddarflickornas sång, 6. Vallfartsmannen.
Skånska melodier (O. Hansson) op. 26, 1915/27, printed 1927. 1. Nu vissna mina blommor, 2. Då gult det var på marken, 3. Sommarblund, 4. Spleen, 5. Vårbräckningen.
Tills en blir borta and other poems (A. Fjelner) op. 28. 1. Tills en blir borta, 1915/1917/1935, 2. Efter år, 1916/1917/1935, 3. Nocturne, 1916/1934, 4. En visa i försommartid, ?, 5. När de första syrenerna blomma, ?.
Gästen (E. Lindorm) op. 29:1, 1914.
Viskning över ett barns säng (E. Lindorm) op. 29:2 , 1914.
Fosterlandet (A. Lundegård), ?.
Notturno (O. Hansson) op. 30, 1916. 1. Ej måne och ej en stjärna, 2.
Midnattens timma har slagit, 3. Det ljusnar och vågorna gunga, 1916.
Vilhelm Ekelund poems op. 33, 1917. 1. Ljus, 2. Förbi, 3. Min själ, vak upp ur dina tunga drömmar, 4. Du kunde ju ej veta, 5. Verlaine-stämning, 6. Gästen.
Berceuse (S. Obstfelder) op. 34:2, 1918.
Mot alla stjärnor spanar and other poems by Vilhelm Ekelund op. 37. 1. Mot alla stjärnor spanar, 1917/1932, 2. Över havet sjunker en stjärna, 1917/34, 3. Heinrich das Kind, 1917, 4. Varför hörs i kväll så tidigt, 1916.
Tonen (K. Hamsun), 1920, also for solo tenor and men’s choir.
Madonnan och barnet i örtagård (E. Linderholm), printed 1921.
Tora synger (K. Hamsun), 1936.
Norwegian poems (S. Obstfelder) op. 38:1, 1937. 1. Vaar, 2. Fra mine teknikerdage 1890, 1918/29, 3. Sommer, 1918.
Poems (P. Lagerkvist) op. 41, 1922. 1. Jorden är blott du och jag och mull, 2. Ingenting får störa vår stund med varandra, 1922.
Jämtland (G. Eriksson), 1922. [Also for mixed choir.]
Stora och underbara äro dina verk (Joh. Uppenb.), 1923.
Poems (P. Lagerkvist) op. 42, 1924. 1. Så gamla äro alla moln, 2. På berget ligger en gammal stad, 3. Var är den djupa glädje som jag söker, 4. Jag vet att bortom det jag dunkelt anar.
Dina systrar (K. Asplund), 1924.
Där ute sjunger en fågel (V. Ekelund), 1924.
Sång till Hälsingland (A. Engberg), 1925.
Är jag intill döden trött (H. Löwenhjelm), 1925.
Vinden drar, finländsk folkvisa, 1926.
Huset det står vid Siljan (Västbergapolka), folkmelodi (W. Hebbe), 1926.
Upplandssång (O. Thunman), also for unison choir and piano, printed 1926.
Befriad är dagen från morgonens ok (P. Lagerkvist), 1926.
Children’s songs from R.L. Stevensons ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses’ (trans. E. Blomberg), op. 43. 1. System, 2. Solen på resa, printed 1927.
Huset det står vid Siljan (Västbergapolska) (W. Hebbe), ?.
Ballads (E. Blomberg) op. 44, 1926. 1. Den ljusa nattens ljusa fågeldrillar, 2. Den djupa källan, 3. Höst, 4. Du – och ingenting annat, 5. Men kvinnor är visa, 6. Förälskat folk.
Ballads from Shakespeare’s As you like it, op. 45, 1927. 1. Blås, blås du vintervind, 2. En ungersven med kärestan sin, 3. Sig himlens änglar glädja, 4. Vart äktenskap gör Juno glad.
Hembygdens stämma (O. Thunman), 1927.
Nu blekna alla stjärnor (B. Lundqvister) op. 46:1, 1927.
