Vuggevise

I first read the poem Vuggevise (Lullaby) back in 2015, shortly after it was published in a

Danish newspaper, and find myself coming back to it over the years, always struck by its

poignancy. When I was commissioned by the Swedish choir Bella Voce and their conductor

Sara Sandmark to set a piece for upper voices a cappella, I seized the opportunity to use it.

The poem’s title enhances the tragedy and irony of the text, and it seemed fitting to set

it like that: as a tragic, yet ironic, lullaby. The music is simple at its core, yet complex as it

unfolds. The key is to sing it in that simple fashion, and to let the harmonic changes and

musical shifts bring out the drama of the lyrics. The text is highly evocative, and also among

the weightiest and most direct I have ever set to music. Vuggevise was premiered by Bella Voce on the 28th of October 2022 at Klosterkyrkan in

Lund, Sweden.

Henrik Dahlgren