Hildor Lundvik (1885-1951)

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Hildor Lundvik, born on 6 March 1885 in Hille, Gästrikland and died on 24 January 1951 in Stockholm, was a composer, choir conductor and singing teacher. He was educated at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm as well as in the town of Västerås. He was the conductor for the choirs Stockholms allmänna sångförening, Stockholms sångarförbund and Bellmanskören. As a composer he wrote mainly vocal music. He was married to Johanna Magdalena Näsman.

Life

Student years

Hildor Lundvik was born the son of kontraktsprosten (a dean within the Swedish Lutheran Church) Johan Vilhelm Lundvik and his wife, Hilda Nordendahl. He began his higher education in Uppsala, studying law, and later continued with studies at the Kungliga Musikkonservatoriet (the Royal Conservatory of Music) in Stockholm. After graduating as a music teacher in 1912, he began working as a singing teacher during 1913. In 1919 he completed his organ studies in Västerås.

His earliest compositions date from his time in Uppsala, when in 1909 Hildor Lundvik was awarded a third-place prize by the Sällskapet för svenska kvartettsångens befrämjande (the Swedish society for the promotion of quartet singing) for the compositions, ‘Vägens vindar’ and ‘Sorg’. The first song had been entered with the signature ‘Ventus’ and the second was signed ‘Ipse ego’. Lundvik was still a law student and seems to have retained his Latin skills.. The first had been entered with the signature ‘Ventus’ and the second one was signed ‘Ipse ego’. Lundvik  was still a law student and seems to have retained his Latin skills.

Church musician and choral conductor

While Hildor Lundvik had great success as a choir director, for many years he worked simultaneously as a church musician in Stockholm, first from 1924 to 1925 as acting cantor at the Tyska kyrkan (the German Church) and thereafter from 1926 to 1927 as a temporary cantor at the Gustaf Vasa kyrka (the Gustaf Vasa Church) and as regular cantor at S:t Görans kyrka (St. Göran’s Church) from 1928 until his retirement in 1949.

In 1925 Hildor Lundvik succeeded Emil Carelius as the director of the male choir Stockholms allmänna sång föreningen, and he was in turn succeeded by the customs senior examining officer Axel Nylander in 1928. In 1930 Lundvik became the conductor of the choir Bellmanskören, which he led until 1950.

Stockholms sångarförbund (Stockholm’s Vocal Society) was an organisation for male choirs in Stockholm. Their historical documents show that in 1932 Hildor Lundvik was elected as second conductor for the association. The first conductor for the association was already Bror Arrhenius. The association had 35 associated choirs at the time with a total of one thousand individual members, participating extensively in major celebrations.

On 21 May 1934 the association’s 25-year anniversary was celebrated with the premiere of Lundvik’s cantata, Sången at the outdoor museum Skansen. The cantata was very successful and has been performed many times since then. This 25-year celebration is considered to be the largest celebration in the association’s history with over 900 singers taking part. The festivities took place over the larger part of the day and ended with a performance by the opera singer Joel Berglund. Both Hildor Lundvik and Bror Arrhenius took part as conductors. In 1935 Lundvik was chosen to be first conductor for the association.

The singing association was an association purely for male choirs and when in 1938 the Stockholms kooperativa kvinnokör (the Stockholm’s Cooperative Women’s Choir) applied for admission, they were rejected. However, they were authorised to use the ‘song cap with their own emblem’. That same year the association gave a concert in Copenhagen that resulted in a significant loss of money.

Honoured for meritorious service

In 1939 the association took part in the inauguration of the sports hall Eriksdalshallen and Hildor Lundvik received a service medal of gold and diamonds. In 1940 he received the royal medal, Litteris et artibus, and in 1941 he left his position as first conductor of the association. During the 1940s his connection to the association lessened.

In a chronicle of the singing association’s history one can read about Hildor Lundvik’s memorial tombstone, which was unveiled on 14 June 1953 at Saltsjöbaden’s graveyard where representatives of the association laid a wreath.

Works

Today Hildor Lundvik is best known for his choral music, of which ‘Som ett blommande mandelträd’, ‘Det första vårregnet’ and ‘Verlaine-stämning’ are the most frequently performed. Shorter orchestral pieces and purely instrumental music were also written by his hand, but the focus lies with vocal music, preferably sacred. Besides choral works there are solo songs that today belong to his lesser-known repertoire.

Songs such as ‘Lotusblomman’ från 1915 with text by Sigurd Agrell and ‘En skymningens visa’ from 1920 with text by Bengt E. Nyström are among his earliest. The texts appear to have been chosen with care and the music is inspired. Bengt E. Nyström is generally best known for the psalm text ‘Som sådden förnimmer Guds välbehag’.

Lundvik’s later creative output, written mostly during the 1930s, includes a number of strophic sacred songs characterised by their simplicity. Examples of these songs are ‘Än en dag’, ‘Helgsmålsringning’ and ‘På rosor gå vi fram’, all published in 1939 with texts by Ida Granqvist. Compared with his earlier profane works, both the piano and vocal parts of the songs appear to require much less skill.

