Evert Taube : arr by Joakim Lundstrom
Bergmann Edition: 10 pages
Evert Taube was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th century. These three pieces here arranged by Joakim Lundstrom, were previously unknown to me but they are all utterly beautiful and a joy to pay on the guitar in these wonderful arrangements.
All three use a dropped D 6th. Nocturne is a romantic piece in D Major, with a semi – quaver arpeggio pattern surrounded by a melody above and bass notes below. The harmonies are all warm and friendly and different enough or you not to think that you have seen or heard it all before.
Byssan Lull is in Dm, and slower than the Nocturne with a beautiful melody that stays with you. It is in 3, and sometimes 4 voices with warm, emotive harmonies throughout, and although there are a couple of quite large stretches to enable the player to keep all the separate parts sounding, it is well worth the effort.
Sa Skimrande Var Aldrig Havet (Never was the sea so shimmering) is marked Amoroso and is back in D Major. The part – writing is lovely, aptly done, and all, as with the other two, feels like it was a guitar solo originally; so clever are the arrangements. This last piece is perhaps by a small margin the hardest of the three, but all of them are quite approachable by a moderate player.
This is a lovely book that I will return to again and again, and definitely one for players who like their music warm, friendly, and movingly written.
Chris Dumigan