I natten (V. Rydberg) op. 46:2, 1928.
Post tenebras lux (C. Sandell), also for solo, two choirs, organ and piano, 1928.
En höstvisa (E. Beskow), 1929, printed 1942.
Songs and ballads op. 47. 1. Modern (V. Rydberg), 1929, 2. Solen går sin höga ban (Harriet Löwenhjelm), 1927, 3. Vackra rosor ska vi plocka (C.F. Dahlgren), 1929, 4. Vår svenska mark (A. Furuhage), 1928, 5. Spel-Olles gånglåt (H.G. Olsson/K. Hed), 1928, 6. Till Rosina (M. Nordlund), 1928.
Gossen min bor i Alunda by, folk melody from Uppland, ?.
Sånger om sol och sommar (E. Lindström) op. 49. 1. Hemlängtan, 2. Vandrarelängtan, 3. Aftonstämning, ?.
Gråt inte flickor (W. Shakespeare, trans. E. Blomberg), 1929.
Serenad (A. Sölvén) op. 50:1, 1930.
Nocturne (A. Sölvén) op. 50:2, 1930.
Till hembygden (A. Sölvén) op. 50:3, 1930.
Norrbottenssång (J.P. Hedén), 1930.
Till en sjuttonåring (G. Jönsson), 1930.
Långt i sena natten sitter jag och spelar (N. Svanberg) op. 51:1, 1931.
Mitt hjärta längtar mycket (N. Svanberg) op. 51:2, 1931.
Barnen leka (P.-U. Bolinder) op. 52:2, 1931.
Segla, segla rosensky (E. Brogren), 1918/35.
Songs and ballads op. 54, 1936. 1. Till en fjärran vän (E. Wessel), 1934, 2. Adagio (B. Bergman), 1904/34, 3. Jungfru Maria (E.A. Karlfeldt), 1905/1936, 4. Och riddaren for ut i Österland (A. Strindberg), 1909, 5. Jane Gray (H. Ammann), 1907/1936.
Ögonmakt (O. Hansson), 1915/1936.
Nu slockna alla lampor (M. Bill), 1937.
Kan du höra honom komma (Nils Ferlin), 1938.
German poems op. 55, 1938. 1. Das große Kind (Des Knaben Wunderhorn), 2. An den Brunnen (M. Claudius), 3. Als Daphne krank war (M. Claudius).
Musik and other poems by Vilhelm Ekelund op. 56. 1. Musik, 1939, 2. Din sorg jag vet, 1938, 3. Inspiration, 1939, 4. Sorg, 1940, 5. Varma kvällen kommer sakta, 1940.
Poems by Hans Dhejne op. 57, 1939. 1. Eine kleine Nachtmusik, 2. Lycka, 3. Japansk miniatyrträdgård, 4. Källan, 5. När viporna flytta, 1939.
Vi kom fra marken (K. Hamsun), 1939.
Säg mig, blommar aldrig mer ... and other poems by Marianne Bill, op. 58. 1. Säg mig, blommar aldrig mer, 1939, 2. Det säges att Apollons svanar sjunga, 1940, 3. Allt är förvandlat när du kommer, 1938.
English poems op. 59, 1940. 1. To Daffodils (R. Herrick), 2. Weep no more (J. Fletcher), 3. Spring (Th. Nashe), 4. All the Words (W.B. Yeats), 5. They are not long (E. Dowson), 6. She comes not when Noon is on the Roses (H. Trench).
Ro (V. Ekelund), ?.
Sång för hemvärnet: Frihetsed (A. Sölvén), printed 1940.
I öster stiger solen opp (Sv. Psalm 432), pastorale for solo voice and organ, op. 60:1, printed 1941.
Två väldiga strida (Sv. Psalm 266: 1&4), for solo voice and organ, op. 60:2, printed 1941.
Du (B. Lundqvister), ?.
En dag (G. Ullman), printed 1942.
En höstvisa (Elsa Beskow) (Ur ‘Görans bok’), printed 1942.
En julsång (J. Nordling), printed 1942.
