| Popis: |
Ulrika Eleonora the Elder, Queen of Sweden from 1680, died in July 1693. She was buried in the Royal funeral church, Riddarholmskyrkan, on November 28 of the same year. The Queen’s funeral was designed to be one of the most magnificent ceremonies of state in Sweden during the Baroque era. The decorations for the ceremony were created by the Royal court architect, Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (1654–1728). For the Queen’s coffin he built a castrum doloris with a huge black pyramid, covered with emblems and inscriptions painted in a golden colour, which were illuminated by lamps inside the construction. Little or nothing has been known about the music played dur-ing this ceremony. According to the official printed account two musical works were performed. In this article I am able to show that the works referred to consisted of one composition by the French court violinist Pierre Verdier, Kristus är mitt liv, and one by the Flemish composer Daniel Danielis, Aspice e caelis, with a new text in Swedish. This can be shown by means of source and watermark studies and by analysing the texts. The biblical verse on which Verdier’s piece is based (Phil. 1:21: “[for to me,] to live is Christ and to die is gain”), was the Queen’s motto and the text for the funeral sermon. Moreover, Danielis’ Aspice e caelis was originally composed for the funeral of princess Eleonora of Güstrow-Mecklenburg, who was a cousin to Ulrika Eleonora’s husband, the King. That piece has been re-texted with an undoubtedly tailor-made Swedish text, which closely follows the varied rhythm and stress patterns of Danielis’ recitative setting, at the same time mirroring the import and affect of the original text, but not the exact wording. Both works are marked by a sad, plaintive affect appropriate for such an occasion. Both are scored for gamba consort, which at this time was associated with tears and sorrow. In both works we find instances of symbolic, rhetorical personi-fication: in Verdier’s composition the duet between bass and soprano can be associated with the Queen’s tender relation to Christ. In Danielis’ motet the solo soprano voice represents the female gender of the person being buried. Apart from these two works, also a choral arrangement by Christian Ritter, Einen guten Kampf, can be associated with the funeral.The recycling of music for the funeral is not a coincidence, but should be understood as a representation of dynastic continuity. In a similar way, the visual decorations of the funeral were re-used at later royal funerals. There are also indications that Verdier’s Kristus är mitt liv was used again at the funeral of Ulrika Eleonora’s husband King Charles XI in 1697. |
