Tag Archives: Sissel Kyrkjebo

Music, Religion

Sissel: ‘Eg veit i himmerik ei borg’

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When I lack a book to review, Scandinavian hymns are my go-to fallback, as you’ve probably noticed. I’m sure I’ve posted Sissel singing ‘Eg Veit i Himmerike Ei Borg‘ before, probably in a different performance (she does it here with the Heretic Tabernacle Choir), but I never get tired of this particular one.

The song sounds to me like a medieval hymn, but it’s not quite that. The tune is an old Norwegian folk song, and the words were translated from a pre-17th Century German hymn. The Norwegian translation was done in 1905. James Cameron, so the story goes, heard Sissel’s rendition and hired her to do the background vocals for “Titanic.”

You can see the lyrics and a translation on this Wikipedia page.

I like to sing this one to myself sometimes when I’m hanging around the Viking camp, since it seems period-appropriate. Only I can never remember the verse that starts “Men visst eg veit ein morgon renn” probably because I misheard the lyrics completely.

No blog post from me tomorrow. See you Monday, God willing.

Music, Religion

How not to be a child

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Thing noticed this morning in devotions, as I work my way through Luke 18:

Surprise, surprise. The next section carries on the same theme (asking boldly vs. humility) developed in the previous sections:

The Rich Ruler

18And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothersb or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

What have we learned up to now?

That Christianity calls for a) boldness, but b) humility.

We further established that this pattern is embodied in children. Nobody will enter the Kingdom of God unless they become like children.

Now in comes the Rich Ruler (they always called him the Rich Young Ruler when I was a kid, but maybe that was in one of the synoptics).

The Rich Ruler is the opposite of a child. He thinks he’s got it all together. Has he kept the Law? You bet. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.  What else do I need?

Jesus tells him he needs to sell everything he owns, give it to the poor, and follow Him.

The point, I’m convinced, is not that we earn salvation through poverty (though some Christian socialists seem to think so). It’s that the Rich Ruler needs to become a child again. He needs to put himself in a helpless, dependent position where Christ is all he has.

Which he can’t bring himself to do.

The answer he should have given was to say, “I can’t do that! Help me!”

Then he’d be a child. Then he’d be saved. We can hope he reached that point, later on.

Above, Sissel Kyrkjebø with the Oslo Gospel Choir, in a fairly awesome arrangement of a song appropriate to the topic.

Music, Uncategorized

Happy New Year

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By a bizarre coincidence, New Year’s Eve falls on exactly the same date this year as last year. I think we’re in a rut. And I’m grateful for it.

Though we don’t get the solid, long-lasting, well-built years anymore that we had when I was boy. I clearly remember talking about the new year with my grandmother, in her little house. I think it was the end of 1956. Grandma said there would never be a year 1956 again, and I couldn’t see how that could be true. Still seems wrong to me.

Above, Sissel Kyrkjebø does Auld Lang Syne, in Scottish and Swedish. Wearing a butch men’s suit, just to annoy me, but in excellent voice.

I want to thank all our faithful readers for their loyalty (and patience) through another year. We do all this for you, and I hope you feel properly guilty about it.

Special thanks to Phil Wade, who – I should remind everyone, including myself – is the host of this hall.

I’ve had better years than 2025. I take comfort in the fact, much cited in the Middle Ages, that fortune is a wheel. If I’m down at the moment, the wheel should (probably) come around again. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m reading Njal’s Saga again. It’s a long saga, so I’ll probably be posting reading impressions for a few days, as I work my way through it.

Watch for that, if you can handle the excitement.

Now to celebrate New Year’s Eve in my own way, which is not at all.

Music, Religion

Sissel: ‘Mitt hjerte altid vanker’

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Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. My greeting to you (I probably won’t be posting tomorrow) is this number from Sissel, a Danish hymn by Hans Adolph Brorson. Mitt Hjerte Altid Vanker has an earlier Danish melody, but this Swedish tune has become more popular, for reasons that will be apparent when you hear it.

It’s in Norwegian, of course, so I’ve gone to the trouble of translating the verses Sissel sings here for you. There are in fact 11 verses, but only 3 are used here. This version does a little mixing, combining lines from two different verses (and out of order too!) at the end.

But it works.

My heart is e’er returning
There where my Lord was born;
My thoughts forever yearning
In wonder at that morn:
My longing finds its home there,
My treasure gleaming bright --
My faith finds rest alone there,
That blessed Christmas night!
But ah! How to express it,
Things wisdom cannot know,
That God – no soul could guess it
Would e’er descend so low:
That He, the praise of Heaven,
The great eternal Word,
Into a stall was given
Our humble, infant Lord.

Oh come! My soul is sighing
Your work in me begin!
To Heaven’s heart I’m crying,
Come, Lord, and enter in! –
My heart, your blood has bought it,
It is no alien ground –
In flesh you came and sought it
Be here forever found!

Music, Religion

Sissel sings ‘Glade Jul’

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Tonight, because it’s not Christmas without a few hymns from Sissel, we have Glade Jul, the Norwegian version of “Silent Night.”

