Engel Lund
Encyclopedia
Engel'Lund was a Danish
-Icelandic
soprano
and a collector and distinguished interpreter of traditional music
. Her most notable work is the Book of Folk Songs, a collection of 49 pieces with piano accompaniments by her stage partner, Austrian composer and pianist Ferdinand Rauter. It was first published in 1936 by Oxford University Press.
Lund was born to Danish parents on July 14, 1900 in Reykjavík
, where she spent her early childhood. At the age of 11, her parents moved back to Denmark, where she attended grammar school. She studied singing in Copenhagen, Paris and finally in Germany. During that time she developed a growing interest in folk songs and began working with Rauter.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, she moved to London, where she would live through most of her professional career, as did Rauter (who, having effectively become a citizen of the Reich after the German annexion of Austria
, was briefly interned early in the war). Concerts led them all over Europe, the United States, and Canada.
Lund was renowned for her ability to present songs from many different countries in their original languages "completely without accent", and for speaking as many as 20 languages fluently.
Lively introductions and story-telling were an integral part of her live performance.
Her recitals would always include a few Icelandic and Yiddish songs, of which she was particularly fond. Consequently, she stopped performing in Germany during the Nazi regime
after authorities had asked her to refrain from presenting Jewish material.
Having retired from the stage, she returned to Iceland, where she was awarded a professorship for life in singing at Reykjavík Conservatory, teaching regularly until she was almost 90 years.
Engel Lund died on June 15, 1996.
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Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
-Icelandic
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
and a collector and distinguished interpreter of traditional music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
. Her most notable work is the Book of Folk Songs, a collection of 49 pieces with piano accompaniments by her stage partner, Austrian composer and pianist Ferdinand Rauter. It was first published in 1936 by Oxford University Press.
Lund was born to Danish parents on July 14, 1900 in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, where she spent her early childhood. At the age of 11, her parents moved back to Denmark, where she attended grammar school. She studied singing in Copenhagen, Paris and finally in Germany. During that time she developed a growing interest in folk songs and began working with Rauter.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, she moved to London, where she would live through most of her professional career, as did Rauter (who, having effectively become a citizen of the Reich after the German annexion of Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, was briefly interned early in the war). Concerts led them all over Europe, the United States, and Canada.
Lund was renowned for her ability to present songs from many different countries in their original languages "completely without accent", and for speaking as many as 20 languages fluently.
Lively introductions and story-telling were an integral part of her live performance.
Her recitals would always include a few Icelandic and Yiddish songs, of which she was particularly fond. Consequently, she stopped performing in Germany during the Nazi regime
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
after authorities had asked her to refrain from presenting Jewish material.
Having retired from the stage, she returned to Iceland, where she was awarded a professorship for life in singing at Reykjavík Conservatory, teaching regularly until she was almost 90 years.
Engel Lund died on June 15, 1996.
Recordings
- A recent rendition by various artists of the Book of Folk Songs is available.
- An original recording by Lund and Rauter, Íslenzk þjóðlög, is currently out of print, but can be obtained online in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format. - Musicraft 78 rpm. Album 39. 1128-A & 1128-B, Matrix numbers: GM496A & GM497A. French Folk Songs (arr.F.Rauter) & American Folk Songs (arr. Cecil Sharp) with Ferdinand Rauter, piano.
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