Jonas Dahl (1849-1919) was a priest, author, and salmedikter. His most famous epics is definitely julesangen “Now wander from each one of the hook”. The text was written in 1895, while the melody was made ten years later by his son Alf Fasmer Dahl (1874-1933). Julesangen is popular on the christmas concerts and juleplater.
christmas Eve 1972, was unspeakably sad. A plane had the night before, crashed in Asker, and 40 people died in Norway to date, worst plane crash in peacetime. Birkeland church in Fana, was this day filled to the brim, but sorrow and gloom characterized all. “Now wander from each one of the hook” was performed, the song has a strong sense of belonging to this church, because the composer Alf Fasmer Dahl was a priest here in the period 1913-1933.
Outside was a homeless found a home on a bench. The man named Jonny, and held a bottle of liquor in one hand, while he waved with the other to the passers-by. The hat lying on the ground in front of the bench with a few coins in the middle. The man began to sing: “O holy night, O holy moment for the world”. The voice was surprisingly rich and sonorous. Several people stopped and let a few coins into the hat.
“you Have some money to an old sailor?” said the man on the bench directly to me. I had a five I had received as a gift on my birthday and gave the coin to Jonny. He got tears in his eyes and continued: “I was krigsseiler. My boat was torpedoed, and my health was destroyed. Help I have not received, therefore, celebrates the I christmas alone on the street.” The man sang a new strofe: “O holy night, you frälsning of us gave.” Jonny turned to me again: “I met Jussi Bjørling when he gave a concert in Bergen in 1953. We met each other randomly when we drank beer. Jussi was the world’s best tenor, but he struggled with his life and was only 49 years of age.”
This was right. Jussi Bjørling visited the bergen international Festival in Bergen, and arrived on the edge with the conductor and singers at the rehearsals. In the evening, he took a damp walk on the city even though the Festival set up security at the hotel. The concert was completed with enormous response from the audience. Still, someone could notice that the world-famous Swedish singer drove the ruthless exploitation of themselves. He died a few years later.
The Norwegian krigsseilerne was not particularly well treated after the war, and only a few years ago they got a public apology from the Norwegian government. The homeless that I long ago met outside At the church had no teeth again, but the song further on another christmas song he liked: “Now wander from each a verdenskrok, in the spirit forward, an insurmountable pilgrimstog, towards Bethlehem”. Jonny lived not so long after this. There were many krigsseilere who ended up on the street in the coastal cities. Christmas was the worst time to get through.
the Oslo Gospel Choir has for many years had “Now wander from each one of the hook” on their repertoire. Framføringene are often strong experiences, because the choir takes the pace down slightly. Soloists and choir conveys the text with the delicate timbre and a puzzled mood, as they also do on disc “A star shines in the night” from 2008. Oslo Gospel Choir has this year’s recent christmas concerts in Oslo this week, and “Now wander from each one of the hook” will be performed. It is easy to understand.
