Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-04-17

ask at last. when he has seen everything,
and Yet discovered no trace Of baseball.
why: we get through with ali that in
school," his host will probably answer.
There Is some horseback riding among the
members Of the aristocratic set and more
bicycling. Swimming is in great favor
whenever the temperature will permit bath
ing. Physical culture is not entirely neg
ricu!um of the university. There is an in
S,ructor R Of gymnastics. and he is not idle
at American and English universities. urged
on by the spirit Of competition and claim
ing the interest of even the most inveteraie
bo1kWorm. are utterly foreign to Cpsala
There is far cry from the realm of
sports and athletics to that of music. and
yet II might be said that singing comes
nearer than ANYTHING else TO occupy posi-
.ion IN Swedish university life that has
something IN common with the prominence
gwen 10 athletics by the students OF the
hneio-SaXon countries. 1t is the red thread
that reaches from the first to the last day
OF the students life. illuminating it. and
ming him with a host of sweet memories
t Ihat make his heart pulsate with youthful
hurry every time he hears the old melodies
in after life.
Music Among the Students.
There is splendidly trained and well
conducted university chorus generally COM
prising some 30 voices. This is the official
body that represents singing Upsala before
the outer world and on all official occasions.
mony, no important acadenlcal function
mat may be considered complete without
the presence of the chorus. Its gala days
are the occasions when the entire corps Of
students unite TO greet the coming of
spring or to honor the memory of the great
Kings OF Sweden. Gustavus Vasa. Gustavus
once in a great while. the chorus goes to
foreign lands to sing the love of Swedish
song into English. French. or German
hearts. the old singers of prominence, who
graduated years ago, come locking from
opera stage and office chair, from pulpit
more and to join their younger brethren
in their peaceful viking raid.
Every nation" has its own chorus or
double quartet, but outside of these organ
lied bodies of singers stands the great host
" youths whose love for the art is better
than their voices. And whenever the corps
OF students is gathered in full for celebra-
tion or Jollification, the old songs are heard
from a thousand throats.
Walk through Upsala an evening in the
spring and you Will hear the song swell
from every nook and corner. Visit some of
the open-air restaurants where the students
tim time. and nd soon % from lnef some bower RI the we'll
known. sorrow-sweet melodies will steal
upon you: To right and left the students
prick their ears as cavalry horses at the
sound of the trumpet. They listen in silent
reverence TO begin with. until they are
drawn to the singers steel to the mag
chorus.
The foremost Swedish composers have
given much or their best time and enort
to the creation of repertoire Of marches,
patriotic songs. spring songs. drinking songs.
etc. for special use by the students. And
then there is the inexhaustible legacy of
Carl Michael Bellman, the Anacreon of
Sweden. whose enchanting strains have
come down from the preceding century as
fresh and sweet as if they had been born
yesterday.
Bellman has struck the keynote of the
Swedish character as no other poet or
composer has been able to do. His songs,
most of them improvised over the lutte in
the presence of his royal friend and patron.
Gustayus Ill, are fraught with that TO
seate sorrow which mellows the voices Of
the two Scandinavian sister nations, and
gives an undertone of suppressed melan-
choly to their merrfeSt laughter. The very
nature that surrounds them-wild or mild.
dark or fair. but always tinged with that
virginia. sadness which sorrows without
knowing its own cause. and which vainly
seeks for an expression In words-that ma
ture has put its stamp on BellmanS songs,
and 1t has made them immortal.
Empty thy glass. Death for thee Is waiting:
Whetting his scythe. he at thy threshold stands
Be not alarmed; aJar's the grave door only.
Closes. perchance. for another good year
Thus sang the ever youthful poet-com-
poser hundred years ago; thus sings the
Swedish student Of to-day, not knowing
whether to laugh in pure enjoyment of the
| mmelody's caressing softness or to cry at the
irony-tempered melancholy Of the words.