Part 11 (1/2)
It may be remarked that Edvard Grieg has not only given Norway a conspicuous place on the map of musical Europe, but that he has influenced unmistakably composers of the rank of Tschaikowsky, the Russian; Paderewski, the Pole; Eugene d'Albert, the Scotch-English-German; Richard Strauss, the German; and our own lamented Edward McDowell, the American. ”From every point of view that interests the music lover,” says Mr. Finck, ”Grieg is one of the most original geniuses in the musical world of the present or past. His songs are a mine of melody, surpa.s.sed in wealth only by Schubert's, and that only because there are more of Schubert's. In originality of harmony and modulation he has only six equals: Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Wagner, and Liszt. In rythmic invention and combination he is inexhaustible, and as orchestrator he ranks among the most fascinating. To speak of such a man--seven-eighths of whose works are still music of the future--as a writer of 'dialect,' is surely the acme of unintelligence. If Grieg did stick to the fjord and never got out of it, even his German critics ought to thank heaven for it. Grieg in a fjord is much more picturesque and more interesting to the world than he would have been in the Elbe or the Spree.”
While Norway has neither permanent opera nor permanent orchestras, she has produced concert virtuosi of a high order. Ole Bull, the so-called violin-king, already referred to, was unsurpa.s.sed in his day. Among piano artists may be named the talented composer, Mrs. Agatha Backer-Grondahl, Thomas Th.e.l.lefsen, Edmund Neupert, Martin Knutzen, and the great composer Edvard Grieg. The flutist Olaf Svenssen and the vocal artists Thorvald Lammers, Ingeborg Oselio-Bjornson, and Ellen Gulbranson, have also brought distinction to their country.
The male choirs of Norway have always played a leading role in the music life of the nation. The students', merchants', and artists'
singing clubs at Christiania during the past seventy-five years, have had artistic as well as patriotic aims. Festivals, after the pattern of those held at Cincinnati, and Worcester and Springfield, Ma.s.sachusetts, have also contributed toward the development of national music. The most eminent choral leaders in Norway have been Johan D. Behrens, F.A. Reissinger, and O.A. Grondahl. The Norwegian Musical Union has also been active in the development of tonal ideals.
Its aim has been to provide chamber concerts of a high order. Grieg and Svendsen were its first conductors. They were succeded by Ole Olsen, who combined the talents of orchestral leader with those of composer, chorister, and band leader. For many years he directed the Second Brigade Band at Christiania with the rank of captain. Johan Selmer, also a composer, succeeded Olsen in the direction of the Musical Union; and Iver Holier, a composer of symphonies, orchestral suites, chamber music, and vocal scores, followed Selmer. Other orchestral leaders are Johan Hennum, Per Winge, and Johan Halvorsen,
CHAPTER XIX
THE WOMEN OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN
No volume dealing with Scandinavian life would be complete without some tribute to the women of Norway and Sweden. They are magnificent specimens wherever you may find them--in the kitchen, the factory, the harvest field, the hospital, the schoolhouse, the drawing-room, or the palace. They are good mothers, good daughters, and good wives, and while their devotion to their sons, husbands, and fathers is not surpa.s.sed by their sisters in any land, they are at the same time independent, self-reliant, and progressive to a degree that offers a striking contrast to the statue of the representatives of their s.e.x in other countries of Europe. They give their best talents, affections, and strength; they ask the same in return. There is no country, not even the United States, where women exercise a wider influence, both direct and indirect in the home, the school, the church, upon the platform, and in the press. There is no other country in which the professions, trades, and other occupations are so free to them, or in which their opportunities are utilized with greater zeal, ability, and success. They work side by side with men upon the farms, in the factories, in mercantile establishments, counting-houses, government offices, and in art, science, and literature, and are equally capable, although, as in other lands, their pay for the same labor and equal results is less.
From the time that Margit Larsson saved Gustavus Vasa from capture by the Danish soldiers by hiding him in her cellar, the women of Sweden have exercised a powerful influence in politics, although it has been indirect, and the ablest and most progressive to-day prefer that their present political condition shall remain unchanged. They do not think it wise to extend the franchise any farther for fear that universal suffrage will result in the corruption of national politics, which is now comparatively pure. They prefer the present restrictions, which give the ballot only to women who pay taxes, because it deprives ignorant and incompetent women of a voice in the government, and avoids the dangers that often attend the partic.i.p.ation of the ma.s.ses in elections. They prefer to direct their efforts to securing an increase in women's wages, so that they may receive the same compensation as men for the same work, and hope to accomplish practical results by educating public sentiment and bringing moral pressure upon the employing cla.s.s.
Speaking on this subject, an eminent Swedish writer says: ”In the energetic campaign for the betterment of the condition of women, the Swedes have taken the first place among European nations. If one seeks the cause of it, it is found in part in the fact that in Sweden, since the remotest time, women have enjoyed a respect greater than in most of the other countries, but without doubt it is also due to the superiority of the intellect, judgment, and wisdom of Swedish women, and in later years to the numerical excess of women in our population.
