Jenny Lind at 200
Monday, October 5, 2020
The famous Swedish soprano Jenny Lind was born 200 years ago, on October 6, 1820.
In the RISM database, Lind is not only named on sources as a singer (such as in the Swedish song “Der Hirt” by Isak Berg) but also as a dedicatee, former owner, and even copyist.
Anton Wallerstein’s “Favorite Polka” was composed in honor of Lind and is found in six manuscripts in RISM (we hope she really liked polkas). A manuscript preserved in Dresden was copied by Lind and was dedicated by her to Clara Schumann, when they encountered each other in 1847 in Vienna (RISM ID no. 211009070).
Stanford Libraries is celebrating Jenny Lind’s bicentennial by unveiling the Jenny Lind Collection online. An online exhibit gives illuminating context to the collection, with particular emphasis on her famous tour in America. The entire collection is indexed in this finding aid.
Stanford is home to a large collection of materials once belonging to Lind including music manuscripts, letters, images, books, and financial ledgers. Among these, the handwritten items, including music and letters, are now online. As might be imagined, much of the manuscript music is for voice, including songs (some in her native Swedish), opera excerpts, vocal exercises, and even a set of cadenzas in Lind’s own hand (see image).
Image: Jenny Lind, untexted cadenzas in Lind’s hand. Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Available online (public domain).
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Category: Musical anniversaries