The Norwegian translation does an interesting thing with the lyrics. It pulls the whole story into the present – or pulls us into the past, back to the first Christmas. The Norwegian lines of the first verse go (more or less, my translation):

Happy Christmas, Holy Christmas. 
Angels descend unseen. 
Hither they fly, with leaves of Paradise, 
Where they behold what God has accomplished. 
Secretly they walk among us; 
Secretly they walk among us.
Music, Poetry

‘Solveig’s Song’

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It’s Friday and I have neither a book to review nor a useful thought in my head. Therefore, I shall post a Sissel song.

(And there was great rejoicing.)

Yesterday, I might mention, was my birthday – and one of the big milestone ones. I won’t say which one, of course. Suffice it to say that I’ve outlived 3 of my grandparents, and one of my parents. The meditations this fact arouses in me are not, generally, comforting.

I pondered what kind of song would be suitable to commemorate my oldness and fullness of days. Nothing really commended itself, so I finally figured, well, just post a Sissel piece. What haven’t I done yet?

And I realized I’d never posted “Solveig’s Song.”

(I think. Checking would be too much trouble.)

Even if you’re not Norwegian (unlikely as that is), you’ve probably heard this melody somewhere before. It’s one of the classics from Edvard Grieg – part of the incidental music he wrote for Henrik Ibsen’s controversial, experimental play, “Peer Gynt.”

I will confess – I’ve never read “Peer Gynt.” It appeals to me more than most of Ibsen’s works (I’m not a fan), but from all I hear, it’s a “challenging” and obscure work, about a man who seems to be – like Ibsen himself – obstinately difficult and antisocial. He kidnaps a bride from her wedding, abandons her, and then is joined by Solveig (the Solveig of the song), the daughter of Haugean pietists (my people). He runs away from her too, in order to spend his life in foreign parts, seeking wealth, which he loses in the end. In the last act, he returns to Solveig, who has remained faithful to him, and tells him that he has committed no sin. Then she (probably) dies (the script isn’t clear).

Anyway, “Solveig’s Song” is a solo earlier in the play, in which Solveig expresses her faithful (I might say stupid) love. I suppose Solveig is meant to represent the mercy of God in some way, though (lumpkin that I am) I don’t really see it.

But Sissel sure sings it beautifully.

Have a good weekend.

Music

‘Soria Moria’

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Happy Friday.

Tonight, another Sissel video. I knew the song well, but had not seen the video before — and it’s quite lovely.

“Soria Moria” comes from “Soria Moria Castle,” a Norwegian fairy tale in Asbjørnsen’s and Moe’s famous collection. I think it’s included in Dasent’s East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon, but I’m not entirely sure and too lazy to consult my copy (which is in the basement).

This particular song was, according to the liner notes on the original album (which were easier to find), written by Svein Gundersen and Stig Nielsen, and the music was first composed for a musical play called ‘Isfront.’

There’s a couple of pretty amazing high notes in this number, along with some cool scenery.

Music, Religion

‘Det Lyser i Stille Grender,’ with Sissel

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It’s Christmas Eve. Very likely Christmas Day (or later) by the time you see it. Consider this your Christmas greeting from me.

I’m sure I’ve posted this song before (though perhaps not this performance), but I consider it one of the most beautiful Scandinavian Christmas songs out there. If I post it enough, maybe Americans will catch on to it. If not, you’ll have the satisfaction of being among the few, the proud, the Initiated.

God became man. Without in any way questioning the primacy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have long noted that the great heresies almost always began by getting the Incarnation wrong. So it’s perfectly all right to make a big day of this one.

God jul, as we Norwegians say.

Music, Religion

Two Scandinavian Christmas Hymns

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My second day after eye surgery. (It was a detached retina, I might as well admit.) I have no reason to complain. I can go about my life moderately well (though my depth perception, never the best, is pretty poor right now). I am in very minor discomfort, not pain. Just enough to make me grumpy,  if I took the trouble to be around people to be grumpy at. Give it time.

The little two-hymn medley above from a young Sissel Kyrkjebø is included on her classic Christmas album, Glade Jul, which sold almost as many copies as there are people in Norway. The first one is Det Kimer Nå Til Julefest ([Bells] Ring Now for the Christmas Celebration). The lyrics are by the Danish preacher and author N.F.S. Grundtvig. The second is Jeg Synger Julekvad (I Sing a Christmas Song), which is, I believe, more of a folk hymn. Both hymns are offered with subtitles, apparently done by AI and not always to be relied upon.

Have a blessed weekend.

Music, Religion

‘Mitt hjerte alltid vanker’

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It’s Advent season, coming up on Christmas. I have my Christmas tree lit, and some candles are burning away like the billy-o, and I’m going to share another Sissel Christmas clip, because that’s what I do.

I believe Sissel has said this is her favorite song out of all her repertoire. I especially like the arranger’s hat tip to Grieg in the instrumentation.