In November 1921 the critic and composer, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, reviewed a booklet of Lundvik’s piano pieces and wrote that individual portions of his music are ‘melodically clear’ and remind one of the composer Emil Sjögren. Lundvik’s music has also been described in such terms as ‘romantic’ and ‘impressionistic’.

Iwa Sörenson von Gertten © 2016
Trans. Jill Ann Johnson

Bibliography

Edholm, Dag: S:ta Cecilias tjänare. Om kyrkomusikens utövare i Stockholm under fem århundraden, Sköndal: Edward Vincents orgelstiftelse, 2002, pp. 52, 66, 194.
Stockholms sångarförbund, bildat år 1909: [en återblick vid 50-årsjubileet], Stockholm, 1959.
Uddholm, Alf: Från ärkebiskop till fakir. Gävles Vasaskola och dess elever under fem sekler (1557−1990) : Gevalienses, Uppsala: Föreningen för svensk undervisningshistoria, 1996, p. 149.
Val, Ana: Expressiveness in choral conducting and its influence on the choir, masteruppsats, Luleå tekniska universitet, 2013, p. 24.
Vasa akademi: http://www.vasaakademi.se/Vasa_Akademi/1900-1924.html
Wallner, Bo: ‘Hildor Lundvik’, in: Sohlmans musiklexikon, vol. 4, Stockholm: Sohlman, 1977, p. 388.

Summary list of works

Orchestral works (Liten svit, Två elegiska melodier), a cantata (Sången), chamber music, piano music, songs, works for choir.

Collected works

This works list is based on information from a catalogue, which in many cases is incomplete with regards to instrumentation. Works in this list may therefore be incorrectly categorized.

Orchestra
Liten svit.
Två elegiska melodier.
På slåtterkalas, for salon orchestra. Nils Axberg, 1920.

Mixed choir a cappella
Nocturnes, 1938.
Det första vårregnet (‘Som ett nät av svarta spindelvävar’, Vilhelm Ekelund). For Axel Nylander and Stockholm’s radio choir. Nordiska musikförlaget, no. 854.
Som ett blommande mandelträd (Pär Lagerkvist). Nordiska musikförlaget, no. 855.
Två andliga sånger till texter av Sven Lidman, op. 43, 1935. 1. Du som är min Herre, 2. Min själ är en blomma.
Liv och oförgänglighet (Psalms 114:6). Till Håkan Ljunge. Nordiska musikförlaget, 1969.
På rosor gå vi fram, op. 47:1, 1939.
Helgmålsringning (Ida Granqvist), op. 47:2, 1939.
Än en dag (Ida Granqvist), op. 47:3, 1939.
Musik (V. Ekelund), op. 49:1, 1946.
Verlaine-stämning (‘Det regnar över staden’, V. Ekelund). To Kurt Atterberg. Nordiska musikförlaget, no. 1635.

Violin and piano
Intermezzo, op. 45:1.
Romance pour violin et piano par Hildor Lundvik. Nordiska musikförlaget, no. 1039.

Piano
I skymningen, Four Melodies for Piano by Hildor Lundvik. Abr. Lundqvist, 1912.
Stämningar: 3 Piano pieces, op. 6. Abr. Lundqvist, no. 4190.
Improvisations: Three Piano Pieces, op. 24. 1. Prélude (to Gunnar Boberg), 2. Nocturne (to Maggie Näsman), 3. Improvisation (to Gottfrid Boon). Svala & Söderlund, 1921.
Höstmelodier, op. 28:1-4. Skandinaviska musikförlaget, 1922.
Romance pour piano, op. 20. Ernst Rolfs musikförlag, 142.
Miniatures for Piano, op. 34. Gehrman, 1930.

Solo voice, mixed choir and orchestra
Songs, op. 40, 1939.

Women’s choir with or without piano
Sov i sommarsus. op. 31:1, 1923. [Also for solo voice with orchestra.]

Men’s choir a cappella
Höst (E. Blomberg). To Martin Lidstam and the YMCA choir. Gehrman, 1944.
Margit (‘Jag har lätt att dansa’, B.E. Nyström), printed in Svenska kvartettsången, p. 71.
Marsvår (‘Nu blomma alla hagar’, V. Ekelund).
Nämner du Sverige (J. Coldén), 1946. Printed in Kvartett-biblioteket, no. 254.
När löven falla (‘Fall, gyllne höstlöv’, K. Hed). Printed in Sällskapet för kvartettsångens befrämjande, book 46, no. 5.
Sista strålen (‘Nu glider sista strålen’, F. Hedberg). Printed in Sällskapet för kvartettsångens befrämjande, book 46, no. 6.
Skogen sjunger (B.E. Nyström), 1945. Printed in Sångarförbundet, samling fyrstämmiga sånger, part 2, pp. 68-69.
Sommarnatt (‘Stjärnorna står oberört klara’, K. Lannby). Sällskapet för kvartettsångens befrämjande, book 49, pp. 6-7.
Stillhet (B.E. Nyström). Printed in Svenska kvartettsånger, p. 75.
Sång till Stockholm (‘Du är oss alla kär’, G. Fant). Elkan & Schildknecht, 1938.
Vid ässjorna (‘Där flammar en eld där vi stå’, B. Bergman). Till Stockholms arbetarsångförening. Gehrman, 1934.
Vind i rågen (B.E. Nyström). Printed in Svenska kvartettsånger, p. 69.
Visa (‘Det är någon som tänker på mig’, G. Hede). Printed in Kvartett-biblioteket, no. 154.
Vår längtans land (Hj. Nilsson). Elkan & Schildknecht.
Vårnatten (B.E. Nyström). Svenska kvartettsånger, no. 73.
Än en dag (I. Granqvist). Nordiska musikförlaget, 1939.
Över dina händer lutad (A. Österling). Gehrman. Printed in Svenska kvartettsånger, no. 67.
Kantat vid Stockholms sångarförbunds 25-årsjubileum (A. Lund), 1934.

