A Janta A Ja: A Song History

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In Songs of Sweden (1909), a collection edited by Gustaf Hägg with English translations by Henry Grafton Chapman, "Å jänta å ja" appears under the English title "The maiden and I."[1] That printing credits F. A. Dahlgren (1816–1895), calls the melody a folk tune arranged by Hägg, and sets it in 3/4 time.[1] Dahlgren was a Swedish writer and composer, raised at Ransäter, who published verse in the Värmland dialect under the pen name "Fredrek på Rannsätt."[2] An English-language profile of him cites this song, translated there as "The Lassie and I," as an example of the dialect poems in which he celebrated the joy of living.[2] A 1953 Helsinki printing in Selim Segerstam's songbook Vår sångbok, catalogued by Svenskt visarkiv, describes the song as a Värmlandspolska.[3]

Etching of couples dancing a waltz in a crowded ballroom, the nearest pair turning in the foreground

Anders Zorn, The Waltz, etching, 1891. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). A ballroom waltz by a Swedish artist rather than a folk dance; it has no connection to the song.

The soprano Inga Berentz recorded it in Stockholm in March 1908 for a Gramophone Company matrix,[4] and in the United States her recording was issued on Victor's black-label ethnic disc 65797.[5] Later recordings made in New York and marketed as Swedish records include one by the baritone Jean Theslöf with orchestra, made around December 1915 and issued as Columbia E2785.[6] The accordion duo of John Lager and Eric Olson recorded it as an instrumental on 16 April 1920 for Victor 73001, with the descriptor "Folkdanser."[7] The tenor Henry Corsell recorded it with Jahrls Instrumental Trio in about August 1934 on Columbia 26200-F, whose label copy describes it as a hambo and folk song.[8]

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Sources

  1. Internet Archive: "Songs of Sweden: Eighty-Seven Swedish Folk- and Popular Songs" (Gustaf Hägg, G. Schirmer, 1909).
  2. Project Runeberg, Nordic Authors: "Fredrik August Dahlgren".
  3. Svenskt visarkiv catalogue: "Å jänta å ja".
  4. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Gramophone matrix 7910e. Jänta å ja' / Inga Berentz".
  5. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor 65797 (Black label (ethnic) 10-in. double-faced)".
  6. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix 43614. A jänta å ja / Jean Theslöf".
  7. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-24000. Jänta å ja' / Lager and Olson".
  8. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Columbia matrix W113923. Å jänta å ja' / Henry Corsell ; Jahrls Instrumental Trio".