Songs op. 62. 1. Jag kommer nog en afton (H. Grundström), 1944, 2. Vårbräckningen (O. Hansson), 1915/43, 3. O moder (asian folk poem), 1944, 4. Ur striden (G. Ullman),1919.
Du har låtit din kärlek få försvinna, folk poem from Dala-Järna, also for voice and string orchestra, printed 1948.
Småpikerne danser (A. Øverland) op. 65:1, 1947.
Og atter ser jeg (V. Krag), op. 65:2, printed 1948.
Kvelden lister seg på tå over kløverengen (I. Hagerup) op. 65:3, 1952.
Sånger om blommor och fjärilar, printed 1957.
Choir
All for men’s choir unless otherwise marked.
Andliga songs for mixed choir (Swedish hymnal). 1. Om aftonen, 2. Hymn:
Si Jesus är ett tröstrikt namn, printed 1915.
På hoppets dag (Z. Topelius) for mixed choir, 1914.
Bed att det dagas (Z. Topelius) for mixed choir, 1914.
Gamla gardet (O. Hansson), op. 21, 1915. [Also arranged for brass sextet, 1916.]
Fosterland (O. Hansson), 1916.
Five poems (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 31, 1916.
Four songs op. 32, for men’s choir or men’s quartet, ?.
Vaar (S. Obstfelder) op. 34:1, 1918.
Berceuse (S. Obstfelder) op. 34:2 for solo baritone and men’s choir, 1918. [Also a version without solo baritone.]
Bevara, Gud, vårt fosterland (J. L. Runeberg), op. 35:2, printed 1927.
Kåres sang (B. Bjørnson) op. 35:3, 1918.
Tonen (K. Hamsun) for solo tenor and men’s choir, 1920.
Stora och underbara äro dina verk (Joh. Uppenb.), for solo, mixed choir and organ, 1923.
Jämtland (G. Eriksson), for voice and piano or mixed choir, 1923.
Sång till Hälsingland (A. Engberg), 1925.
Serenad (Erik Brogren), for solo bass and men’s choir, ?.
Upplandssång (O. Thunman) for unison choir and piano, also for voice and piano, printed 1926.
Post tenebras lux (C. Sandell) for solo, two choirs, organ and piano, 1928.
Guds jord och Guds himmel (P.-U. Bolinder), six songs, op. 52, for solo, choir and organ for the consecration of Sandvikens church, 1931.
Sabbatsdag (G. Sillén), for baritone, three-part women’s choir and organ [from Kantat vid Grums kyrkas invigning 2 november 1930], printed 1933.
Påskljuset (G. Lindeberg), for mixed choir, printed 1935.
Tre höstvisor (V. Ekelund, Kerstin Hed) op. 39, for mixed choir, printed 1937.
Söderfors (C. V. Böttiger), for solo voice or unison choir and piano, printed 1948.
Men’s quartet
Two poems, 1914.
Six songs op. 20, (Arvid Mörne), ?. [Also for men’s choir.]
Gamla gardet op. 21 (O. Hansson), printed 1915.
Five poems (E.A. Karlfeldt) op. 31, 1916. 1. Ett hjärta, 2. En hornlåt, 3. Selinda och Leander, 4. En envis dalkarls visa, 5. Göken.
Four songs op. 32. 1917. 1. Nu sjunges maj i gård och by (V. Ekelund), 2. Kungsord (G. Ullman), 3. Sista dansen (G. Ullman), 4. Dragspelet (O. Hansson).
Obstfelder songs op. 34, 1917. 1. Vaar, 2. Berceuse, 3. Regn, 4. Hun stod paa bryggen.
Two songs op. 35, 1917. 1. Og atter ser jeg (V. Krag), 2. Kåres sang (B. Bjørnson).
Four poems (P. Lagerkvist) op. 42, 1924. 1. Så gamla äro alla moln, 2. På berget ligger en gammal stad, 3. Var är den djupa glädje, 4. Jag vet att bortom det jag dunkelt anar.