Voice and piano
Two Spiritual Songs to texts by Sven Lidman, op. 43, 1935. 1. Du som är min Herre, 2. Min själ är en blomma.
Jag kysser dig / Ich küsse dich (B. Nylander). Abr. Lundqvist, no. 4670.
Margit (‘Jag har lätt att dansa’, B.E. Nyström), 1915. Gehrman, no. 2086.
Sommardofter (‘Se mörka mot himmelen furorna stå’, B.E. Nyström). Abr. Lundqvist, no. 4229.
En sommartrall (‘Hej kamrater, nu gå vi fram’, V. Hagqvist), notated by Victor Landberg, arr. by Hildor Lundvik. Abr. Lundqvist, 1915.
Vaggvisa (‘Sov i sommarsus’), op. 31:1. Elkan & Schildknechtm no. 408.
Lotusblomman (S. Agrell). Carl Johnn’s musik, 1914.
En skymningens visa (B.E. Nyström). To Erik Melander, 1920. Elkan & Schildknecht.
Berceuse (‘Sjung du vägens hvinande vind’, B.E. Nyström), op. 16:1. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 154.
Og atter ser jeg (Wilhelm Krag), op. 16:2. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 155.
En skymningens visa, op. 21:1, 1918.
Du sover blott (‘Du är ej död’, B. Nylander), op. 21:2. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 103. Printed in Sång-album, pp. 28−29.
Jag tror (A.M. Roos), op. 31:2. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 409.
Musik (‘Så ljust, så blitt’, V. Ekelund), op. 49:1.
Mörk, röd och blond. Nordiska musikförlaget, 1916.
Sov i sommarsus (W. Hagqvist). Till Magdalena. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 408.
Vårvisa (‘De komma, de komma, de vingade skaror’, J.L. Runeberg). Abr. Lundqvist, 1907.
Hyllningssång (‘Hör du, huru rymden sjunger’). Elkan & Schildknecht.
På rosor gå vi fram (I. Granqvist). Nordiska musikförlaget, 1939.
Helgmålsringning (I. Granqvist). Nordiska musikförlaget, 1939.
Skogen sjunger (B.E. Nyström). Gehrman, 1944.
Det är en ros utsprungen, melody from 1400’s arranged by Hildor Lundvik. Nordiska musikförlaget, 1168.
O, du härliga, arranged by Hildor Lundvik. Nordiska musikförlaget, 1943.

Hildor Lundvik published popular music works under the pseudonym Klang-Johan. The author Johan Coldén (b. 1883) was also occasionally included in this pseudonym.

Popular music
Månskensvalsen (H. Lundvik).
Te’ stadsjäntera, e fin vals by Klang-Johan, 1917.
Ljusterö-valsen for piano by Klang-Johan. Abr. Lundqvist, no. 4840.
Torparglädje, bondvals (with text) for piano by Klang-Johan, 1916.
Nu ä dä messommar. Bondvals with text by Klang-Johan (J. Coldén). Nils Axberg, 1916.
I sommarkväll. Bondvals with text by Klang-Johan (J. Coldén). Svala & Söderlund, 1922?
Solskensvalsen, waltz by Klang-Johan. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 148.
På slåtterkalas, hambo with text by Klang-Johan. Nils Axberg, 38.
Sommarregn, waltz for piano by Klang-Johan, text by Svarta Masken. Carl Johnn’s musik, 1922.
Sista svängen, waltz for piano by Klang-Johan, text by Svarta Masken. Carl Johnn’s musik, 1922.
Fleckeras hambo, by Klang-Johan, op. 6. Nils Axberg, no. 43.
Månskensvalsen, with text by Klang-Johan. Elkan & Schildknecht, EC 180.
Resan till Samoa eller Han som meta’ laxöring i en å invid Härnösand. Sjömansvals by Klang-Johan (C. Möller). Elkan & Schildknecht, 1924.
Gamla minnen, sångvals by Klang-Johan (J. Coldén). Skandinaviska musikförlaget, 1920.
Grönköpingssocietetens vals, by Klang-Johan. Elkan & Schildknecht, 1917.
Ålandsflickan, sångvals by Klang-Johan. Skandinaviska musikförlaget, 1920.