Svendsen, Johan

À sa petite Bergljot

À sa petite Bergljot

([no]: Romanse [Title used in F. Benestad & D. Schjelderup-Ebbe: Johan Svendsen, mennesket og kunstneren, Aschehoug, Oslo, 1990.])

JSV 53

This miniature may have been intended for violin and piano. In their biography on Svendsen, Norwegian musicologists Benestad and Schjelderup-Ebbe refer to the piece as a song, but it is difficult to argue in favour of this. The autograph score has no indications of instruments, but the beaming differs from that typically used in vocal music, suggesting an instrumental piece. The title is a reference and dedication to Svendsen’s first wife, Sarah (Bergljot) Svendsen (née Levett, 1843–1911?), and may have been intended as a gift, for examle for an anniversary. The miniature is in the same key and metre as Svendsen’s Romance, Op. 26, and the two works also share some thematic material.

Composition: 8 Nov. 1872.

Christiania

Key: G major

Extent: ca. 1:20 min.