The year’s passage

The year’s passage in Denmark has numerous natural sceneries, each of which has inspired artists in various genres. Among these are poets who have put into words the many different weather types, that paints the Danish nature throughout the year. It is quite natural that Denmark experiences such large differences in the weather. We are located in a place on Earth, where we neither are far away from the cold or the heat. In addition, we live on the edge of a continent, where both the dry air from the continent and the moist air from the sea are close.

It is these ingredients, that create the weather here in Denmark in a beautiful combination with the sun’s passage over the sky. In the end, it is the Earth’s orbit around the sun, that causes the difference in sun’s power over the year and thus the different seasons. We have almost by tradition chosen to divide the year into four equal parts, and thus created four seasons. The weather does not always quite agree with this division, but it is practical.

The idea of being inspired by nature started in the 18th century and was particularly pronounced in the following century, where poets and painters created the golden age period, which continues to inspire. Museums have departments with paintings from the period and the auction house catalogs contain paintings from the period valued at large amounts.

At the same time one of the best-selling books in Denmark – Højskolesangbogen – is filled with golden age poems set to music by both contemporary composers and composers of the 18th century. This has become the Danish “treasure of songs”, which is an inevitable part of the cultural heritage most Danes have grown up with, and which repeatedly fills community centers with singing. The inspiration varies from season to season and it is as such different weather conditions that are described – this is especially the case in the songs Lille MUKO have chosen on this CD about the seasons.

There are a myriad of seasonal songs, where some are very similar and therefore can’t create the excitement and range to be included on a CD of seasonal songs. The songs chosen here by Lille MUKO are both a whole and at the same time contains a large variation in poetry and music.

Jesper Theilgaard

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