Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt

"Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt"
by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1905)
Other name"Julvisa"
Opus1/4
Textby Zacharias Topelius (1887)
LanguageSwedish
Composed1909 (1909), arr. 1935, 1942, 1954

"Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt" (in Finnish: "En etsi valtaa, loistoa"; literal English translation: "Give Me No Splendor, Gold or Pomp"), also known simply as "Julvisa" (in English: "Christmas Carol"), Op. 1/4, is an art song for vocal soloist and piano written in 1909 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, who set an 1887 Christmas carol by the Finnish poet Zacharias Topelius. Late in his career, Sibelius made several arrangements of "Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt": for male choir a cappella in 1935; for voice and female choir a cappella in 1942; for two unaccompanied female voices in 1942; and for children's choir and organ in 1954.

Topelius's poem was originally published in Publicistklubben's magazine Julqvällen ("Christmas Eve"), and appears in the fourth volume of Topelius's Samlade skrifter ("Collected Works").[1]

In Finnish, the song's opening lines are "En etsi valtaa, loistoa" and the song was originally published in Finnish in 1909, probably with lyrics by Martti Korpilahti [fi], and was adopted in the 1986 Finnish hymnal, with lyrics by Niilo Rauhala [fi] in 1984. However, the older Finnish language-version had already become popular, and is commonly sung. The song is one of the most popular Christmas carols in Finland.[2]

The Finnish poet Zachris Topelius, who wrote the lyrics to "Julvisa" in 1887
Swedish Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Publication history

  • Julvisa in Topelius, Zacharias (1889). Sånger. 3, Ljung (in Swedish). Bonnier. p. 232.
  • Julvisa in Topelius, Zacharias (1905). Samlade skrifter. D. 4, Sånger, fjärde bandet:1879-1897 (in Swedish). p. 99.
  • Finlandssvenska psalmboken as number 510 in the 1923 edition of the 1886 Finnish hymnal version under the lines ”Julpsalmer”.
  • Finlandssvenska psalmboken 1943 as number 28 under the lines ”Jul”.
  • Frälsningsarméns sångbok 1968 as number 591 under the lines ”Högtider - Jul”.
  • Finlandssvenska psalmboken 1986 as number 32 under the lines ”Jul”.
  • 1986 års psalmbok i Sverige as number 645, as a bilingual song in two versions under the lines "From Finland".
  • Virsikirja 1986 as number 31 in the section ”Joulu” (Christmas).
  • Psalmer och Sånger 1987 as number 491 under the lines ”Jul”.
  • Frälsningsarméns sångbok 1990 as number 722 under the lines ”Kyrkoårets högtider, Jul”.
  • Several non-religious songbooks

See also

References

  1. ^ Carl-Petter Teckenberg (7 July 2006). "Zacharias Topelius på Björkudden i Sibbo (1879-1898)". Östra Nylands författare. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  2. ^ sibelius.fi (Helsingin Suomalainen Klubi)