"Snail with shell, wig and gloves ..."
The songs we sing in Denmark can be really funny sometimes. Many Danish children have sung this weird line without questioning it in the least. And the great tune helps things along. It is probably only as a grown-up that one realises that the line, though sounding very similar in Danish, really reads: "Now the snail with shell on its back wants to go and take a wander" from Weyse's and Ingemann's "Now the fair little flowers come out and peek at one another" ("Nu titte til hinanden de favre blomster smaa").
Well-known - but always unpredictable
These may not be pop songs, but Weyse knew the recipe for success: a song which sounds as if you've already known it for years. That was what his teacher J.A.P. Schulz - the man who wrote "The moon rises ever so slowly" ("Sig maanen langsomt haever") - taught him. And Ingemann was fully aware of this too. The idea behind these little songs was that they should deal with common experiences in daily life and nature. Serenity and equilibrium. Everyday life with a touch of biblical history and middle class morality added. Written in a language using undemonstrative, simple imagery.
Words sing themselves
Weyse was of the opinion that the melodies lay concealed in the lyrics. "Such beautiful poems compose themselves ..." he said of Ingemann's song texts. Using modest effects, Weyse somehow manages to combine the straightforward with the unique. As in the start of "Now do all the bells ring towards the heavens," ("Nu ringer alle klokker mod sky") where you can really hear the bells chime. It is the sound of a typical Danish Sunday morning. Or when as in "The Sun rises in the East"("I Oesten stiger solen op"), the melody of the first line follows the sun's movement up through the morning sky.
Finn Gravesen is an author and editor, his latest work being "Who owns the music?" ("Hvem ejer musikken?") (2006) commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.
C.E.F. Weyse. Photo: Inger Sørensen.