Fra bondedans til karakterstykke for klaver. Musik i et proprietærlignende miljø i mellemkrigstiden

Abstract

Although squires, proprietors and larger farmers played an important cultural andpolitical role in Denmark between 1870 and 1940, only very little is know about musicin their private homes in the countryside. The article is a perspective of musical lifeon the farm Torpelund in Northwest Zealand during the interwar period. It examinesa previously unresearched aspect of Danish music culture in the 20th century on thebasis of comprehensive source studies and a contemplation of forms of music and cultureswithin that spectrum, of which the researched subject matter forms a part. Thecore of this is an in-depth analysis of the publication Gamle Danse fra Nordvestsjælland(Old Dances from Northwest Zealand), 1–3 (1923–28). It was created and used at Torpelundin a cooperation between two siblings from the farm, namely folklore collectorand columnist Christian Olsen, who collected and published the melodies, and thepianist Christiane Rützou, who put them to piano. The publication is a key to understandingthe importance of music in the environment at Torpelund.The article characterises the cultural transformation, which these dance melodiesunderwent from string and brass accompanied peasant dances that were played by thefather of the two siblings in Northwest Zeland in the 19th century to becoming pianopieces in the living rooms of the larger farms during the interwar period. With themusical analysis, the author would like to develop analytical grips on this type of repertoireused, which respect the musical characteristics of these repertoires. The studydiscusses the special nature of Christiane Rützou’s piano arrangements and comparesthem with a couple of Louis Glass’ rural pieces, which the composer and his wife performedthemselves at Torpelund. Is this dance music, educational teaching material,popular music or romantic character pieces? The answer is that Christiane Rützou’s piano arrangements merge elements from popular dance music with romantic pianomusic of the 19th century in a special way.For Christian Olsen, the dance version was part of a conservative cultural struggle,which at one and the same time desired to oppose the introduction of modern Americandancing while creating progressive, cheerful music to be used by farmers andlarger landowners. He wanted to transform the old dance music of the peasants in orderto preserve the values of the farmer and proprietary culture.