Wärldslige & Andelige Wisor / Lasse Lucidor

Lucidor wrote songs and sang them, much to the joy and annoyance of the good people of 17th century Stockholm. But what did they sound like? No one has heard the songs performed in four hundred years. Now the time has finally come!

The troubadour and Bellman expert Martin Bagge has found melodies typical of that period and joined them to Lucidor’s lyrics. This approach has helped him to recreate some of the oldest pieces in the history of the Swedish ballad. Although it is hardly plausible that all the songs have been assigned the “right” melody, but it is quite possible that some of them sounded just like this. Pretty mind-boggling.

Lasse Lucidor (1638-1674) was an unconventional character: bold, passionate and equipped with a sense of humour that still appeals to this day. With his drinking-songs depicting realistic scenes from the tavern, he was a predecessor of the great poet of the following century, Carl Michael Bellman. He also wrote hymns and spiritual songs.

Martin Bagge (b. 1958) is one of Sweden’s most interesting balladeers. His exciting performances of Bellman and other composers have attracted the attention of both listeners and press all across Scandinavia. He is a member of Svenska Visakademien and has received several awards for his original ballad interpretations.

Wärldslige & Andelige Wisor is the title of Martin Bagge’s interpretations of Lucidor. The record will be released on September 24th 2005. It shares its title with a book of music and comments published in the spring of 2004 by Bo Ejeby Förlag.

Also performing on the record are baroque ensemble Corona Artis, lutanist Mikael Paulsson and vocalists Helena Ek and Mia Edvardson.