This has made the means of existence to single women a practical problem. During the present generation a great change has worked itself out in this sense, that the field of activity for women has been greatly enlarged. The activity of women, who at other times found ample domain in the mult.i.tude of occupations in the domestic life, has become less important in that respect and has grown in importance in the labor and occupations that in other countries are left exclusively to men.”
The advancement of women in Sweden was greatly encouraged and a.s.sisted by the quiet influence of the late Queen Sophia and her sister-in-law, the late Princess Eugenie, the sister of Oscar II. The queen, always an intelligent, progressive Christian woman, with a profound consciousness of the responsibility attached to her official rank and influence, was a women's woman, and was habitually engaged in promoting movements for the benefit of her s.e.x, and with due respect to the proprieties of her position. She never lost an opportunity to a.s.sist and encourage all who were engaged in advancing the physical, moral, and social well-being of the women of Sweden and Norway.
The a.s.sociation of Swedish Women, which is a branch of the International Council of Women, was organized in 1896, and has over twelve thousand members, its object being to promote the welfare of the s.e.x, to educate them on all questions concerning their legal and social rights, to enlarge their sphere of activity, and to a.s.sist those who are thrown upon their own resources to earn their living.
The active, practical work is done by subordinate societies devoted to particular interests, as, for example, the Fredrika Bremer a.s.sociation manages a sick relief fund for wage earners, a.s.sists students in the universities and technical schools, finds employment for those who need it, conducts schools for trained nurses, keeps a register of women who are capable of performing various duties, and is continually engaged in works of benevolence.
Another organization, known as the Swedish Woman's a.s.sociation for the Defense of Their Country, is purely patriotic, and was organized in 1884 in connection with the movement for the increase of the army, for the purpose of educating public opinion. It has forty affiliated local committees carrying on a propaganda of patriotism. There is a women's club at Stockholm whose special purpose is to protect working women from persecution by their employers and others, to educate them concerning legal rights of women wage-earners, and to furnish legal advice and counsel to those who are in trouble. The seamstresses have an alliance, and the shop girls are organized into a union.
The advancement of women commenced under the leaders.h.i.+p and inspiration of the late Fredrika Bremer, the famous auth.o.r.ess, who is well known in the United States because of her frequent visits here and her literary works. She was the pioneer of the movement to improve the condition of women morally, socially, and intellectually.
Sweden was the first country to recognize the property rights of women. This was due to an event that occurred a thousand years ago.
While the king and his army were engaged in foreign wars, the Danes invaded the province of Smoland, when the women armed themselves to defend their homes. They were led to battle by the beautiful Blenda, who defeated the invaders and drove them from the country. In recognition of their heroism the king proclaimed a decree granting the women of the country property rights, and it has been since recognized as the law of the land.
All the professions and occupations common to men are open to the women of Sweden, and in 1862 suffrage was granted women in munic.i.p.al affairs. They are permitted to vote at the election of delegates to conventions which choose members of the first chamber of parliament.
These rights can now be exercised by all women who pay taxes. In Stockholm, however, a woman voter must be out of debt and the lawful owner of the property upon which the taxes are paid.
The members of the first chamber of the parliament, which corresponds to the United States Senate, are elected by conventions of delegates chosen at popular elections in the country and in cities by the members of the munic.i.p.al councils. Therefore, as women have the right to vote for members of the munic.i.p.al council and for delegates to these conventions, they partic.i.p.ate indirectly in the election of the Swedish Senate; but comparatively few exercise the privilege.
Women of advanced views, aided by the members of the socialist party, are now seeking universal suffrage and a law making them eligible to parliament and to members.h.i.+p in the provincial and munic.i.p.al councils.
This proposition has not met with much favor, and the only time it has ever been brought to vote it was unanimously defeated in the first chamber of parliament and in the second by fifty-three nays to forty-four yeas, less than one-half the members present voting.
The first woman to practice medicine in Sweden was Caroline Widerstrom, who is still living and occupies a prominent position in Stockholm. Her practice is as large and as profitable as that enjoyed by most of the men physicians.
The foremost woman in Sweden to-day in intellect and influence, in popular esteem and in public movements, and the recognized successor of Fredrika Bremer, is Ellen Key, an auth.o.r.ess and editorial writer upon _Svenska Dagbladet_.
In the system of local government in Norway, women now partic.i.p.ate upon an equal basis with men. The movements which culminated May, 1901, had been going on since 1884 under the leaders.h.i.+p of Miss Gina Krog, who may be called the Susan B. Anthony of Norway. In the latter year she organized a woman's suffrage a.s.sociation, delivered a series of lectures on the subject, and established a newspaper called the _Nyloende_--meaning ”the new ground.” Miss Krog is something over fifty years of age, of fine education and excellent family, and has been noted for her activity in literary and charitable affairs. She has been a teacher, a writer for the press, a director of charitable inst.i.tutions, and has lived a life of great activity and usefulness, devoting her own means with generosity to the cause which she has undertaken.