This well-known work was composed in Christiania in 1874 for a burlesque Carnival in Kunstnerforeningen.
An early title for the work was Bryllup paa Dovre. The manuscript score and parts at The National Library in Oslo of the early version with this title have much more music than the version printed by C.F. Peters, Leipzig in 1881. The form in this first version was ABA with an additional trio part that later were discarded. In the trio Svendsen used the melody Saeterreisen (Os har gjort kva gjeras skulle) from Lindeman's collection of Norwegian Folk Tunes. (Vol. I/115). In the A-part a wedding tune (Bruraslaatten) from Sogn is used (Lindeman Vol. I/476). The Carnival's literary theme was the connection between the cold north and the warm south. Musically the south is represented in Svendsen's music by Raffaele Sacoo's melody from 1835, Te voglio bene assai.
I believe that if Norwegian quality music from this period is going to be performed, it must at least be available. There must be editions for modern instrumentations with full scores. I do this as my contribution to expand and enrich the repertoire for Concert Bands.
- Stig Nordhagen
