Happy Midsummer!🌼🌻This is music for a little Midsummer adventure on Lake Mälaren, three 'musical vignettes' from the year 1919 for August Strindberg’s long poem/short story 'Stadsresan’ (The journey to the city), which in this case is bound for Stockholm.🏙The music was composed for a reading of said poem, which is in three parts, about the organist in Årby, travelling to Stockholm at Midsummer.🚢The music doesn’t necessarily reflect the poem, but aims to set the scene before each of the poem’s three parts. In the first movement it’s still night, although a bright night before Midsummer Eve with the last star disappearing.🌠Nature starts to wake up, and we get a premonition of the little crisis that our organist will experience in the third part of the poem.😣In the second movement our organist has arrived in Stockholm, and is already on his way back by boat. We hear bells ringing from the churches in central Stockholm while we see the market selling young birches for decoration along with colourful Midsummer poles.🔔Finally, in the third movement, it’s a quiet summery Sunday and our organist is getting ready to play in church.🎹The music is mostly calm and atmospheric, with a slight hint of what is to come: in the poem he goes home after the service, sitting down at the grand piano playing a toccata by Bach and the Appassionata, one of Beethoven’s most dramatic sonatas, in bitter agony over his life not being what he dreamt of, and over the evil in this world.🎹💥Although these pieces can’t be heard in Rangström’s music, as I mentioned I think some of these feelings can be heard already in the first movement. But it all ends well as the villagers and the organist’s wife show their appreciation for his playing, which could be heard the window…!🙂👏A long story short, and as always - don’t forget to click the thumbs-up and subscribe!😃
The music really is its own universe, it doesn’t need Strindberg’s poem at all. I honestly find it quite boring, whereas the music creates such magical atmospheres.✨
