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Subgenre:
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Scoring:
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Subgenre:
Mixed choir and large ensemble
Scoring:
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Genre:
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Subgenre:
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composition
Coronation Anthems : for mixed choir and ensemble / Johan Helmich Roman; transcribed by Cees Wagemakers
Other authors:
Wagemakers, Cees
(Editor)
Roman, Johan Helmich
(Composer)
Contains:
Prisa Jerusalem Herran
Lovat vare Herren
Lover Herrans helga Namn
Fröjdens Gudi! Alleluia
Herren är när
Lycka ske Konungenom
Bevisa oss Dina hjälp
Konungen hoppas uppå Herran
Han haver ett uppseende
Så hög som Himmelen över Jordena är
Syndarena have en ända på Jordene
Description:
Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758) is one of Sweden’s most important composers of all time. He has been called ‘the Father of Swedish music’ and with good reason. As chief conductor of the Royal Court Orchestra, composer, musician and teacher, Roman laid the ground for an increasingly rich music scene in 18th century Sweden. He was also the first Swedish composer to attain international status, and had a prolific musical output covering most of the genres of his time, instrumental and vocal, with the exception of opera and oratorios.
Johan Helmich Roman was born into a musical family, the son of Johan Roman the elder - himself a member of the Hovkapellet (the Royal Court Orchestra). His father’s family had their roots in Finland, while his mother was from a German family that had recently moved to Sweden. Johan Helmich was therefore enrolled at the German school, which was the best in Stockholm and which exposed his young mind to a broader European cultural heritage.
In 1711, at the age of seventeen, Roman was given a position at the Hovkapellet, where the North German influence that had coloured the music of the Swedish empire period was still dominating. Amongst the musicians there from 1712 was oboist Johann Jakob Bach, one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s older brothers.
During the first decades of the 18th century, however, the French influence became stronger at the Swedish royal court, and thus in the Hovkapellet as well, which gave Roman a valuable schooling in both
the German and French stylistic ideals. In 1716, after having studied in Stockholm and Bender, Roman was granted permission to study abroad and he went to The King’s Theatre in Londen, where Handel was the house composer. It is almost certain that Roman played in the orchestra during the premiere of Handel’s Radamisto.
After returning to Sweden Roman was regarded a highly-trained, modern-minded musician. He had grown into a superb oboist and violinist and as a composer who had acquired thorough knowledge of new stylistic trends in opera and instrumental music. He had also gained experience of the vibrant English concert scene and a familiarity with the repertoire that would prove invaluable to his future as hovkapellmästare (chief conductor of the Hovkapellet). Soon after his appointment there were clear signs of increased musical activity at the royal court.
During his service as chief conductor he saw several rulers pass. First King Charles XII who was accidentally shot, his sister Ulrika Eleonora, who abdicated in favour of her husband, a German Prince, who was crowned Frederick I, and after whose death another German prince made his entry into Stockholm in 1743: Adolph Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp. A few months later the marriage contract was sealed with Princess Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister of Frederick the Great.
The wedding ceremonies took place at Drottningholm Palace, for which occasion Roman wrote the Drottningholmsmusiken - for the ‘royal nuptials’. Beside this he wrote many large works, among them Then Svenska Messan (The Swedish Masses) and King Frederick’s Funeral Music. His final trial of strength at the court he had served ever since the age of 17, was: Hans Mayt Konung Adolph Friedrichs Krönings Musik (His Majesty King Adolph Frederick’s Coronation Music).
Johan Helmich Roman died of cancer in 1758. His last dated composition is from June 1756 to words from Psalm 11: ‘In the Lord put I my trust’. And so ended the Father of Swedish music’s earthly labours.
The manuscript of these anthems has been scanned and put on the internet in 2008 as a gift from the government to the Swedish people at the occasion of the 250th death anniversary of Johan Helmich Roman.
Cees Wagemakers, 2015 (With thanks to Anna Ivarsdottir)